Mexican skimboarder Yahir Valencia, from Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, has officially clinched the 2025 Euro Skim Tour (EST), wrapping up a perfect season with his third consecutive win at the Open Européen de Skimboard in La Tranche-sur-Mer, France.

Valencia is the first-ever Mexican skimboarder to win the Euro Skim Tour title.

Valencia placed first in the Open Men's Division at all three EST stops this year: Santa Cruz (Portugal), Caños de Meca (Spain), and La Tranche-sur-Mer (France).

The Euro Skim Tour brought together an international field of professional skimboarders representing Portugal, Spain, France, Brazil, and Mexico.

The 2025 circuit included three of Europe's most prominent skimboard locations, each known for its world-class waves and strong local skimboarding culture.

"I couldn't be happier with this achievement," Valencia said.

"It's been an incredible journey full of effort, dedication, and discipline - and now it's time to enjoy the results."

"I want to thank Zap Skimboards for their constant support, my friends, my family, and everyone who sent me good vibes throughout this process."

"See you next year with more enthusiasm and energy than ever."

Climbing the International Skimboarding Ladder

A consistent global contender, Valencia has finished runner-up on the United Skim Tour (UST) - the world's premier professional skimboarding circuit - in both 2022 and 2023.

Since 2022, he has claimed five UST victories, including the 2024 El Rey de Lovers contest in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, home to some of the heaviest skimboard waves in the world.

Professional skimboarding combines elements of surfing and skateboarding, with athletes sprinting from the beach and sliding out to meet incoming waves and performing advanced technical maneuvers as they ride back toward shore.

The discipline demands a rare mix of speed, timing, and precision, qualities that Valencia showcased throughout the season.

Valencia's story is deeply tied to his humble roots in Barra de Navidad and neighboring Melaque, Mexico, home to some of the world's best skimboarding spots.

His older brother Gerardo Valencia won the United Skim Tour in 2021 and now lives in Venice, Florida, where he works with their sponsor Zap Skimboards while still competing professionally.

Gerardo also gives back to the community by hosting the annual Melaque Magia contest each January, inspiring the next generation of Mexican skimboarders.

The days when skimboarding was a sport enjoyed on the beach near the shore are over. Today, riders take on everything.

Of all water-based boardsports, skimming is one of the most niche. And for decades since its birth, it was only practiced on high and very low tides.

Then, in the 1970s, the skimboarding elite found a way to bring it inland into rivers and indoor structures.

You only needed a smooth surface, a thin film of water, and a few obstacles to provide entertainment for hours.

However, when the millennium turned, so did the creative minds of the sport's most prolific participants.

Initially, skimmers started riding waves just like surfers.

The only difference was that they took off from the sand on the beach and slid across the water before entering unbroken wave territory.

Barrels and wedges were soon accessible, and it was also a matter of time before these finless board warriors conquered big waves.

The "Ride Everything" Revolution Generation

A few hardcore riders from both sides of the Atlantic boosted skimboarding's new riding frontiers.

Athletes like Adrien Raza, Brad Domke, Blair Conklin, Austin Keen, and Lucas Fink have been pushing wave and flatland skimboarding to unprecedented levels of complexity and innovation.

Nowadays, skimming is a full-on, all-terrain boardsport that glides across nearly any surface you can imagine, from concrete and granite to sand and snow.

Adrien Raza, in particular, has transformed a variety of unconventional arenas into his personal playgrounds.

In a 2020 interview with SurferToday.com, the French-born, Rotterdam-based innovator said, "Real skimboarding is still in its early stages."

He was right. In just a few years, he showed the watersports world that a skimboarder could ride virtually anything.

Here's a list of places and setups where skimboarding is now open for leisure.

Urban Environments

Public Fountains

Raza has been hitting shallow fountains in cities like Amsterdam and Zoetermeer. Depending on varying water depths and structures, riders adjust their runs to the existing features.

Flooded Skateparks

Skimboarders have already shown it is possible to skim intentionally flooded skateparks, blending skateboarding elements with skimming techniques. If it rains heavily, finless riders can do wonders.

