Looks like I’ll be moving to the East Coast in a couple months. It’ll be hard to give up my year round surfing here, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do…
So what’s the deal on the OBX? Can I surf there year round? I already started shopping for a dry suit and have been watching the air temps and weather. What about kite-surfing? Are guys doing that all winter? Is there a forum that OBX surfers hang out at so I can get more info?
Thanks!
Howzit bigkahuna, Man are you in for a shock, extra cold water temps and air temps. After spending time in the islands your blood is thinner and it will take a while for you to climatize. Good Luck. Aloha,Kokua
Mahalo’s Kokua. Yeah, been here for 30 years so the blood’s plenty thin by now. 
My wife was born and raised here and she’s more charged for the move than I am, go figure! Change is good I figure, worst that can happen is we’ll learn to appreciate Hawaii more. Spent a couple weeks in Ohio during January while the temps were in the 20’s. Got my first snowboarding session and I was stoked. But nothing replaces surfing (except maybe kite-surfing) and I’m hoping to get a session or two a week during the winter months if it’s do-able. The nice thing (I hope) about kitesurfing is that I won’t have to sit in the water for long periods of time waiting for a wave. But I want to hear from the locals and hear what they have to say.
BK
I’m not from the outer banks proper (approx. Kill Devil Hills to Hatteras), but I’ve spent a fair bit of time going up there to surf. It is a fantastic place that gets better surf than you might be expecting. I live along the southern outerbanks–though no one calls it that–and try to get up that way when at all possible. Water temps are managable year round. Worst case scenario would require 5/4 with hood/booties/gloves for total comfort. I suspect a 4/3 would suffice as a general proposition. In fact, I’ve surfed in Buxton (near the cape) in Feb wearing a 3/2 many times.
I’m not a kitesurfer, but I do understand the OBX to be one of the best places in world to kite and windsurf—I realize its not Maui or anything but it is a windy place (ask orville and wilbur).
Winter is cold here but not that cold, esp. the last few seasons–certainly not anything like Ohio. Plus, the local people are great. I’ve heard people compare real southern hospitality to aloha.
Where are you going to be moving to exactly? Are you going to be living on the banks or will it be a trip destination?
aloha Big kahuna,
The obx is beautiful, the comments that (the boys) made are pretty much right on target, I dont live there, but travel there it seems like at least once a month for a few days, i believe that is the windsurfing capital in NC, It has the most consistent surf on the east coast, water temps and air temps are seasonal, right now it is about as cold as it gets with water in the low 40’s and air around the same. Its going to be a big change from the islands, however there is lots of aloha in the area. Hope you enjoy it.
Where are you going to be moving to exactly?
We don’t know yet. My business allows me to live almost anywhere (as long as there’s electricity, a phone line and high speed internet) but my wife will probably need to find some sort of job. We’ll probably rent a place for 6 months or so while we settle down and figure out where we want to live, then we hope to buy a house. With median home prices here at nearly $700K, we’ve been forced to live in a condo for the last 6 years. We’ve got a great condo just up the road from Makaha Beach (it’s for sale BTW) but we’re both tired of condo life and want to get our own home. We’d love to move to NC and as close to the OBX as we can, but I’m afraid it’s as expensive there as it is here. How about the “inner” banks or mainland coastal areas of NC, any great places I should look at? How’s Wilmington?
I’m pretty fortunate I think, my wife not only surfs and kitesurfs with me, but is the driving force behind this new adventure. We’re both really excited to explore everything we can over there.
you can surf year round. You are probably gonna need at least a 4/3 wettie w/boots gloves and a hood for the winter. If you get a four wheel drive you are set. the outer banks in the fall is beautifal. Most of the time you can surf by yourself if you feel like exploring. Like they said though, its cold cold cold in the winter. Summer and fall are comfortable though.
edit: water temps can flucuate depending on location because of the gulf stream(?)
NC is great anywhere along the coast. In wilmington i can get away with a 3/2,gloves,booties&hood for just about any winter day. Let us know when you are headed our way, and maybe we can set you in the right coast direction. I also love your web site. awsome stuff!
Yup, definitely gonna get a 4x4 and am thinking about getting one of those dry suits for surfers.
