Do You Know Why Sucky, Hollow, And Spitting Waves Are Good Surfing Waves?

Sucky, hollow and spitting refer to good wave form. Experienced surfers are always on the lookout for these waves. Do you know how to spot them and use them?

Sucky Waves

Sucky waves generally occur alongside channels, where a fast-moving rip is rushing out to sea.  The water rushing out to sea hits the incoming wave and has nowhere to go but up, and over, the wave.  The movement of the outgoing water causes the water to be “sucked” out and up and over the wave.  This creates a much faster continuous drop down the wave face. 

You can see if the waves are sucky by checking for any rip or current moving out to sea.  Check if other surfers out the back are paddling into the shore to stay in position. This also indicates that the waves will be sucky. 

When you are riding the wave, the effect of a strong rip or current can be felt in waves.  If you are surfing, you will feel that you are going much faster than you would normally be. 

The faster the rip/current, the more sucky the waves will be. ie. more water rushing up over the wave face. 

These waves are ideal for surfing as the continuous wall (drop) allows you to perform manoeuvres.  However, the waves could be sucky and still not have good shape. Check for rips/currents and how fast they are moving and whether the wave has good form.

Sucky waves are generally found on beach breaks.  Also, cross currents/rips can cause waves to be sucky at other breaks.

Hollow

Hollow refers to a wave that stands up before throwing over (breaking). 

A space is created between the wave face and the water that is throwing over.  Hollow breaking waves are usually assisted by an off-shore wind. The wind blowing off the shore hits the incoming wave causing the wave to be “hollow”.  Hollow waves are ideal for getting tube rides.

Spitting

Spitting occurs when a wave is tubing.  As the wave shuts down, the air and water vapour trapped inside the tube is compressed, throwing air and water out the end of the tube as a fine spray.  The spray is referred to as “spitting”. 

If you see waves that are spitting, this indicates that the wave is ideal for getting tube rides.

Reform

A reform happens when a breaking wave starts to fade into deeper water and then forms back into a new breaking wave closer to the shore.

For example:  a big wave may be breaking in a dumping/close out situation and it then travels into deep water.  At this point, the breaking wave stops breaking.  Then, as it travels in and hits a sandbank or underwater formation, it will start to break again.  The wave is said to have “reformed”.

The wave can reform into good left or right hand breaks.

Step

A step occurs when a wave forms within a wave creating an extra drop in the wave face. Steps in the wave usually occur over reef or rock surfaces but can also occur over sandbanks especially where there are fast running currents and rips.

As the wave moves across submerged formations (reef, rocks, sandbanks), the wave can suck back over that formation. As the wave stands up, it creates another wave below the original wave.This looks like a step. Steps can be any size.

Look out for steps when riding a wave. They can form up in front of you. The best way to handle the wave with steps is to angle across and down the step as soon as possible, before the step builds up too much.  

Before entering the water, you can check to see if steps are occurring and at which places on the waves. That way, you are aware and prepared to handle them.

Double Up

A double up will occur when one wave, travelling to the shore, catches up to another wave. When this happens, the wave you are riding on increases in size to incorporate both waves. Double ups can happen at any time, especially with uneven swell conditions.

The effect on the wave you are riding could be either good or bad.  It could cause the wall of your wave to build up providing more drop for you and therefore more speed. Or the double-up can cause the wave to get too large and close-out. 

When riding on the wave, you will be able to see if your wave is catching up to another wave. Try to turn down the wave in front of you and into the new drop (the double up).  Some surfers use a hopping technique to perform this manoeuvre.

In this photo, the wave behind has caught the wave in front. The wave is about to double up.

As we see, wave type plays a pivotal role in the sort of ride you can expect. Are you going to catching regular shade from barrels formed by hollow faces, or is it going to be a rip-roaring speed assault down the face of a sucky wave, or anything in between? The possibilities on a wave are as endless as the waves themselves. Each ride will offer fresh escape and instil memories of wonderful spitting monsters and frothy-faced mountains that despite their obvious differences have two things in common. They all meet their resting place on the sand, and they all paint gleeful smiles across the faces of surfers everywhere.