Well, my orders came up and it looks like I have to move to the Louisiana/Texas border. While fully prepared to become a swamp crawler of a kayaker (and leave my beloved anchorage area) I am sad that there is no whitewater in the area. Thought I might try and convert to being a surf kayaker…does anyone know if there are any good kayak surfing beaches on the texas coast?
Jeremy
Corpus Christi
Texas has petty poor surf, but there is a guy who posts on Boatertalk Surf zone who can send you towards some surf. Quite a drive from where you will be though.
Its not big surf, but the beaches near
Port Arthur will provide you some fun. High Island may be a good place to look. Padre Island probably has the best surf in Texas, but that’s a long way from the Tx/la. border.
Tanker Wakes at Bolivar
In some surfing movie (something like Step Into the Liquid) there was a section on people surfing the wakes of big tankers at the Bolivar Flats north of Galveston were the Houston Ship Channel goes out to the Gulf. They were surfing where the waves broke as they left the deep water of the channel and moved onto the flats. As incredible as it sounds they could surf on waves for something like 1/2 mile. They used a powerboat to pick them up and take them back to the next set of waves. Looked like it would have been great in a kayak.
If you get a chance you might call Frank Floyd at Wind and Wave in Corpus Christi. He is an avid surfer and does some kayaking. He knows surf on the Texas coast as well as anyone.
Mark
Texas paddling
There is alot of good paddling in Texas and Louisiana. A good variety from River/Bayou paddling to lakes/bays to the Gulf. Just about any beach on the Texas/Louisiana coast will be good for kayak surfing. Like has been said, it’s not too big usually but certainly fun. Let us know if your in the Houston/Galveston area. We have a group of surfski’s that get together here(along with OC’s) for training and fun.