Paddle Boarding North Carolina

North Carolina - a not-so-secret secret gem SUP destination. Chis Hill on a bomb. Photo Steve Young

WILMINGTON, North Carolina - The South East paddle scene flies under the radar a lot of the time. In general, it's just a more rugged and tucked-away part of the country that doesn't get the flashy press like Florida and California. Until you see footage or photos of an unknown surfer or paddler doing something amazing in Northern Carolina - it's normally a picture with incredible waves, beautiful scenery, amazing colors in the water, sly and landforms. And then we all end up asking ourselves, why don't we go there more often? 

If the North East is something of a hidden gem in the SUP world, the locals who surf and paddle there certainly don't care - it just means more waves and fun for them. But that doesn't mean they're not willing to share. This week, Supconnect's Alex Mauer caught up with NC paddler and Boardworks team rider, Christopher Hill, to talk about the local paddle scene, the waves, the weather and what makes it such a unique and great place to surf.

Words by Christopher Hill | All Photos by Steve Young and Eric Vithalani

The Basics

Image: Eric Vithalani

Paddling in NC is truly a blessing , we have all types of waves and with SUP you can pretty much surf waves any time you want from their smallest to as big as you want imagine Hurricane swell for example or a big Northeaster. Some beaches have really good downwind runs. Topsail ( Topsul is how southerns say it ) the beach I call home has a great run on a SW wind which blows almost all summer long and a NE wind is the opposite run in the winter. WE also have all the waterways for flatwater if that's what your into.

The Weather

Chris Hill | Photo Eric Vithaland

The weather here goes from 20 degree wind chills in winter with 45-50 degree water to 110 degree heat index and 80 degree water in the summer, with thunderstorms really being the only problem that can catch you off guard on the water. 

The Scene

Our crowds are dependent on where you surf. Wilmington is usually very crowded so I tend to stay away from there and spend my time at home and the Outer Banks but even at these spots the crowds can get thick at the most popular areas however there is so much room to move around in NC you can surf by yourself or with friends if you want.

The Waves

The waves are normally knee to chest high on average but we do get great surf if you know where to be with swell direction and wind as our coast has quite a few beaches that face from south to north. When the Outer Banks are on you wont be doing many turns just looking for barrels over shallow sandbars. We also have outer shoals in our inlets that you can paddle to or take a boat to as well as uninhabited islands that hold good surf but with the shoals there is never a crowd because to get them good you really have to put your time in to figure them out , these are my favorite places to surf along with the Outer Banks 

Chris "playing hard," in his own words.

The unique thing about NC paddling and paddlers is our diversity of conditions and people. You can go to Wilmington to have a starbucks and some company in the water or you can hit the out of the way beaches and inlets and hang with some real solid NC country boys who take surfing and paddling serious but don't like a crowd, truly a different breed - work hard and play hard.   

Chris Hill Bio

Brick and stone mason by trade and life long surfer that got turned on to SUP in 2005 and never looked back. My wife and I opened a paddle shop a few years back called Ohana Paddle Sports in Surf City NC. My sponsors are Infinity SUP, Werner Paddles,  Boardworks SUP and Pro Box Fins. One of the funniest projects I've been involved in is working with Dave Boehne and Larry Allison on the Phoenix model by Infinity. Highlight of paddling so far was doing M2O with a great friend Don Alderman last year on a stock prone Paddleboard.

See Chris's profile on the Supconnect comunity.