First Order

First Order: Why is Black's Beach bigger than surrounding breaks?

A wave model ran 20 swells over La Jolla's real seafloor, then erased the canyon and ran them again. Blacks wins every time, but not the way you think.

Aug 17 • Kevin Okun

First Order: How does the seafloor change a swell on its way in?

A long-period swell arrives facing the beach on both coasts.

Aug 3 • Kevin Okun

First Order: Which swell directions can actually reach your break?

Two breaks a few miles apart can read the same buoy and yet be nothing alike.

Jul 27 • Kevin Okun

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts

Science of Surfing

First Order