Surfing Into Winter
Rockaway Beach draws die-hard surfers as the weather gets colder
| 14 Dec 2021 | 11:11
A surfer approaches the Atlantic Ocean at Rockaway’s Beach 90th Street in mid-November, when the water temperature hovered around 59 degrees fahrenheit — and the air temperature only reached the high 40’s.
Surf conditions at Rockaway Beach change drastically from summer to winter, according to local surfers who say that colder weather generally brings more wind and choppier waves.
Kailani “Lani” Mergen, 19, on the shore at Beach 90th Street in the beginning of November.
The surfing crowd at Rockaway Beach noticeably thins out in the colder months, according to Mergen. “When they leave, they take a big part of the surf community with them.”
A surfer runs between waves at Rockaway’s Beach 90th Street in mid-November.
Stéphane Rodriguez, 37, commuted to Rockaway Beach from Williamsburg, Brooklyn in early December. It’s his first winter surfing at Beach 90th Street.
As the weather gets colder, surfers gear up with full body wetsuits, booties and gloves to keep warm. The outfits can easily cost hundreds of dollars.
Construction continued as the backdrop for surfers at Rockaway Beach through December.
During the coldest months of the year, Rockaway’s swimming beaches clear out and boardwalk restaurants shut down — but the waves keep coming, and so do die-hard surfers. “Only the more experienced surf throughout the whole winter, besides the couple of extremely dedicated students that are willing to freeze,” explained lifelong surfer and Rockaway Beach local Kailani “Lani” Mergen, 19, who works as an instructor at Locals Surf School.
Rockaway Beach feels worlds away from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, but the ferry from Downtown’s Pier 11 can get you to the beach — which borders the Atlantic Ocean in Queens — in under an hour. Some surfers commute from different boroughs, like Manhattan and Brooklyn, even during the fall and wintertime. Others, like Ammon Dennis, who first learned to surf in Puerto Rico in 2013, move from different parts of the city to Rockaway to have easier (and more frequent) access year-round.
“I’ve been out when it’s snowing,” Dennis, 46, said. “It’s actually kind of cool, because you’re the only one out there — or one of the few.”
Surfing in New York City was technically illegal until 2005, when the section of shore at Beach 90th Street became the “first legally surfable beach within New York City limits,” followed by another spot at Beach 67th Street two years later, according to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Both are home to a tight-knit community. “Rockaway has a big family of locals that take you in and never let you leave,” Mergen said.
This article first appeared in NYU Pavement Pieces.