City Streets and Plazas

Transforming urban landscapes, you can skim through city streets and plazas by leveraging rainwater or shallow water features to perform tricks. Just make sure you're relatively quiet and discreet - authorities may not like it.

Stairways

Adrien Raza has tackled the iconic Lyon 25 staircase in France, a legendary skateboarding spot, by setting up a run over the 25-step gap. If he can do it, anything else smaller than that is doable.

Boardwalks

Skimboarders are now utilizing the smooth surfaces of boardwalks to perform skimboarding maneuvers, often in conjunction with adjacent water features. Wax under the skimboard's deck could increase slipperiness.

Flooded Streets

Skimmers also take advantage of rain-soaked urban areas and flooded streets to hold impromptu skimboarding courses.

Halfpipes and Quarter Pipes

By flooding skateboarding structures like halfpipes, skimboarders adapt them for unusual skimming sessions.

Natural and Semi-Natural Water Bodies

Canals

Rotterdam and the Netherlands have plenty of canals. Adrien Raza proved that it is totally doable to skim across a wide waterway and get to the other side dry. It might take practice, but it's quite fun.

Rivers and Streams

A river is not much different from a canal. Skimboarders explore them not only to cross but also to install flatland features and obstacles and shred them in the shallowest sections.

Wetlands and Tidal Pools

Locations such as the Gaomei Wetlands in Taiwan and tidal pools in Renesse, Netherlands, have served as natural spots for skimmers.

Salt Flats

Adrien Raza was one of the first skimboarders to venture into expansive salt flats, such as the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, to enjoy breathtaking runs on these unique surfaces.

Concrete Water Drainage Canals/Storm Drains

It's one of the riskiest forms of skimboarding, and it is similar to downhill skateboarding. Sliding down the more or less leveled surfaces of storm drains requires the use of helmets and protective pads and transforms urban water channels into skimming speed highways.

Waterfalls

Enjoy a ride into a controlled abyss? Riding small waterfalls could be your thing. All you need to do is embrace the flowing water and launch into the lower level. It's been done.

Swimming Pools

Glassy swimming pools are a fun setup for long-distance crossing challenges. Get from your deckchair to the hotel bar without wetting your boardshorts.

Waves and Low Tide Shores

There's nothing like getting back to the roots. Skimming into ocean waves or sliding across long, low tide flats is a timeless preference.

Cold and Snowy Terrains

Ice Rinks and Frozen Lakes

Ice is nothing but frozen water. Skimboarders have proved that their favorite pastime is an all-year-round sport. Yes, they've glided across frozen lakes and ice rinks. And it's unexpectedly fun.

Snow-Covered Areas

If flat frozen surfaces aren't enough, get into snowboarding mode. Make the best use of snow-covered terrains in conjunction with slight inclines or man-made features to launch into the air before landing on fluffy powder.

Arid and Desert Landscapes

Sand Dunes

If sandboarders can do it, skimboarders can also. Descend a large dune on a skimboard and let gravity do its thing. Natural sandy slopes love the smoothness of the skimboard's deck.

Deserts

If a dune is rideable, so are arid regions like deserts. Your skimboard is the perfect light vehicle to connect slope after slope, dune after dune.

Words by Luís MP | Founder of SurferToday.com

It's often hailed as skimboarding's best wave. Welcome to Sununga, a famous Brazilian beach in Ubatuba, São Paulo.

If you read the reviews of Praia da Sununga, you'll notice that most of the comments visitors leave include remarks about its powerful waves and dangerous currents.

Most beachgoers stress that it is not a beach suited for children and those who don't know how to swim.

But as with many things in life, what might not be suitable for one will be great for another.

Sununga is a 150-yard stretch of sand facing the Atlantic Ocean at a southwest angle.

On the left side, a smooth granite formation with a gentle 60-degree angle slope plays a critical role in the birth of a "sider" in one of the world's heaviest shorebreaks.

But how can such a hidden and relatively normal Brazilian beach become such a wave-riding attraction?

First, let's learn how the myth of the dragon agitated these waters.

The Weeping Grotto

The picturesque beach provides stunning sightseeing views, including the sought-after "Gruta que Chora" ("Weeping Grotto"), a rock formation that "weeps" water during high tide, creating an eye-catching spectacle.

