‘Waves? Up here?’:
How the North East remains England’s best kept surfing secret and why you should take advantage of it
29/10/2024
By Max Owen
Photo Credits: Ian Forsyth
When people typically think about surfing in England their minds are often drawn to the Atlantic shores of Devon and Cornwall. For years the surf industry in this country has revolved around these areas, with the majority of interest and financial investment occurring accordingly. But, despite its frigid temperature and somewhat unappealing colour, the North Sea year on year produces genuinely world-class waves, harbours flourishing and ever-growing surf communities, and continues to fly under the UK’s mainstream surf radar.
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As an avid surfer myself, I was initially hesitant to choose Durham as my university for fear of having little or no access to surf. Having lived in London and Cornwall, I’d heard only a small amount about the potential for waves in the Northeast, aside from a few mutterings about towns like Tynemouth and Saltburn. This made my decision to reject an offer from Exeter even tougher, as momentarily it felt as if I was completely forfeiting the chance to engage in the sport that I loved for years of my young adult life. I almost didn’t even bother lugging up any of my wetsuit gear or a board as the whole stretch of coast, from what I’d gathered, was a complete write-off from a surfing perspective.
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Now as I head into my fourth year as a Durham student, I can confirm this is far from the reality. I’ve been very fortunate over the past few years to have travelled to some amazingly surf-rich countries among the likes of Indonesia, Costa Rica and Sri Lanka; yet I can comfortably say from experience that there are waves in the North East that rival any of these countries’ best surf breaks quality for quality.
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Admittedly, it does take a certain type of individual to be comfortable waking up at 4am in February, when the outside air temperature is in the negative degrees Celsius, stepping onto a patch of snow-covered grass before slipping on 6 millimeters of sopping wet neoprene and plunging into a 6 degrees Arctic ice bath, and still manage to end the session with a smile on your face. But if you can overcome these mental and physical obstacles, in return the North Sea can offer you the wave of your life. ​
"Some of the weirdest and whackiest waves in the UK call this stretch of coast home"
Referred to by many as the ‘cold water Bali’, a tiny fishing town down the coast from Durham - which out of respect for the locals I obviously will not name - plays host to 4 world-class surf breaks, whose quality match that of any of the breaks on the famous Indonesian holiday island. When the swell and wind conditions are right, surfers from all parts of the country will make the trek up the country to score the waves that the North Sea has to offer. And for a day or two per year every single sponsored surfer and who’s who of the UK surf community will paddle out on this one tiny stretch of sandstone reef in search of spitting barrels. The quality of surfing on display during those few hours when the tide is just right and low enough is utterly jaw-dropping.
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Some of the weirdest and whackiest waves in the UK call this stretch of coast home. One in particular that my friends and I frequent is entirely and unintentionally man-made. Big, jagged boulders placed along a sea wall for the purpose of coastal protection have created a ‘reef’ setup that, when the swell angle is right, creates perfect, peeling waves that break all the way down the point. The first few hardy souls to attempt to surf the wave some 20 years ago quickly discovered it was far from as idyllic as it initially appeared. Rancid water flowing directly out of a major North East city combined with rusty iron poles protruding out in the most precarious of places was enough to put the majority of casual surfers off the break. The recipe for success at this spot, they found, was immense courage, having a few screws loose and a mandatory post-surf Coca Cola (yes this actually works!).
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And although surfing at this particular spot may not be amazingly beneficial for one's health, surfing in general is. As a university student, surfing provides me with an ideal way to de-stress and reset from my busy schedule. It’s been proven to be incredibly beneficial for your mental health and physical wellbeing, with ‘surf therapy’ growing in popularity year-on-year. It can also be a great social activity and a way to meet like-minded people and fellow surf-keen students.
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So hopefully your major takeaway having read this article is to keep the North East in your thoughts when planning your next surf trip. There are so many amazing waves to be surfed or even discovered up here. And if you’re at a Northern university and have ruled out surfing in your mind during your studies: don’t! The water may be cold, but the waves are fun and the locals even friendlier. But more generally I would encourage everyone to go surfing, wherever you live or study. It has so many amazing benefits, both physical and psychological. And you’ll never experience anything else quite like post-surf sleep!