Point Judith Surf Guide

Point Judith Surf Guide

From a distance, Point Judith appears to be the ultimate East Coast pointbreak. It's not until you drive into the parking lot overlooking the break that you will see that Point Judith is actually a series of separate, distinct breaks -- sometimes connecting for a section or two, but most often not. Quickly, you realize this is not the J-Bay of the East. Access to the break involves climbing down to a rocky beach and negotiating a boulder-strewn lineup to reach the surf. The rocks are covered with black moss and are extremely slippery, especially when wet. Barnacles cover many of the rocks in the surf zone, and no channel exists for paddling. This won't be a problem in small-to-medium swells, but when the larger swells roll into town and across the reef at Judith, they come with strong currents and board-breaking power.

The south side of the point has what has been referred to as a "death zone", located near a large breakwater where unfortunate (read unknowledgeable) surfers sometimes find themselves in a no-win situation of being pinned in a rocky corner by the current and surf. A good local hint is that the point, while well-exposed to the wind, can still be really fun and uncrowded on large, windblown, winter days. Though if you're looking for complete solitude, you might as well keep trekking on -- Point Judith is the main wave for most of the surfers living in Rhode Island's South County.