Editorial Policy
Last updated: June 2026
This page explains who is behind WakeSurfSpots, how our pages are produced, and the standards every page on wakesurfspots.com is held to. We publish it so readers, journalists, and search engines can judge our work by a clear, stated process rather than guesswork.
Who runs WakeSurfSpots
WakeSurfSpots is an independent publication built and maintained by the Tim Adair. We are not funded, owned, or directed by any of the agencies, companies, or organizations that appear in our data. We do not accept paid placements, sponsored rankings, or fees to add, alter, or remove an entry. Our editorial judgment is not for sale.
How our content is produced
WakeSurfSpots covers wakesurfing spots, boats, boards, and wake-boat regulations. Our pages are assembled programmatically from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset, NOAA CO-OPS and Open-Meteo water-temperature data, published boat and board manufacturer specifications, and state boating-agency regulations: we fetch the primary records, process them with documented, repeatable methods, and render them as pages a non-specialist can read. Spot pages combine waterbody records from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset with water-temperature observations from NOAA CO-OPS stations and Open-Meteo, surfaced as a best-season window. Boat and board pages compile published manufacturer and authorized-retailer specifications into a single comparable schema; we never invent specs, and every figure traces to a cited source. Comparison pages are limited to popular model pairs rather than every possible combination. State rules pages summarize each state boating agency’s published wake-boat regulations with links back to the primary source.
We are transparent that this is a data-publishing operation, not a wire service of on-the-ground reporters. Where we add narrative, that narrative describes and interprets the underlying public data — it never invents facts the data does not contain. Automated assembly is reviewed against the source, and the methodology behind any score or ranking is documented and linkable.
Editorial standards
- Primary source only. Every figure traces back to the USGS National Hydrography Dataset, NOAA CO-OPS and Open-Meteo water-temperature data, published boat and board manufacturer specifications, and state boating-agency regulations, cited and linkable on the page where it appears.
- No invented numbers. If a value is not in the underlying public data, it does not appear on wakesurfspots.com. We never generate synthetic statistics to fill gaps.
- Documented methodology. Rankings, grades, and composite scores are editorial calculations derived from public data using stated, repeatable formulas — not certifications or endorsements.
- Dated and refreshed. Water-temperature and best-season data refresh on a rolling weekly-to-monthly basis from free public APIs; boat and board specifications are reviewed seasonally as new model years publish; state regulations are updated when an agency changes a rule.
- Corrections welcome. When a reader or the source identifies an error, we fix it — see our Corrections Policy.
Verification and fact-checking
Because our numbers come straight from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset, NOAA CO-OPS and Open-Meteo water-temperature data, published boat and board manufacturer specifications, and state boating-agency regulations, our verification work is about faithful processing rather than re-reporting. The detail of how we check figures before publication is described in our Fact-Checking Policy.
Ownership and funding transparency
WakeSurfSpots is part of a small portfolio of independent public-data sites. The site is free to read and carries no display advertising. We do not sell personal data. Where an outbound link is an affiliate link, it is disclosed and never changes our editorial judgment.
Contact
Questions about how a page was produced, or about these standards? hello@wakesurfspots.com. See also our About page and our Corrections Policy.