SPI360

A line up photo from South Padre Island, 2003.

SESSIONS-2009

TEXAS-GULF COAST

Spring ’09 Just a few, but it’s good to be back on the beach and in the
water! pics

SESSIONS-2008
TEXAS-GULF COAST

August – still Jonesin’ it. Photo
Gallery

August – Jonesin’ the South Padre Summer. Photo
Gallery

May 24 – Texas State Surfing Championships Photo
Gallery

MEXICO
PACIFIC COAST

Did I ever tell you about the biggest clean-up set I’ve ever seen?! Pics

The Ten Dollar Surfboard
What would you do with an old thruster that has tail cancer? I’m not sure
about you, but Paolo Schulte bought one for 100 pesos, scooped out the
damaged tail and center skeg, sealed it and surfed it! Check out some
rich moves on a cheap board,

Sayulita Rippers Photo
Gallery Sequence madness from a few guys of the Sayulita crew. Check
Adan Hernandez doing some sick little shove-its, Dylan Southworth gets
some pits and Adrian also floats in for a quick snap.

Some more shots from December-January. Photo
Gallery

Spicey Tex-Mex
Nathan Floyd and crew show up in Mainland Mexico.

Random Surf- Photo
Gallery

1/14 Photo
Gallery You should have been here tomorrow. That’s all I can say to
all my Texas buddies that split after new year’s. Yeah, I know…not all
of us are able to take vacations based on swell maps but what a difference
a little west makes in a north swell. At least it wasn’t flat during anyone’s
visit. After surfing head high and under for almost a month, some size
finally found it’s way down here. Nothing crazy, but it did take away
30 feet of beach right in front of my camp. Should be exciting for me
if another sizeable swell hits. I may have to move…

-2007-South Padre Island-

12/12 Photo
Gallery A cold front is bearing down on South Padre today. The current
swell has gone down since yesterday and will soon be blown to shreds when
the front arrives. A late afternoon session turns out to be decent and
gets a little better for evening. Shawn was out testing a new board, so
I did some testing of my own with the camera.

12/11 Photo
Gallery First session I’ve had in quite awhile. Didn’t take too many
pics, but I squeezed a few off just minutes before sunset. It was a windy
session, but the outside was cranking if you picked the right one. Today
was the first time I’ve ever been sprayed with buckets of chunk from a
longboard. Thanks for sharing part of that killer wave Vern! And by that
I mean slicing off the top third of it and sending it back over the shoulder
to shower me. ha ha…

11/16 Photo
Gallery Winds have already shifted back to the SE. Check out some
pics from an afternoon and evening session. The Texas Clipper passed by,
on it’s way to a new home at the bottom of the gulf.

11/14 Photo
Gallery Finally some peeling waves! By late afternoon a small groundswell
finds it’s way to the island. A cold front is on the way so winds will
be blasting out of the north soon. It’ll be victory at sea in the morning
but we’ll see what happens after the initial chaos.

11/13 Photo
Gallery Tiny surf…

11/12 Photo
Gallery Consistent waist high waves today. No real jump in swell size
yet.

11/11 Photo
Gallery Waves were bunk for the weekend but by late Sunday afternoon
hints of a building wind swell started to show.

11/2 Photo
Gallery Slowly fading swell, shifting East winds…

10/31 Photo
Gallery Plenty of swell in the water, but very unfavorable winds.
For three days, a decent ENE swell was coming in at 5-7 foot with long
period characteristics (about 9 sec.). Each morning offered side-offshore
winds, from the NNW, but by lunch-time the winds would shift to the dreaded
NNE chop producing sloppiness. Any direction is better than NE! Oh well,
the bump was in the Gulf and while much of it was on the horizon heading
south, plenty of rideable waves were wrapping into South Padre and Boca
Chica for a few days. The swell is now (11/1)on it’s way down, but if
the wind would just cooperate a little, then the inside could very well
fire up at waist to chest.