Sununga is a probable derivation of the word "Cyninga," which means "strong and strident noise in the Tupi-Guarani language."

Sununga is the dragon that lives inside the cave. It is so big that its breath makes the rocks weep.

The legend says that every night, the sea-living creature would transform into a man so that on full moon nights, he could meet his beloved one, an Indian woman who was the daughter of a shaman in the region, and sleep with her in the cave.

Upon discovering this romance, the shaman cast a spell on the sea so the dragon could no longer transform into a human being.

Time passed by, and his beloved one was gone.

The dragon, trapped in the sea with its heart broken and the memory of the one he could no longer have, left him possessed.

Its fury shows in the turbulent and frightening waves of these waters.

As for the girl, she cried so much that the cave melted.

Today, when she hears the roar of the sea and the voices of people walking around, she thinks it could be her love and cries more, shedding tears all over the cave.

Triangular Waves

Sununga Beach has a very unique and uncharacteristic wave that is actually hard to describe in words.

Normal ocean waves travel toward the shore and break parallel to the beach, eventually peeling from one side to the other.

Now, imagine a wave that starts peeling at a 45-degree angle and then gets intersected by back-to-back regular waves that create several triangular peaks along the way.

But Sununga's unpredictability is what makes it spectacular.

A skimboarder can take off on a two-foot wave and, seconds later, connect and get barreled inside a monstrous 10-foot barrel.

The wave's most challenging sections to master are the beginning and the end.

In both cases, the rider must negotiate massive amounts of tumbling and unstable whitewater.

Sununga is mostly a skimboarding wave with a few opportunities for bodyboarders.

It reminds us of Newport Beach's The Wedge but in reverse, as the Brazilian spot breaks from right to left.

Renato Lima, Lucas Gomes, Leandro Azevedo, and Júlia Dias are local skimming stars and names to consider when the United Skim Tour (UST) lands in Sununga.

They have been part of the crew pushing the sport's limits and taking it into the mainstream audience, thanks to the aerial and barrel-riding showdown they put out on this surf break.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian skimboarding capital will continue to pump magical walls of moving water.

It's one of the few places on the planet, if not the only one, that allows you to surf four different waves in a single ride.

Words by Luís MP | Founder of SurferToday.com

The 17th annual Exile Oktoberfest skimboarding competition took place at the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach, California.

Yahir Valencia of Barra de Navidad won the professional men's division, and Casey Kiernan of Stuart, Florida, won the professional women's division.

Both the professional men's division and the professional women's division counted as part of the United Skim Tour (UST), the world's only international professional skimboarding tour.

The professional women's division featured 13 competitors, and the professional men's division featured 35 competitors from across the globe, including riders from Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Brazil, Florida, Delaware, and California.

Professional men's riders included Lucas Fink, who clinched the 2022 Men's UST Title at the previous UST contest in Spain, and Sam Stinnett, who holds four UST Titles.

Professional women riders included Amber Torrealba, who was ranked first on the UST coming into the event, as well as Chabe White, who had just won the Vic in Laguna Beach.

In addition to the professional divisions, the contest included amateur divisions for all age groups. In total, the contest included 74 amateur entries.

Day one of the event saw challenging conditions with waves one to three feet in height.

Throughout day one, light onshore winds added texture to the waves, making for unfavorable conditions.

On day two, the swell increased to about two-to-four feet, but an onshore wind again persisted throughout the competition day, though occasional heats saw clean conditions with solid head-high sets.

Yahir Valencia Realizes Dream

For the professional men, the final heat came down to Yahir Valencia and Lucas Fink for the third time this season.

The waves were inconsistent and smaller during the final, with most wave opportunities coming in at two feet or smaller.

Competitors took to their technical skills as a result, and Valencia, in particular, landed a 360 shuvit out to a wave and landed another clean 360 shuvit back in.

Fink answered back with a 360 shuvit out to a 360 turn on a small wave.

Valencia later caught the biggest wave of the heat and tucked into a barrel.

Ultimately, Valencia hung onto his lead as he combined both technical riding and managed to snag the biggest waves of the heat.

"It's a dream to win this contest," said Yahir Valencia after his win.

