plunges (a plunging wave is termed by surfers as a "barrel wave"). Wave section length is the distance between two breaking crests in a wave set. Wave section length can be hard to measure because local winds, non-linear wave interactions, island sheltering, and swell interactions can cause multifarious wave configurations in the surf zone. The parameters breaking wave height, wave peel angle (α), and wave breaking intensity, and wave section length are important because they are standardized by past oceanographers who researched surfing; these parameters have been used to create a guide that matches the type of wave formed and the skill level of surfer. Table 1 shows a relationship of smaller peel angles correlating with a higher skill level of the surfer. Smaller wave peel angles increase the velocities of waves. A surfer must know how to react and paddle quickly to match the speed of the wave to catch it. Therefore, more experience is required to catch low peel angle waves. More experienced surfers can handle longer section lengths, increased velocities, and higher wave heights. Different locations offer different types of surfing conditions for each skill level. Surf breaks A surf break is an area with an obstruction or an object that causes a wave to break. Surf breaks entail multiple scale phenomena. Wave section creation has microscale factors of peel angle and wave breaking intensity. The micro-scale components influence wave height and variations on wave crests. The mesoscale components of surf breaks are the ramp, platform, wedge, or ledge that may be present at a surf break. Macro-scale processes are the global winds that initially produce offshore waves. Types of surf breaks are headlands (point break), beach break, river/estuary entrance bar, reef breaks, and ledge breaks. Headland (point break) A headland or point break interacts with the water by causing refraction around the point or headland. The point absorbs the high-frequency waves and long-period waves persist, which are easier to surf. Examples of locations that have headland or point break-induced surf breaks are Dunedin (New Zealand), Raglan (New Zealand), Malibu (California), Rincon (California), and Kirra (Australia). Beach break A beach break is an area of open coastline where the waves break over a sand-bottom. They are the most common, yet also the most volatile of surf breaks. Wave breaks happen successively at beach breaks, as in there are multiple peaks to surf at a single beach break