10/18 A little bit smaller than yesterday, but still fun and with nearly
offshore winds. Photo
Gallery

10/16 Winds have slacked off and turned easterly, the swell jumped up
and the sunshine is flowing. Photo
Gallery

10/15 Small and very strong south wind. Just a couple
pics from this session.

Check out some killer South Padre water-shots taken by Mark Devillier!
MORE

10/2-4 A nice swell rolls in to help kick off October. Even if the tropics
haven’t given us exactly what we wanted, the cold fronts are right around
the corner.

Photo
Gallery Surf has been flowing in since the beginning of May and just
about everyone was gettting multiple sessions any day
they chose to hit the beach.

Memorial Expression Session

-Some of April’s Swell Photo Gallery

-Check out Photos from Australia by Calvin Best.
Calvin grew up in SPI during the 70 – 90s and is now living in Australia
(going on 12 years). Check out his pics!

-March 31-April 1 Photo Gallery

-March 27-29 Photo Gallery

spi360 surfing
Joe Garza gives new meaning to spring showers
-March 19-23
The last half of March has been a considerable difference from the first
part. And thankfully so! The waves are still rolling in and there will
be plenty more photos of upcoming sessions..

Picture Gallery
spi360 surf
Paul tossing buckets with style.

-Mid March
Already halfway through March and the surf has been a bummer. A young
windswell finally shows up after an unseasonable flat spell and some surfers
are starting to shed their wetsuits. The waves were mixed up the first
day, but they cleaned up nicely in less than 24 hours.
Picture Gallery
surfing texas gulf coast surf photography
Micah Steph, cranking it hard off the top

-February 24
A warming trend is already upon us. A few sunny days, lots of south wind.
and a Saturday with clogged line-ups at the park reveal slight frustrations
and lots of shredding. Spring is here!

Picture Gallery
south padre surf
Paul throws a gaf on this small insider.

-February 20-21
Jonesing is the word! Big enough to paddle out, but too small to write
about.
Picture Gallery
Carlos hitting hard and fast.

-February 12
More swell pumping across the Gulf from a long fetched east wind. It seems
that this El Nino Winter has produced a combination of windier than normal
cold fronts that blast from the north, and also some lazier fronts that
develop over the upper gulf and pass toward Florida without actually hitting
south Texas. After the front moves through the Gulf, the winds begin clocking
around to the SE. It takes about two days and that’s just enough time
to send some chilled deep water with long period characteristics straight
into the south Texas coast.
Picture Gallery
surf pics
Arthur Bourban, from Hossegor France, stretching the limits of Gulf Coast
surf!

-February 6
Three days of swell and three French rippers mingle with the locals, deep
in the south of Texas! What started as a typical low-key, slightly obscure
afternoon on the small Tex-Mex sandspit would suddenly change when three
young travellers entered the water. Arthur Bourban(19) from Hossegor,
Rudy Marechal(17) from Capbreton, and Marc Milienne(21) from Martinique
all hail from France and all hell broke loose when these guys hit the
waves.

The trio of surfers are traveling with professional photographer, Antoine
Quinquis and working on a story to appear in Surf Session Magazine, published
in France. It should be released between May and September, says Antoine.
Based on the photos that were sent to help identify the riders, you should
definitely look into getting a copy of that mag! Let’s hope all goes well
and the story makes it to the final cut.

The group was based out of Corpus and within a day and a half they had
surfed Bob Hall Pier, Boca Chica, South Padre and back to Bob Hall again.
One guy had to fly out early and missed the best size of the swell. It
turned out to be very fun during the peak of the swell on the outside
here in S.P.I., and some photos surfacing from Corpus that day also show
some thumpin’ waves. Between all those surf spots and a rising swell,
the group is bound to have some gems.
Picture Gallery
adre
Small, but kind. The cove pulsed with life…
Picture Gallery
padre island surfing
Chuck Allan, helping to burn off the fog

-January 14
Is that a foghorn in your wetsuit? After watching the Coast Guard on Saturday
miss the offshore jetties and come way too close to the surfers on the
outside, it might be a good idea to pack a whistle or something. The fog
has been very dense lately and it only disappears for brief moments as
south winds move rapidly along the coast. This is the typical pattern
for coastal-south Texas and it will continue until March. Surf pics this
time of year, at this beach are gonna look crappy. But at least it captures
the moment, yeah?

