Mayport Poles

Stretching south from the imposing rock jetty that guards the St. Johns River’s southern entrance, Hannah Park, also known as Mayport Poles, is a classic sand-bottom beach break with a military backdrop. The inlet’s flank—part of Mayport Naval Station—serves as a sheltered anchorage for destroyers and aircraft carriers, lending the lineup a subtle, serious character. The peaks here offer a raw, powerful punch: hollow faces that unload with authority, producing longer lefts that peel down the beach and shorter, punchy rights that demand sharp handling. Consistency and quality shift with the tide and swell, but when conditions align, these waves can rival any in the area. Nearby labels like Lighthouse and Officers Club break along the same stretch of sand, though the waves largely share the same DNA—shifty, fast, and unforgiving. A spot for surfers who appreciate a no-frills, heavy beach break with a touch of naval majesty.

Best Surf Season (October - March)

Mayport Poles is an east-facing stretch of sandbars and beachbreak that lives and dies by how well the wind lines up with the swell. The winter half of the year is your best bet. From October through March, cold fronts exiting the Southeast US drag the wind around to the west and northwest, which is pure offshore for this beach. At the same time, low-pressure systems spinning up off the Carolina coast or out in the Atlantic generate more consistent easterly swell from ENE through SE. Average wave heights hover around 2ft (0.6m), but the distribution is healthier: ENE and E swell produce more 3-5ft (1-1.5m) days, and the ideal-wind percentage peaks at 14-17% in Nov-Dec and Jan-Mar. If the NAO trends negative, the East Coast trough deepens and Mayport can fire on clean, long-period east groundswell with offshore west winds - that is the recipe for the best surf of the year.