"I've always watched the videos from this contest, and it's been a big goal to compete here. I'm so very happy now."

"I'm so stoked to beat Lucas in the final because Lucas is a great competitor. I watch him in every heat and learn, learn, learn from how he skims."

"Next year, I want to go to all the UST events, and I want to try for the title next year."

Casey Kiernan Prevails

For the professional women, six different competitors were within reach of the UST title going into the event.

In the semifinals, Amber Torrealba defeated Chabe White, eliminating White from the title race.

In the next semifinal heat, Casey Kiernan matched up against Kaori Uno, who won the event in 2016. Since Kiernan already had one UST win before this event, she needed just 900 points to secure her lead over Torrealba.

Kiernan won the heat against Uno, and with that win, Kiernan clinched her 2022 Women's UST title.

In the very next heat, Torrealba and Kiernan matched up. Kiernan found a number of pier wraps and mixed in a few technical tricks as well.

Ultimately, Kiernan won this heat as well, securing her second win of the UST season.

"I'm kind of at a loss for words. I wanted it really bad this year," said Casey Kiernan after taking first place and securing her UST title.

"I've been battling with Sophia [Nguyen] for so long. Knowing that she wasn't here, I felt like I had a better chance."

"But then actually being here and seeing the level of women and how we've progressed, it wasn't any easier. I definitely got teary-eyed there."

In the men's division, points from the best four placings of six count toward each skimboarder's 2022 UST points total.

In the women's division, points from the best two placings of three count toward each skimboarder's 2022 UST points total.

2022 Exile Oktoberfest | Results

Pro Men

1. Yahir Valencia - Barra de Navidad, México
2. Lucas Fink - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
3. Sam Stinnett - Laguna Beach, CA
3. Tim Fulton - Laguna Beach, CA

Pro Women

1. Casey Kiernan - Stuart, FL
2. Amber Torrealba - Palm Bay, FL
3. Chabe White - Mazunte, Mexico
4. Kaori Uno - Otia, Japan

The eighth annual TAC Skimblast skimboarding competition took place on June 25, 2022, at Seabright Beach in Santa Cruz, California.

The professional men's division of the TAC Skimblast counts as one of six events on the United Skim Tour (UST), the world's only international skimboarding tour.

Lucas Fink, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, took the top spot in one of the most competitive competitions in UST history.

Professional men entrants included 25 riders from Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Florida, Southern California, and Santa Cruz.

Entrants also included 2019 UST champion Lucas Fink, 2021 UST champion; Gerardo Valencia from Barra de Navidad, Mexico; and four-time UST champion Sam Stinnett from Laguna Beach, CA.

Throughout the first two rounds in the early morning, riders like Lucas Fink, Sam Stinnett, and Gerardo Valencia used the sider to connect to the biggest waves of the morning.

During the evening rounds, other riders like Dane Cameron and Jeremiah Sheldon picked off some of the best waves of their heats and progressed to the semifinals alongside Sam Stinnett and Lucas Fink.

The Final Showdown

The final was decided between Lucas Fink and Dane Cameron.

Highlights of the final included Fink driving into the biggest backside barrel of the day.

Another highlight was Cameron landing two 360-shuvits out to a backside wrap in the final seconds of the heat.

While Cameron put up a solid battle, finding some of the cleanest barrels of the heat, ultimately, Lucas edged him out by combining both ultra-technical riding and power skimming.

"The first stop of the UST was amazing. I started off the year super well, just how I wanted to," said Lucas Fink after his win.

"During Covid, I had the opportunity to get into other stuff, doing big-wave skimboarding and a documentary with RedBull. It was amazing, of course, the time of my life."

"I grew so much as a skimboarder, and as a person, but at the same time, I was missing so much, being in my environment at the skim comps."

"The last UST contest I did was the Oktoberfest in 2019 when I won the title. I had a good pre-season in Brazil at the local comps, but now, finally, I'm back at the UST."

"I'm looking forward to taking back what was mine. I want to take back the UST title again. I'm super motivated for this season."

"We already saw the level of skimboarding keeps on progressing. I'm sure there will be more at the next stops. I can't wait."

