Making Your Surf Session More Comfortable: Alternative Solutions to Beach Showers

Awhile back I was cruising along the North Shore of Hawaii on my way back from surfing and out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the coolest little beach showers I had ever seen. An older man was on the side of the road getting out from a session at V-land and was rinsing off with a homemade hand-held surf shower. I’m talking about a nice big old laundry detergent bottle (you know, the kind where you pour the liquid into the cap) with little holes poked in the cap that when lifted above his head made an almost perfect shower-like stream of water. This got me thinking and I went home and looked up some beach shower options for those who surf at places without a public beach shower.

The first thing I found was the classic jug of water. The kind I always see at Southern California beach parking lots where people grab an old jug of water and pour it on their feet or over their head to rinse off before getting in their cars. This is not a bad way to go, but where’s the creativity? I mean it completely works, but it’s definitely lacking luxury if you know what I mean.

Another awesome invention I found was on called the Buro North Hot water surf shower. This is basically a thermos-type container that plugs into your cigarette lighter in your car and warms the water up before you open the shower-like top and dump the nice hot water over your body. This is great for colder surf spots in the winter and besides the fact that it doesn’t hold a whole lot of water and it isn’t available just anywhere, it’s a great option.

I still think this homemade laundry bottle surf shower is your best bet. After seeing one on the side of the road I went home and made one and it really comes in handy when I surf spots without public showers. It’s really a cheap and convenient way to go. All you need is an old laundry detergent bottle and some type of a punch and hammer to make little holes in the cap (I used a nail and it worked great). The bottle fits nicely in your trunk where no one can see it unless you want them too and you can even grab a nice piece of rope or a bungee cord and tie it down so it doesn’t spill all over the place. In the winter it’s not a bad idea to fill it up with hot water in the morning so when you get out from surfing you have a nice warm shower waiting for you.

This homemade surf shower is one of many little things you can do and invent to make each session a little more comfortable. Be creative. Get out and make yourself a little personal beach shower or something that makes surfing even better.

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