8 articles
Surfing, sailing, land sailing and snorkeling: enjoying the coast and the ocean with the right habits.
At the beach, nothing stays put for long. The tide rolls in and out, the wind swings around, and a break that was firing at sunrise can be a whole different story by afternoon. This section helps you read those changes before you paddle out, rig a sailboat, or roll a land yacht onto the sand. Bodyboarding, windsurfing, and wing foiling have a place here too, and so do the big lakes where people sail as well.
You’ll find help planning a session: reading a tide chart and a marine forecast, knowing where the official versions are posted, and making sense of swell and wind predictions. Then there’s gear, from a snorkeling mask to a first surfboard, with a wetsuit that fits the season somewhere in between. The rules that decide who gets which stretch of water have their own guides too, from swimming areas to surf etiquette, plus the protected areas where wildlife comes first.
Simple habits get their share of attention, like watching the water for a while before you go in, or letting someone know when you plan to be back. So do the classic mistakes, whether it’s a board that’s too small for a beginner or a session planned around your schedule instead of the tide. To learn the techniques, a surf school or a sailing club is still the right place, and our guides mostly help you pick a good one.
Our approach doesn’t change from one section to the next: practical guides, official sources named, and numbers explained instead of just listed. A swell period or a wind speed only means something once you know how to read it, so we spell out what it tells you about your day on the water. Rules come straight from the official texts, with the date we checked them and a callout for each state or agency when they differ. When a session is described, it’s told by the person who was in the water. This section is for people just discovering the ocean and for regulars who check the surf report before their first cup of coffee.
OceanRules and regulations
Since March 1, 2022, the mast of supervised French beaches has flown rectangular green, yellow or red flags set by decree: yellow took the place of the old orange pennant. Purple is not in the decree. Two red-and-yellow flags mark the supervised zone, and everywhere else you swim at your own risk.
Chloé Schmidt··6 min
Cold water swimming for beginners: why the first minutes are the danger, why no safe duration is published, who should see a doctor, and what research shows.
Arnaud Couderc··8 min
Find your surfboard volume in liters from your weight and skill level: the tool, Firewire’s chart, Lost’s ranges, and where each one stops being reliable.
Julien de Jurquet··7 min
Significant wave height, period, direction, swell vs. wind waves, offshore wind: what the numbers in a swell forecast mean, source by source.
Arnaud Couderc··17 min
Surf schools, certified instructors, foam boards, right-of-way rules, beach flags, and rip currents: how to start surfing safely, country by country.
Arnaud Couderc··16 min
3/2, 4/3, 5/4: which wetsuit thickness for which water temperature, when to add booties, gloves, and a hood, and how warm the water gets along US coasts.
Nolwenn Bastide··8 min
How to calculate surfboard volume: your weight times a coefficient for your skill level, the charts from Firewire and Lost, and how shape changes the math.
Nolwenn Bastide··8 min
High and low tide, tidal range, France’s coefficient from 20 to 120, and the rule of twelfths with an example: how tides work and where to find tide times.
Nolwenn Bastide··8 min
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