UST is Back on Track

The 2022 event was the first time the TAC Skimblast was run since 2019. Unable to obtain permits in both 2020 and 2021 due to Covid restrictions, the contest was canceled in both years.

"We are stoked to host a UST competition again at Third Ave," said Ben Koscielniak, contest director, and competitor.

"Since I was a grom, we've had professionals from around the world visit Santa Cruz for our annual event."

"I took over as the contest director in 2013, and I'm honored to be able to play host and welcome these riders back after a long two years off."

The men's professional division of the 2022 UST circuit includes six competitions, three on the west coast of the United States, two on the east coast, and one international event held in Spain.

The 2022 United Skim Tour continues with the OBX Skim Jam in Nags Head, N.C (July 16-17), Zap Championships in Dewey Beach, Delaware (August 12-14), Vic West in Laguna Beach (August 27-28), Intrafalgar Dogflut in Cádiz, Spain (September 10-11), and Exile Oktoberfest in Newport Beach (September 17-18).

The points collected from the best four placings count toward each skimboarder's 2022 UST points total.

The United Skim Tour is the world's professional skimboarding tour and governing body for skimming events across the planet.

2022 TAC Skimblast | Pro Men's Results

1. Lucas Fink - Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (UST Champion 2019)
2. Dane Cameron - Laguna Beach, CA
3. Jeremiah Sheldon - Newport Beach, CA
4. Sam Stinnett - Laguna Beach, CA (UST Champion 2015, 2014, 2012, 2011)
5. Yahir Valencia - Barra de Navidad, México
6. Gerardo Valencia - Barra de Navidad, México (UST Champion 2021)
7. Bruno Sa - Recife, Brazil
8. Christopher Alreck - Santa Cruz, CA
9. Brandon Sears - Laguna Beach, CA
10. Jacob Stinnett - Laguna Beach, CA
11. Garrett Abdulla - Laguna Beach, CA
12. Mike Chapman - Laguna Beach, CA
13. Paddy Mack - Dana Point, CA
14. Kai Schmidt - Santa Cruz, CA
15. Chad Wadsworth - Newport Beach, CA
16. Shota Fujioka - Miyazaki, Japan
17. Jack Klingman - Haiku, Hawaii
18. Max Smetts - Venice, FL
19. Tim Fulton - Laguna Beach, CA
20. David Haefele - Santa Cruz, CA
21. Zac Henderson - Laguna Beach, CA
22. Zack Lebon - Laguna Beach, CA
23. Ben Koscielniak - Santa Cruz, CA
24. Randon Moore - Pensacola Beach, FL
25. Clay Powell - Santa Cruz, CA

Brazilian skimboarder Lucas Fink chose Praia do Norte in Nazaré, Portugal, to try and ride the world's biggest wave on a finless board.

The infamous beach break is home to several Guinness World Records.

The Portuguese big wave venue has already witnessed the largest wave ever ridden, the biggest wave surfed by a woman, and the largest wave sailed by a kiteboarder.

The 2021 Nazaré big wave surfing season is officially open.

From October through March, hundreds of athletes and media professionals take over the town to search for their ultimate career moments.

Skimboarders, windsurfers, and kiteboarders are rarely seen here, but the surf-and-bodyboard-only paradigm is slowly changing.

Fink is not the first skimboarder to challenge Praia do Norte.

On November 12, 2015, Brad Domke rode his finless skimboard at the famed surf spot of Nazaré.

The stunt eventually earned the Floridian a "Ride of the Year" entry in the 2016 Big Wave Awards.

Mission Skimboarding

But Lucas Fink is taking Nazaré seriously - he's a man on a mission. The Brazilian rider is focused on a clear goal.

He wants to write a historic chapter for skimboarding, an underrated sport that deserves more attention from wave-riding enthusiasts, the media, and the world governing body for surfing.

Fink has been training hard in Nazaré since mid-October, getting used to his equipment and the technicalities and mechanics of the Atlantic wave canyon.

Lucas "Chumbo" Chianca is his partner on this quest.

The Brazilian big wave surfer won the 2018 Nazaré Challenge and is one of the most experienced riders and jet ski drivers at Praia do Norte.

