Amplitude

This is the vertical distance from still water level to wave peak. (Approximately half
the height of the wave)

Barrel
The barrel is the hollow part of a breaking wave where there is a gap between the
face of the wave and the lip of the wave as it curls over. One of the highlights for
any surfer is catching a tube ride. See "Tube."

Bathymetry
This is the measurement of water depth at various places in a body of water

Capillary Waves
These are the first small waves created when the wind blows on the sea. (I.e. baby
swell)

Chop
Moderate local winds form little waves known as chop which can kill a good surf
session. It's also known as "wind chop."

Closeout
This is a wave that breaks along its entire length at the same time making it
unsurfable. Closeouts can either be caused by a strong offshore wind or sea floor
topography. It's also called "shutting down."

Corduroy
This is a swell line that looks like corduroy. See this corduroy swell picture that
illustrates it perfectly.

Crest

The crest is the highest part of the wave above still water level. See also "Peak."

Crumble / Crumbly Waves

Waves affected by an onshore wind are said to crumble. The lip of the waves will
"crumble" along the line and as a result spoil the waves for surfers.

Decay of Waves / Wave Decay

This is the decrease in wave height and increase in wavelength of a wave once it's
outside the fetch.

Diffraction
When the wave comes into contact with an obstacle or barrier such as a
breakwater, the energy of the wave is transmitted along a wave crest. Diffraction is
the "spreading" of waves into the sheltered region within the barrier's geometric
shadow.

Dumpy Shore Break

Waves that are breaking very close to shore in shallow water. They can be great fun
to ride, but be careful not to break your board.

Fetch
Fetch is the area of sea surface where the wind generates the waves / swells. It's
one of the key facets of the quality of a swell and the size of the waves.

Fully Developed Sea

Waves that have reached the maximum size possible for fetch, wind speed and wind
duration are referred to as being fully developed.

Grinder / Grinding Wave

A powerful breaking wave. "The waves were grinding along the reef"

Glassy
Waves that have incredibly smooth faces due to the lack of local wind or a slight
offshore wind. Have a look at this picture of a glassy Huntingdon Beach wave.

Ground Swell
This is when the waves are no longer being affected by the winds that generated
them, typically outside the fetch.

Left
A "left" is a wave that breaks from left to right as you are looking from the beach.

Leftover
A wave that has passed through the lineup and not been caught by a surfer.

Lip
The lip is the upper-most part of the breaking wave where a surfer will do
maneuvers such as a floater.

Neap Tide
Smaller than normal tides occurring when the gravitational pull of the sun and moon
are at right angles to the earth.

Offshore Wave
In surfing terms this relates to the wind blowing from the shore. A ground swell
mixed with offshore winds makes for cracking surf.

Onshore Waves
The opposite of offshore waves, these occur when the wind blows toward the beach,
and as a result the waves lose their shape and crumble.

Peak
This is the highest part of the wave above still water level. See also "Crest."

Peak Direction
This is the wave direction at the frequency at which a wave spectrum reaches its
maximum.

Peak Period / Wave Period

This represent the period of time it takes for consecutive wave crests or wave
troughs to pass a given point. The greater the wave period is the better the swell.

Refraction
This represent the tendency of wave crests to become parallel to underwater
contours as waves move into shallower waters. Waves moving in shallow waters
move more slowly than waves moving in deeper water. Refraction can be seen
where waves wrap round a point and their direction seems to change.

Right
A "right" is a wave that breaks from right to left when viewed from the beach

Significant Wave Height

How significant are your wave heights? You are likely to have seen significant wave
height on surf reports. The significant wave height is the average height of the onethird highest waves of a given wave group.

Shoaling
Waves being forced to bunch together as they enter shallower water slow down and
are said to be shoaling.

Shore dump
See dumpy shore break.

Spring Tide
These larger than normal tides occur when the gravitational pull of the sun and
moon are combined in line. This is opposite to neap tides.

Surf
These are waves breaking near the shore. Tadaa!

Surf Zone
This represents the area from the shore out to where the waves start breaking

Tide
Tides are an increase and decrease in sea level resulting from the moon's and, to a
lesser extent, sun's gravitational pull.

Trough
This is the lowest part between two successive waves. It can also be considered the
part between two successive waves below still water level.

Tube
The hollow part of a breaking wave where there is a gap between the face of the
wave and the lip of the wave as it curls over. See "Barrel."

Wall
The steep, unbroken section of a wave, out in front of a surfer. Reason: it looks like a
wall made out of water. You'll probably hear surfers talking about a wave "walling
up".

Wave Direction / Swell Direction

This is the direction from where the waves approach. (Not the direction in which
they are heading) If a surf spot works on a northerly, this refers to a northerly swell
direction.

Wavelength
This is the distance between two corresponding points on successive waves. (i.e.
the distance between two peaks)

Whitewater
This is the foamy part of a wave that has broken