Swell Generation

Great Lakes surf is created by weather, not distant ocean storms. Because the lakes are enclosed basins, waves are born close to shore from strong winds blowing across…

The Gulf of Mexico is a compact, semi-enclosed sea, which makes its surf both fascinating and tricky to forecast. Unlike open-ocean coastlines that receive long-traveled groundswell from distant…

The Sea of Japan can look completely calm one day and transform into a powerful surf zone the next. Unlike the Pacific side of Japan, where long-period groundswell…

The Bay of Bengal is one of the most dynamic swell-generating basins in the world, but it doesn’t behave like an open ocean. Its waves are shaped by…

The Arabian Sea is one of the most seasonally dramatic swell basins in the world. For months it can be dominated by powerful southwest monsoon winds, then shift…

The Tasman Sea is one of the most productive swell engines for the east coast of Australia and the west coast of New Zealand. It can produce everything…

The North Sea can look deceptively small on a map compared with the Atlantic, but it’s one of Europe’s most fascinating surf environments. It’s shallow, consistently stormy, tide-dominated,…

The Mediterranean Sea can look deceptively calm, but when the right storm pattern arrives, it can produce powerful, clean, surfable waves. Unlike open-ocean surf zones, the Mediterranean doesn’t…

Caribbean surf is created by a surprisingly varied mix of weather systems. A knee-high trade-wind wave in Barbados, a long-period north swell in Puerto Rico, and a hurricane…

The Indian Ocean is one of the world’s great swell engines. Its southern edge is open to the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties, where powerful low-pressure systems spin…