Chianca is towing his fellow countryman into the fast-moving mountains of water produced in the North Atlantic during Europe's winter season.

And the more Lucas Fink gets in sync with Nazaré, the bigger and better the waves he descends.

"I've been testing equipment, synchronizing with the crew, and connecting with this magical place," explained Lucas Fink.

"I've been having fun and pushing my limits. It's been amazing trying to tame these giant waves with my skimboard."

"We've had magical moments from early in the morning until late afternoon. I'm doing what I love most and learning a lot in this mystical place."

A Matter of Time and Swell

The 23-year-old Brazilian is taking the Nazaré skimboarding project seriously.

Lucas's work continues in small shore break waves and out of the water, with Pilates applied to functional training.

Fink has even tasted the power of Nazaré's main beach break, a wave that sometimes roars to life south of the iconic lighthouse and Praia do Norte.

Can the Itacoatiara local put skimboarding in the limelight and boost its popularity worldwide?

The answer is yes. It's just a matter of time and swell.

Have you ever pondered the identity of your community?

It would be fair to think if you have, you would like to believe it was growing, lead with positivity, and pack to the gunnels with hope.

With an obvious bias, I believe this describes my local beach community.

On November 13, 2021, I attended the 2021 SkimsGiving skimboarding clinic hosted by Zap Skimboards, The Compound, Sarasota County, and The Twig at the North Jetty Park in Florida.

This event had the local pro team skimmers from Zap giving one-on-one instructions to the community, with The Compound providing skimboards.

The local county, Sarasota, supported the venue by allowing beach use when community gatherings are difficult, especially during a global pandemic.

In addition to The Compound and Sharky's Beach Club, they provided lunch for all participants.

Last but (most certainly) not least, the charitable organization The Twig was present in support of the event.

The Twig supports children in the foster care program by inviting them to select seven items - apparel, toys, undergarments, games, and accessories - every month and in two boutique shops.

Additionally, they provide life-building seminar programs where the children have a guest speaker teach them about life and/or job skills.

It's a homegrown organization here in southwest Florida with a very righteous mission that can use all the support it can get.

For more information, please visit thetwigcares.com.

Sharing the Stoke

The instructors at SkimsGiving are professional skimmers and team up-and-comers.

They provide first-time skimboarders with foundational skills, like running with your board, the one-step technique, surf etiquette, and much more.

Some of the groms were barely knee-high, and they all advanced as accomplished riders thanks to the instructors' work and dedication.

For the intermediate skimmers, instructors would ask them a simple question: "what do you want to learn?"

The goal is to improve and fine-tune their skills and boost their talent and potential. As a result, some riders learned new tricks, got into wave riding, and improved their foundational skills.

After the clinic, the event coordinator, Benny Ray, called all the participants up to the Zap tent.

He congratulated the participants on their learning and community-building attitude, and then, with the help of professional skimboarder Naji Taha, they drew a raffle for The Compound gift cards.

Zap also raffled several skimboards - one of the winners was a first-time skimboarder who got himself a brand new skimboard.

The grom also earned himself a full instruction day run by a professional athlete. Along with a new skimboard, it's the kind of impact that can change a life - it was really cool to witness.

Giving Is Caring

First-time skimmers learned to skim; groms made friends with other like-minded groms, and community leaders and parents celebrated their kids' success.

On top of all that, two businesses proved that their ethics are more important than their profits while supporting a very deserving charity.

I've heard in certain circles that skimboarding is dead or dying - to say that is to say that a community is dying.

In an act of defiance, the Sarasota skimming community is thriving.

Skimboarding, surfing, and the sea are staples in our community, and they aren't going anywhere.

Zap Skimboards and The Compound provide career paths, youth programs, and a path to a lifetime love of the ocean.

There is no downside.

Dear reader, here's a challenge: our "skimmunity" is better than yours. Prove us wrong.

Words by Mikey Sanderlin | Skimboarder

As a skimboarder, I have recently visited Manasota Beach, a small beach located in Englewood, Florida.

The way I, and most visitors, arrive at this spot is via Manasota Beach Road, which ends with a small drawbridge spanning the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).

The main structure of the road features well-maintained restrooms, showers, and vending machines.

