We get it. Crowds are tough, and locals can be dicks. Here’s how you can avoid them both. Photo: Ingervandyke.com
We’ve all been exposed to some form of hostility in the lineup. Whether you’re doing the rousting, getting rousted by a bitter local, or simply watching someone else get an earful, aggression, unfortunately, is seemingly inevitable. I wish it didn’t have to be this way, nor do I condone violence, intimidation, or aggression, but the unprecedented crowds of today make it almost unavoidable. There are, however, several ways in which you can mitigate these hostile run-ins, if not avoid them altogether. Here are seven ways you can avoid being on the bad side of a bitter, salty local:
1. Avoid places with unwelcoming reputations.
One of the most friendly/welcoming breaks in Los Angeles: Lunada Bay. Photo: Nicholas Watt
This is the most obvious way of avoiding unfriendly locals. Even if it’s good, it just isn’t worth being hassled and burned. Trust me, you’ll have a much better time surfing a wave that is not as good with far less people out.
2. Surf where your ability suits you best.
It goes without saying not anyone can paddle out at Pipe. Photo: Chuck Babbit
If you know you’re not the most experienced surfer, don’t drive up to Oxnard because of how great it looked on Nick Rozsa’s latest Instagram post. You will get rousted. Look into other spots where the demographic looks most like your own.
3. Show up alone and be low-key.
Johnny Utah did show up alone, but Warchild was simply the wrong dude to mess with.
After considering point one and two, if you still want to venture out to more protected spots, the likelihood of being hassled showing up to the beach alone is far less than if you cruise up with five Wave Storm-wielding friends. If you happen to show up to a lineup with five people already in the water, you are instantly doubling the size. This can piss off a lot of people no matter where you are in the world. Of course, it’s more fun surfing with friends, but if you’re venturing into foreign territory, you might want to consider surfing alone.
4. Don’t stick out like a sore thumb, no matter how hard you rip.
Wetsuits these days…
Leave your flashy wetsuits at home. It only attracts attention. I once saw a poor kid wearing a bright orange and blue suit being chased out of the water by an older dude yelling, “Huntington is that way! Keep paddling back to Huntington!” No offense to Huntington, but colored wetsuits are slightly less accepted there and it seemingly gets worse the further north you go.
5. Respect. Respect. Respect.
An ugly, yet very real side of surfing when their is a lack of respect. Photo: Source: Encyclopedia of Surfing
If you aren’t lying to yourself about being able to surf well, then you should understand this point more than all the others. Once you’ve shown up alone to a spot in your plain black wetsuit, always respect the locals in the lineup. If you can’t spot who these guys are pretty quickly, you should think twice before surfing there in the first place. It’s pretty obvious that you should never burn these guys, but you can get hassled simply by paddling for their wave. That is, if you see a local guy in position for a wave, chances are he’ll catch it. So attempting to paddle for the same wave will waste your own time and potentially piss someone off. Additionally, you could crumble the shoulder and that can be just as bad. A lot of good surfers often fail to recognize this at times too. So be mindful. It goes a long way.
6. Paddle under, not over.
Risk of injury increases exponentially with the crowd.
This is arguably my favorite rule. Like every other surfer, I absolutely hate getting the perfect section on a wave just to have it ruined by someone paddling over the shoulder. Having to straighten out instead of hitting a perfect section can ruin lives. If somebody is going left while you’re paddling out, paddle away from the direction they are surfing. Unless your surfing 10-foot Teahupoo, you should be fine to take a little beating rather than ruin somebody else’s wave and maybe their entire day.
7. Leave your camera at home.
If blending in and going unnoticed is the key, GoPros are certainly counter-productive. Photo: Jeremy Searle
First, why would you want to broadcast to the world via Instagram and Snapchat that a place has been firing for the past week? Wouldn’t you want to keep it on the low down so you can continue enjoying it to yourself? If you really can’t overcome your social media obsession, at least don’t name the spot or create a fake one. I’ve actually seen a couple devoted local photographers photoshop and erase landmarks in the background of their shots to avoid drawing attention. Hats off to them.
