After a winter of cold weather and cold water, I headed south last weekend for a four-day sea kayak surfing trip. First stop was Folly Beach, SC, just outside Charleston.  We had great weather and caught the tides just right for long wave trains at the south end of the island.

We met a couple of paddlers from Sea Kayak Carolina and they gave us some local insight on the inlet, and mentioned the north end can be even more aggressive with lots of chop.  So of course we headed there first thing on Saturday morning.  It was definitely rougher water and fun practice for bracing and aggressive edging and turning. However, we were there to surf, and the waves just weren’t quite as fun.  After paddling out to the second wave train just south of the lighthouse, we headed for the beach, packed up and went to the south end again.

The waves, and beach wildlife, were much better and cleaner, and we spent several hours getting long rides — some up to 75–100 yards, and smiles that lasted the rest of the day.

Saturday night we drove on down to Tybee, had dinner and hit the sack.  Sunday started with a good meal at The Breakfast Club, then meeting up with the local “Sunday morning surf” group.  We were headed out at low tide, so had to paddle to Little Tybee before heading out nearly a mile to catch some fun waves.  They got even better as the tide turned, with several nice 3-4 footers coming through from time to time.  None of it was huge, but it was clean and fun.  There were also plenty of dolphin around, which is always nice.

Monday morning was more of the same, before heading North again, and home.  All in all, a fantastic trip!