BEACH TERMS
(AS COMPILED IN EARTH911.ORG)

Here are some of our favorites:

Ebb tide - The time period after high tide until low tide; often referred to as the time that the "tide is going out"

Flood tide - The time period after low tide until high tide. This is often referred to as the time that the "tide is coming in"

Jetty - Wall built out into the water to restrain currents or protect a structure

Rip Currents - A strong current of water returning seaward from near the shore, caused by sandbars diverting the return flow of water to breaks as they develop in the sandbar.

Sets - Colloquial term used by surfers to describe a series of better-than-average waves that break one after one another

Spit - A type of beach, or bar, that has formed by the movement and accumulation of sediment; typically forms at points along littoral currents when the coast turns inwards, and the current can no longer handle the amount of sediment it was transporting

Storm surge - Rise in the water surface above normal water level on the open coast due to the action of wind stress and atmospheric pressure on the water surface

Swash - the intermittent flow of water washing on shore, driven by the action of breaking waves

Wrack - Algae, plant/animal matter and drift material (including solid wastes and other pollutants) that accumulate on beaches, usually at the high tide mark

Wrack line - A row of debris running parallel to the shore, cast ashore and stranded by the last high tide

SURFING TERMS
(AS COMPILED BY SURFING-WAVES.COM)

Here are some of our favorites:

Barrel - where the wave is hollow when it is breaking. For some surfers it's the be all and end all of surfing. Sometimes called a Tube.

Bottom Turn - The turn made at the base of the wave when coming down off the face. Often the first move made after dropping in. Get it right for great positioning for your next maneuver.

Carve/Carving - The classic surfing maneuver. Basically what turning on a wave is called. Carve is also a surfing magazine found in Europe.

Fakie - Riding backwards on the surfboard, tail first. Also what you are if you are only reading this page so you can pretend that you are a surfer.

Foamies - Used for both whitewater waves and also surfboards that are made out of foam (ideal for beginners).

Hang Ten - Riding a longboard with both feet right on the nose of the board. Also the name of a longboard magazine.

In the Soup - A term used when a surfer is in the white foam of the wave after the wave has broken.

Mullering - Wipe-out of the highest order.

Stoked - Very happy.

YouTube Videos - Click on the term to see video

RIP CURRENT
BARREL
BOTTOM TURN
HANG TEN
MULLERING

Wikipedia links - Click on the term to see video

SWASH

STORM SURGE