There are many issues to consider within sex and romance in surf tourism, and by no means is this an attempt to address and discuss them all. I am simply broaching a topic that should be paid attention to and studied. Photo: Matt Schwartz
Surfers have been a nomadic tribe since their inception. The Polynesians sailed, settled and surfed throughout the vast South Pacific. Westerners became exposed to the art, lifestyle, and sport of surfing and so it spread further around the world. The great Duke Kahanamoku was the original ambassador of Hawaiian and Surf culture, an Olympic champion and surfing legend. George Freeth was another ambassador of surf and even great writers experienced the surf, like Jack London (for more on the facts and history check out Matt Warshaw’s Encyclopedia of Surfing and The History of Surfing). Essentially, people have traveled to new locations to learn how to surf and/or to search for more surf. Sometimes, in the search for surf, love and sex happens.
The topic of sex and romance tourism within surfers’ travels may seem a bit odd, but if you think about any traveler or visitor to a foreign land, these things happen, it is human nature. Sometimes visitors will frequent a certain vacation zone to specifically use brothels and prostitutes, or to look for a romantic partner, at times with an agenda. Not every tourist and traveling surfer is out on the prowl, searching for romance or sex.
But it is a truth that should be acknowledged and discussed. There are many issues to consider within sex and romance tourism, and by no means is this an attempt to address and discuss them all. I am simply broaching a topic that should be paid attention to and studied.
Surfers have traveled all over the world, and by far are some of the most adventurous and motivated explorers around. Often surfers will stay and “go native” in the land of waves that they discover. Sometimes this means moving their family or core social group there, and other times they assimilate or integrate into the existing culture, often through marriage. This is not something new that surfers have down, it happens all the time across the socio-cultural spectrum. However, there are at times motivations and that may brighten a marriage, often for both parties involved. Don’t get me wrong, many people get together and marry for love, but there are logistic advantages and risks.
Property is a huge motivating factor for many surfers that are looking to relocate to a new surf locale. Some travel, just for surf and adventures sake, but sometimes end up falling in love with the waves, climate, culture, people, a man or woman. Purchasing and/or living permanently in another country can often be a tricky situation to navigate. Many countries have limits on the length of your stay and taxes for entering and leaving the country. Also their policies on immigration and purchasing of property can be hard to navigate as well. Sometimes a surfer and local may fall in love, or get in a relationship, and the romance can sometimes lead to mutually beneficial results.
Now this is not the only scenario, just one that I have observed many times in my own personal travels. A surfer with some wealth, from the US, Europe, Australia, etc. may meet someone in a third world country, or a country of lesser economic status, usually a post revolutionary or post conflict nation, and this relationship can lead to marriage which can offer many things. Often the couple will be able to purchase property, so the surfer fleeing crowds and life in their home country can settle down in a cheaper and better climate with less surfers, albeit more will surely come. A union may also signify social and economic mobility for the partner in the country they reside in.
Often times, from my own ethnographic research, it is male surfers that marry local women in foreign surf littoral zones. Now this is not always the case, there are instances of female surfers marrying local men and relocating to surf rich environments. The one constant seems to be that the surfers originating from a more wealthy country are moving to and purchasing property in a new country where there are less surfers, the climate is better, and the foreign surfer’s money will go further. Whereas many people from poorer countries will immigrate to more economically successful countries, such as the US, European countries, etc. for opportunity, these poorer wave rich countries offer a different type of opportunity to these surf migrants. Essentially the foreign surfer gains a location where there is good surf with less people, and their partner can also achieve some upward social and economic stability. This is not always the case, but it is a common scenario.
This migration of surfers to wave rich zones that are cheap, unexplored and not very populated is in no way a new phenomenon. The idea of sex tourism is not necessarily new either, but the recent development of its study and research is relatively new, and offers insight into local and global issues. Communities are affected by sexual activity amongst its members as well as that of tourists. There is an extensive opportunity for learning within this sector of surfing tourism and migration. Specifically, disease and pregnancies should be an issue under study in surf specific zones. Some tourists and surfers may visit brothels and also interact with sex workers and prostitutes. Aside from this there is also the aspect of dating and marrying people in the countries they visit. Where sex is happening, obviously there are concerns for disease and pregnancy. I would urge further study in anthropology and sociology to observe and record data of surfers, tourists, etc and sex related behaviors in these situations. Anonymous surveys or interviews might be one route to further studying and observing sex tourism in surfing.
