We grabed a few standup boards and zipped out to the Shipping channel in Texas City to ride the tanker swell on Friday. The fog had forced over 60 large vessels to wait off shore and on Friday they weather cleared so it was busy. Over a two hour period we managed to catch 4 tankers with Chest and higher waves. Took us a little while to get it dialed in but I think we got it now. I’ve never rode tanker waves without a kite attached to me so it was a interesting experience for sure.
Myth: You’re dangerously close to the tankers when you’re surfing
Truth: To tanker surf you’re actually a safe distance away from the tanker and on a sand bar that is 4-5ft in depth so you can actually stand in most places.
Myth: You can get sucked in to the tanker by the current
Truth: The tanker swell hits well after the tanker has already passed so even if you did get sucked out toward the channel it wouldn’t be into a boat and even this I’ve never experienced.
Myth: It is illegal to tanker surf
Truth: When you’re tanker surfing you’re well outside of the channel and no where near the actual tankers so you’re posing no threat to the vessels navigation or safety.
Myth: People tanker surf all over the place
Truth: The Galveston Bay is one of the only places in the world you can tanker surf because of its unique shallow bay..
Myth: Tanker surfing is lame
Truth: It is really fun but it is usually a longer wait between sets from normal surfing.
The Texas City Dike is the closest place to launch and catch tanker waves in the Galveston bay. You can also launch out of Eagle point but it is a bit more of a drive out to the channel. Kitesurfing on tanker waves is easier than just regular surfing because you can catch the wave and ride it using the power of the kite. The problem there is the wind direction and the direction of the swell need to match up pretty well for you to actually ride. We’ll have some pics and video from the next outing to post
Does anyone know if you can tanker surf off the ship channel side of the Texas City dikes? I was going to try it without a boat. Just paddle out and see what I could catch. Thanks
If there is a better place please let me know.
Fran,
Yes we do it all the time. You’ll want a boat though as you’ll have to paddle a mile or more out depending on the tide. Also, the tanker waves are moving very quickly so you may miss them after all that hard work paddling out there. It is a great spot to do it though. The break starts between the two large channel markers on pilings about 200m from the edge of ship channel.
Thanks.
How about just off of Redfish Island. There appear to be good waves in the shallows just to the south of the island.
Yes, it breaks great out there but just a little harder to get to with a boat. The spot off the dike is very close to the ramp and also the kite shop in Texas city. We’ve definitely ridden tanker swell off Redfish on our kites many times and it was good.