A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

The rhythmical rise and fall of the ocean's water levels, caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun; tide is one of the three main factors, along with oceangoing swell and nearshore wind, that determine surfing conditions at a given spot. The moon's gravitational pull creates a slight elliptical bulge in the ocean, directly in line with its position over the earth, with an offsetting bulge forming on the earth's opposite side. Coastlines in the bulge areas have a high tide, while the areas in between experience low tide. The sun has a lesser gravitational pull on earth, but nonetheless creates bulges of its own, which can either combine with or act against the moon's pull, depending on their respective positions. Spring tides—those having the greatest high- to-low range—occur when the sun and moon are either in alignment on one side of the earth, or on opposite sides of the earth. Low-ratio neap tides occur when the sun and moon form a 90-degree angle to the earth. Tides are measured in feet in America and by meters in most of the rest of the world; a "minus tide" occurs when the tide falls below a designated low-tide average for a given area. While tides are one of nature's most predictable phenomena, knowable to the inch years in advance, tidal mechanics can be enormously complex in detail, with great variation from area to area, even along the same stretch of coast, mainly because of differences in underwater topography. Tropical islands in the Pacific generally have a tidal range of less than two feet. Tidal changes in western Europe, northern Brazil, Panama, and eastern Canada—all areas of convoluted underwater topography—are usually between 15 and 30 feet. The greatest tidal range is found in Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy, where the levels change by as much as 50 feet. A tidal cycle consists of outgoing (ebb) and incoming (flow) phases, and takes roughly 12 and a half hours to go from high to low and back to high. Most coastlines either have two tide cycles per day (semi- diurnal), while some vary between one and two daily cycles, and a rare few, such as Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico and Mallorca in the Mediterranean Sea, re- ceive only one tide per day (diurnal). Avid surfers often keep a pocket-sized tide chart in their wallet or glove compartment; tide information is also available online, in all coast-serving newspapers, and even as a feature on some wristwatches. Generally speaking, higher tides produce easier- breaking wide-based waves, while lower tides create steeper, faster, tubing waves. During a large fast- moving ground swell, a high tide offers less resistance to the waves, which helps preserve their power as they strike the beach. Small surf is often better served by an outgoing tide, as the lowering water throws the reef, point, or sandbar into higher relief relative to the incoming wave. In places where the tidal range is extreme, such as England and northern Brazil, many surf breaks are only ridable for two or three hours at a time, before the reef, point, or sandbar is either drained of water from the outgoing tide or flooded by the incoming tide. (England and Brazil both feature telescoping coastal rivers that often produce a tidal bore surfing wave miles from the shore during particularly strong incoming tides.) In areas where the tidal range is less severe but still noticeable, such as California or the east coast of Australia— where the average tidal range is about four or five feet—tide often serves as a fine-tuning element for waves. Many surf breaks are known to be particularly tide-sensitive: Santa Barbara's Rincon is best on a low tide, while Kirra in Australia requires a high tide. The expression "tidal wave" is a misnomer, as the powerful and often-destructive waves—usually caused by an underwater landslide or earthquake—have nothing to do with tide.

tide

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