A drysuit is really not necessary. And I don’t want to hear anymore, “It gets cold in NC!” I believe water temps today were around 39 today in RI if not colder. It’s flat unfortunately but really, who wants to go out in those temps?
You should be fine with a 4/3 with boots, hood and gloves. I grew up surfing 85 degree F water. I think just about every day I miss it, but I also remember how small and weak the waves were. There’s definitely a trade-off.
Of course moving from Hawaii will be a lot different, but as someone said before, Southern hospitality is about even with aloha.
Thanks Rachel,
Part of the reason for my interest in a dry suit is that (from what I’ve read) they will give me better maneuverability than a 4/3 wetsuit will. I’ve surfed the US West coast and Japan and wore a thick wetsuit and the biggest thing I hated about it was how restrictive it was. I’ve heard good things about the Ocean Rodeo Pyro Surf and thought it might be worth a try. Of course, for the price of one of those I can probably buy 2 wetsuits, so like anything else there’s always the flip side.
Gotta question for you though: are there many women surfers, kitesurfers there? I know my wife has asked me this question a couple times but I’m never able to give her an answer. Surfing and kitesurfing have become very big with the wahine here. Some spots (like Diamond Head or Barbers Point) seem to have as many or more women there than men.
Hello Kahuna, I am a warm water transplant living in NC too. Originally from Puerto Rico and also lived in Oahu finally ending up in NC. Surprisingly, it only took one season to get used to the cold waters (if there is a such a thing) of the area. OBX waters are usually 5 deg colder than the rest of NC which means around 39 - 41 in the worst of winter. The newer wetsuit technology is way more advance than what it used to be. An Oneill Psycho II 4/3 is pretty much what I use on the heavy winter, with gloves, boots and hood of course. From late May to late Sept its pretty much no wetsuit or maybe a thinskin on windy days. During the fall most people wear a 3/2 with no gloves or boots unless the air temps drop too much. Sadly, the most active season is during the winter ,unless there are some summer storms in the vecinity , so everyone pretty much expect to wear some rubber for the majority of the good sessions. Hope that helps some.
Quote:Where are you going to be moving to exactly?
We don’t know yet. My business allows me to live almost anywhere (as long as there’s electricity, a phone line and high speed internet) but my wife will probably need to find some sort of job. We’ll probably rent a place for 6 months or so while we settle down and figure out where we want to live, then we hope to buy a house. With median home prices here at nearly $700K, we’ve been forced to live in a condo for the last 6 years. We’ve got a great condo just up the road from Makaha Beach (it’s for sale BTW) but we’re both tired of condo life and want to get our own home. We’d love to move to NC and as close to the OBX as we can, but I’m afraid it’s as expensive there as it is here. How about the “inner” banks or mainland coastal areas of NC, any great places I should look at? How’s Wilmington?
I’m pretty fortunate I think, my wife not only surfs and kitesurfs with me, but is the driving force behind this new adventure. We’re both really excited to explore everything we can over there.
Re real estate - yes, prices from Coroba/Corolla all the way down to Hatteras Village (you won’t find much for sale on Okracoke) are pretty much out of sight. There has been some price erosion of late, but we are still talking about a minimum of $400,000 for a pretty marginal house well away from the beach, and ~$1MM for just the lot for anything directly on the beach or sound. I took a pricing trip around the inside of Pamlico Sound two years ago when we were down and the weather and surf both sucked. It was cheaper, but not as much as you might think - I didn’t see anything I regarded as a bargain. You might want to consider locating inland West of Roanoke Island. It’s somewhat cheaper, and within a reasonable drive of the Banks (however, you’d be at least an hour away from surf of any kind). Keep in mind that it takes a couple of hours or more to traverse the entire Banks coast, and more than half of the good swells come from the North.
Regarding water temp - I’ve seen >60F as early as April, and as late as October. If you are fairly cold tolerant, you could probably make it through 7-8 months without boots and gloves.
-Samiam
I believe water temps today were around 39 today in RI if not colder. It’s flat unfortunately but really, who wants to go out in those temps?
“Who”? Lots of people, that’s who. As you said, wetsuits have improved over the years, so that even on a mid Winter day when the air temp is 26, you will find 30 guys out, at one spot. 39 isn’t that bad for Feb in New England. I’ve seen ( and surfed) water temps of 28 or so. With the air temp around 12.