Speaking of moments, there were a few of them this weekend. During high
tide on Saturday, about 3pm, the outside managed to produce clean headhigh
waves. It turned on real strong for a couple hours out there but fizzled
out before anyone could bag more than a dozen rides. It definitely didn’t
last long enough for me to paddle in and get behind the camera. So, since
I missed that one, I went ahead and stayed behind the lens on Sunday all
day. Even throughout the spanking good session that happened late afternoon
and evening. After waiting for three days throughout a mixed up swell,
the inside finally got hollow. Joe snagged a killer barrel and an unidentified
rider scored another. Everyone was blowing up! The action was great, but
the weather was dreary.

-Jan 25
Smiley Cranking up the R.P.M.’s

-January 4
The New Year is up and running with several days of rideable waves. In
between the frequent cold fronts, the waves on the southern coast have
been predominantly a chilled east-swell. Local winds have been soft, unless
it’s in the middle of the front of course. The relaxed winds allow the
onset of fog and drizzle, creating a classic winter setting on the Texas
Gulf Coast. But if you don’t like that weather, just wait a moment because
a change is bound to happen.

The lineup has been sparse lately, as a few local surfers have gone into
Mexico for some Pacific Winter bombs. As well, the shorter days keep many
inlanders from making that late afternoon run to the beach. Spring will
change all that in a short time, but for now it’s time for some chilly
winter days on the beach with a few friends.

-2007-
Picture Gallery
Ray Benavides carves on a glassy nugget.
-December 20-21
So far December weather has kicked up some decent waves. The latest round
of cold-front induced swell weighed in light, at waist to chest high,
but local winds were favorable. Glassy sessions and an afternoon of light
offshores made up for only three hours of sunshine in two days.

Picture Gallery
screaming offshores served for lunch.

November 28-30
The last few days of November end with some fun waist-chest high waves.
At noon on the last day of the month, a cold front blew us into December
with gale force winds. The temperature dropped almost twenty degrees in
two hours, which could put a serious dent in local water temp. With waters
measuring 72 degrees before the front, unless December holds a fair share
of sunny days, it looks like it’s time to cover with some rubber.
Picture Gallery
Surf Shots South Padre Island September 23-24, 2006 South Padre Island
Rod parks it in a dredging curl during a September session.
Picture Gallery
Joe Garza, boosting during a punchy October session.
Picture Gallery
Surfing Texas Gulf Coast
Larry Trevino snags one of the nicest waves of the day, Sat. 10/7.
Picture Gallery
Surf Shots September 18th 2006 south padre island
Paul swacks some inside vert.

September 18
After one of the flattest summers in recent history, and nearly a complete
let down of seasonal tropical activity, things are looking better as Fall
starts with back to back cool fronts.

So far the south wind suck-up from each front has produced two surfable
weekends in a row. While the later one (Sept. 23rd) produced a larger
swell, the ENE wind blasted shortly after dawn and blew away any hopes
of a grooming wind, unlike the first cool front the weekend prior (Sept.
18th).

That one only produced a waist high swell, but gentle NW winds wandered
in on a monday and made for an awesome lunch at the beach with overcast
skies. Even at waist and occasional chest high, the dredgers dumped over
a knee deep sandbar and managed to snap two boards in a few hours. Both
boards were ridden by Mark Scott, who said he’s never snapped a board
until now. Ouch!

	Beach Bettys & Bikini Models