Waffling
To rapidly track the surfboard back and forth to gain speed.

Wahine
Hawaiian word for a female; used to describe a female surfer.

Waimea
Hawaiian bay that receives and holds huge North Shore winter swells. First ridden in 1957 by Greg Knoll, Tom Curren and others.

Waist High
When measuring from the back of the wave, the height is as tall as a grown man's waist (waist to toe).

Waldo
A barnyard, barney, or flailer. A surfer who doesn't have much skill, brags about their surfing ability and most of the time has a very heavy stinkbug stance. A large part of kookdom or kootzkyness.

Walking the Board
Walking back and forth on a longboard to gain better control and response.

Walking the Nose
A longboard maneuver where a surfer walks toward the nose of the board.

Wanna Be Surfers
People who hang out on the inside and do not surf near any legitimate spots.

Warranty (for Wetsuits) 
Depends on manufacturer; often one year on materials and lifetime on seams, but as suits get more flexible, many only last one season before they start falling apart.

Warm Front
A warm front is the leading edge of an advancing warm air mass that's replacing a retreating relatively colder air mass. Generally, with the passage of a warm front, the temperature and humidity increase, the pressure rises, and although the wind shifts (usually from the southwest to the northwest in the Northern Hemisphere), it's not as pronounced as with a cold frontal passage. Precipitation, in the form of rain, snow, or drizzle, is generally found ahead of the surface front, as well as convective showers and thunderstorms. Fog is common in the cold air ahead of the front. Although clearing usually occurs after passage, some conditions may produce fog in the warm air.

Wash Thru
The blast of ice-cold water that shoots down your back inside your wetsuit during a winter go-out.

Washing Machine
When prevailing surf conditions resemble a load of laundry as it's being agitated.

Waterman
A person boasting total mastery of all oceanic endeavors, the revered waterman can fish, dive, surf, windsurf, kayak, bodysurf, interpret complex weather data, save the odd drowning man, etc. Generally built like a tank and typically soft-spoken (choosing to let his actions do the talking), loner watermen fear neither tempest nor shark and rarely head for higher ground. If need be, he can survive entirely on self-harvested ocean bounty, spearing his food from the nearby reefs he'll surf over when the swell is up.

Wave decay
As waves move out of the storm area where they were created, they decrease greatly in size within the first thousand miles (more than 60 percent) and slowly thereafter. This is caused by three factors: short-period waves and chop dissipating rapidly once outside of the wind-generation area; directional spreading of waves as they move away from the storm at different angles and the separation of waves as they travel forward at different speeds after leaving the storm area.

Wave Group
Forward speed of a swell or a set of waves. It's equal to 1.5 times the swell period between successive waves in the group. The waves within a group travel at twice the speed as the overall group (3 times the swell period). If a swell has a period of 10 seconds, individual waves will be moving at 30 knots, while the group as a whole will be moving forward at 15 knots. As each wave travels forward within the group and reaches the front, it will fall back to the rear and the cycle repeats.

Wave Height
The vertical distance between a wave crest and the trough.

Wave Hog
One who catches the majority of waves during any given session. An experienced, well conditioned, motivated and skillful surfer. (Age may vary from 8 to 80+ years.) Usually applies to longboard surfers. A non-endearing term from one surfer to another, when accused Wavehog is having a righteous day of ripping and taking all the biggest and best waves.

Wave Horny
Surfers desire to be in the embrace of their wickedly beautiful mistress.

Wave Length
The distance between successive wave crests.

Wave Period
The time in seconds between successive wave crests as they pass a stationary point on the ocean surface, such as a buoy.