Part of the reason for my interest in a dry suit is that (from what I’ve read) they will give me better maneuverability than a 4/3 wetsuit will.
Definitely not. A dry suit might feel loose and free on land, but as soon as you immerse yourself in the water, the difference in pressure inside vs. outside the suit will squeeze you and your limbs tight. As an example, stick your hand in a long plastic bag and immerse it in a bucket of water. Then imagine that uniform squeezing sensation around your entire body. It is very awkward and restrictive. I definitely advise going with the wetsuit vs. drysuit.
BK:
Wilmington is crowded and expensive, but probably not as much so as oahu. Surf can get pretty good in this area too but largely being a surfer here is more about talk and frustration than actually riding waves, hehe. Everyone seems to be wanting to live at the coast these days, surfer or not. We have a major sewage problem in the city now and had several hundred thousand gallons of the raw stuff pumped into our estauries just last year.
I suppose by inner banks you are referring to sound side waters. Whew, up north that is truly the ‘sticks.’ You’re between the pamlico sound and the great dismal swamp and that’s about it. You’re a good distance from surf there too. I can’t imagine too many women who would be happy with that situation.
Further south, interior areas like harker’s island, cedar island, sea level, are also the sticks but really beautiful and peaceful. I’ve heard though that land there is more expensive now and there is a push to build marinas and all that crap (I can’t for the like of me figure out where all these rich people come from). These spots are a ferry ride away from some cool surfing spots and the beginning of the obx. Also, the people there have a crazy accent folks call ‘high tider’ (pronounced hoi toidah). It sound’s like they’re from southwest england (it’s a real dialectal phenomenon). This area is actually where my family is originally from–I have some relatives who are high tiders.
Further south Emerald Isle and Topsail Island are cool areas and get some decent waves out of the south–usually set up well with the southerly hurricane swells and the preceding northerly winds.
If you can afford 100K per year in homeowners association dues, then private figure 8 island may be for you. All kinds of famous people have places out there. I’ve employed guerilla tactics to surf there with decent results.
That brings us back down to wrightville beach then carolina beach–which sort of fall in the wilmington category.
If you really want to live in a cool, quaint town near surf, you might want to check out Beaufort (near atlantic beach) or Manteo (across bridge from nags head on the banks). If I had my druthers, I’d live up there in manteo. My wife would go insane though.
Cool towns not quite so near the surf (but within 1.5 hrs and nearer to sound waters) include Bath, Little Washington, New Bern, Southport.
As far as kiting goes, there is a pretty heavy kiting community up on the outbanks as far as I can tell. There are also a growing number of kiters on wrightsville beach, and my firm actually represents a new kitesurfing shop and school on topsail island to support that community there (contracts/organization stuff–no lawsuits…yet!hehe).
I’ve never seen a dry suit in the water in nc, but hell… if you wanna stay warm… do what you gotta do.
feel free to rock the pm if you have any more questions.
Newport was around 33 yesterday apparently.
Sure, there will be lots of guys out, but that’s if there’s swell! Which there isn’t. It would take a decent clean swell to get me out into that water.
As for women surfers, as NC is a large coastal area with favorable temps, I would imagine there are a lot. I don’t know anyone personally who lives down there, but do know quite a few women who drive down from DC when the waves are working.
Newport was around 33 yesterday apparently.
Water temp? Where did you get that number from? If you’re using the NDBC station, “NWPR1”, that’s not a good indicator. It’s up in the bay, near Coddington Cove. The water in the bay is colder in Winter, and warmer in Summer. Take a look at Montauk Buoy (44 f), or even BUZM3 (41 f). I seriously doubt that the water at any spots in Newp is much below 40.
i don’t see too many females in the winter months, occasionally if it’s a nice day and small longboard conditions there are a few girls that will put on the wetsuit, don’t see a lot when it’s really cold or big and hollow
summer is packed in town with girls, moms, kids from kansas, old farts, young farts, and all the local talent
I just grabbed that from the NODC site. It’s mostly like a buoy in the bay, but I still think 33 is not favorable.
Unfortunately there aren’t any good sites that give accurate water temps for the beaches. Warm Winds just lists Gansett as 37-41.
Anyway, I believe the whole point of this is that I would take NC over RI any winter day. Except when the waves are better here.