Once you get to the beach with everything you need you will need to learn to “read the beach” to increase your chances of catching fish. Although throwing blindly straight out and leaving it will catch fish most of the time(if they are there), knowing where to throw can make an ok day of fishing a great day of fishing. Fish are naturally attracted to structure, although there is no brush piles or obvious structures in the surf they are there and you have to find them. When you learn to read the beach you will notice a significant increase in hookups and bites. There are a few different types that are easy to look for once you know what you are looking for.
Slough
A slough is a deeper canal that runs parallel to the beach. Think of when you swim in the ocean and the water gets chest deep then 50 feet out there is a sand bar and you are standing up in knee deep water. The fish use these sloughs as almost a highway for traveling up and down the beach. A easy way to find the sloughs are to go at dead low tide and walk the beach or view from above in your house/condo if you are fortunate enough to be ocean front. When i find the slough at low tide i usually pick a stationary object (deck or stairs) and pace out how far it is to the slough. When fishing high tide this will be a good area to target. Another way to identify them is to watch the water for a few minutes before fishing. You will notice waves will break, then flatten out for a little bit and break again. Where the waves are breaking is a sand bar (shallow water) and where the water is flat and not breaking is going to be a deep spot (slough).
Rip tides
Although rip tides are very dangerous for swimmers they are great for fishing. A rip tide is a channel that will form when water is flowing back out into the ocean at a high rate. A lower spot in the sand will cause all the water to flow at one spot, it will look like a river flowing directly back out to sea. While taking the water it will also take bait and fish with it back out into the ocean, as this is the only way they can travel back when the tide is falling without getting caught in the tide pools. This basically forms a buffet line of bait getting spit into the ocean, you should try to target these if you see them as fish will lie in there waiting on the fish to get the free meals. Also if you have a cast net you can target the smaller bait fish filtering back into the ocean as well.
Piers/docks/jetties/bridges
This is a little more obvious to recognize but still can have huge rewards when fishing. Piers/docks/bridges will have barnacles growing on them, this is great bait for fish (especially sheepshead). The fish will lay around these eating the bait and are easily targeted by throwing your bait near them. These structures are mostly found in the inlets but still can have some very nice fish laying around them, if you can stay away from the pin fish.
Shallow water
Ok so i know after you have all this expensive equipment and surf fishing gear it doesn’t seem right to cast your bait into barely ankle deep water. Don’t be afraid to throw a line into the first breaker, this is a hot spot for some fish especially during certain times of the year. If you see sand fleas or hear people talking about sand fleas(see the bait section) you can put one on your hook and throw out very short with a lot of success, but shrimp and other baits work well too. You have to think all of that bait isnt washing 100 feet off shore, so fish will come into the suds and eat. The suds and waves breaking turn over all sorts of bait almost like a washing machine and the fish will come in and grab them (flounder, pompano and whiting especially).