When you enter the beach, you follow a sidewalk with large and small shark teeth set into the concrete that leads you to a ramped boardwalk past a lifeguard shack in the center of the beach.

The beach is long and wide with thick sand that doesn't blow in the wind as easily as the sugar sand from the beaches to the north.

The Riding Conditions

This heavy sand slides really nicely and works great as wind weight.

Aqua blue water fades out into deep tones of green and blue, lining the sand and making the backwash of crashing swell appear extra bright white.

The beach transitions nicely to the water, allowing for effortless sand or water drops to skim.

The crescent shape of the beach provides subtle conditional changes, giving a variety to the swell.

The conditions on our visit were as follows:

• Water Quality: medium/low red tide present in low ppm;
• Weather: Southwest Florida in its summer glory with hot 87-91 °F (30-32 °C), sunny, and wind out of the northwest;
• Swell: mostly mid-to-small swell sets spaced with two-to-three green waves sized 1-2.5 feet;

The Skim, The Scene, and The Community

Low tide, high tide - it doesn't matter. There is always something to slide.

However, our favorite period was falling tide with wind out of the northwest. These conditions produce hip-to-chest-high waves and several small wedges across the beach.

Like most things in nature, this isn't consistent; it's just our experience.

We spent three days skimming in preparation for our review of the beach.

We had two days of the falling tide with a northwest wind and one day of low-to-no wind with a northeastern swell.

The northeastern swell was a lot of fun and technical - timing is critical.

If you visit this spot and can't wait for "perfect conditions," it seems almost every evening after 5-6 pm, there is something to skim.

The scene at Manasota is ideal. There is a medium/large group of locals that skim here regularly.

I do admit I am biased as I am a local. However, it is an unspoken rule that all are welcome.

The more experienced skimmers are like big brothers to the less experienced, regardless of age.

If you are visiting, it is easy to find yourself unconsciously a part of the group, running defense from beach walkers or being cheered on when you slam a ride.

Red Tide and Sandbars

Let's be realistic. Every beach, swell, or scene has its downfalls, so for the real-life skim problems, we focused on the obvious.

First, one of the worst Florida leviathans, the "Florida Beach Walker." This amphibious humanoid has a direct wormhole to your line.

The beach walkers here are abundant, grazing for shells and switching to Karen mode upon the first site of skimmers.

To be fair, the beach is for everyone, and most skimmers would agree that a bit of etiquette would go a long way.

Worse than the beach walker is the current red tide, which is appearing at low levels along the Manasota Key.

In some years, red tide is especially concerning due to the supercharger up in Tampa, known as Piney Point. Red tide is an algal bloom with a very high concentration of algae.

The species Florida's Gulf Coast is known for is called Karenia Brevis.

This algae phenomenon is very concerning because of its significant impact on land and marine life.

Unfortunately, in 2021, the bloom caused massive fish kills from Tampa Bay to South Sarasota.

Also, it has made many beaches uninhabitable with dead fish, terrible aroma, and the signature respiratory irritation.

The good news is that this, too, shall pass.

For more information on the red tide, I recommend starting with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) website.

It has excellent links and palatable information.

Closing our focus on Manasota Beach, we often found the swell breaks late and close to shore due to shallow depths and sandbars.

It is a far contrast from the east coast of Florida. But we have to play our cards, right?

The waves aren't huge, but they do pose different challenges and are still a lot of fun.

Whether you are on vacation or just looking for a different shoreline, Manasota Key has something to offer you, with a variety of conditions that require little planning.

The technical skimboarding break and the incredible community are reasons enough to check it out.

Words by Mikey Sanderlin | Skimboarder

Skimboarding is a highly versatile sport that can be practiced and enjoyed both in and out of the water.

A skimboard is a finless, solid, and smooth plank that can be ridden in shore break waves and also inland, wherever there's a thin layer of water.

The sport has two main disciplines - wave and flatland skimboarding - with different requirements when it comes to equipment.

Wax is often used to help you stick to your skimboard while flatland or wave skimming.

There are specific techniques for waxing a skimboard so that it sticks to your board, and so do you.

The surface of a skimboard is slippery, which is great for the side in contact with the water but not good for under your feet.