Unfortunately, there are a finite number of breaks and waves each day. So as the number of surfers increases, it amplifies the tension in every lineup. It's like biker culture -- if there were only a handful of roads.
The only way I've been able to enjoy surfing is by paying an instructor to help me navigate the lineup and actually catch a wave.
The one thing I noticed mostly is how many people come here and just cannot get waves, while there's tens of kilometres of empty beach within 5 minutes drive.
They could literally go anywhere and get a few waves but they choose here and get nothing (except annoyed).
It either comes down to not knowing any better or thinking they're better than they are... often both.
My advice is to go exploring and find a less crowded spot. You may not need to go to the most popular spot to find waves.
I also think the 'pecking order' is made out to be far worse than it is. As soon as most people see you in the water for at least a couple of weekends, and know you are trying, they aren't dicks - especially if you talk to them both in and out of the water and ask their advice. If you just barrel around on a board without talking or understanding the beach then there certainly will be stress as people worry they are going g to have to spend their day either looking after you, out for you or rescuing you.
Depends on where you surf though. All these questions and answers are completely location dependent. If you're at a super crowded break (like where I live) it's every man for themselves. Your best friend will burn you if they see you falter for even a millisecond.
This makes me frown slightly in vague annoyance. Why should I need the permission and tacit approval of "the regulars" to choose to start surfing? It kind of reminds me of those groups, usually of old men, that you see occasionally decide a bar is "their bar" because they've been going there a while, and try to push other patrons out though passive-aggressive behavior.
If that's really how it is, I'd be one of those wave stealers, and I wouldn't apologize for it.
There's definitely a completely separate water-based hierarchy, based 100% on how good you surf.
To answer your question:
>Why should I need the permission and tacit approval of "the regulars" to choose to start surfing?
You don't need anyones permission at all, but you have to remember surfing is not a team sport, you're competing with everyone else out there to catch a limited amount of waves in the time you have. Couple that with flat days, bad winds, bad swell direction, bad tides and limited time, it's not often you score it 'on', so everyone it's out there to get their share.
So you don't need permission, but don't expect people to be happy with you.. and if you drop in or snake someone (steal their wave) then expect to have even less friends.
No, you would not be for very long. You would very quickly hurt yourself and others, at which point common decency might suggest you should apologize. Perhaps you are unaware that surfing right of way is first about safety?
People who respect the lineup almost always get waves, regardless of skill level. Regulars don't just get waves because they are regulars. They get waves because they understand the dynamics of that particular break.
I guess that depends. If people are trivializing safety by using it as a token in a game of brinksmanship, I will not apologize. I'm happy to wait my turn, all I want is equal and fair treatment. If I find that other people are trying to place me at the bottom of a "pecking order" at a public beach, then I'm not going to play along. If you let people bully you that way once, they'll do it forever.
I'll wait until everyone else has gone at least once, I'll clearly signal that I'm going to take the wave, and then I'll take it. Try to intimidate me off by committing on the same wave to muscle me out, and you'll find me totally willing to call your bluff. We'll both go in the drink, if necessary. Try it a second time and you'll find I'm willing to do that _every_ time. At that point, the ball is in your court to drop the elitism and start sharing like an adult, or roll the dice enough times that one of us gets seriously hurt. I won't be intimidated by this cliquey highschool shit. It's a shared beach and we all pay our taxes, everyone has a right to equal use.
That having been said, this is all hypothetical, because I don't surf and hate beaches. Fucking jellyfish man.
A person usually only has two options for getting waves, whether they like it or not:
[1] Show respect, humility, and make friends [2] Be the stronger/faster paddler
I've never had a problem in SoCal, but then I've only been to a few breaks.
- snaking (cutting in line)
- dropping in (taking off when someone is on the wave)
- sitting at the main take off with the locals (many spots it takes time to earn a place there - years where I live)
- arriving with more than 2 other people
- hassling people, putting on pressure, being too hyped up (chill and wait your turn)
- having photographers if it's a sensitive location
- just paddling out at all if it's a sensitive location
- getting in someone's way (when paddling back out and someone is riding an oncoming wave, paddle into the whitewash rather than paddling towards the shoulder)
- being loud (for many folks surfing is a bit like meditation)
- wasting waves
- being out in waves that are clearly beyond your level of experience
You don't even have to do this yourself. Someone else can and then you cop the flack. It really depends on who is local to the spot and what they're like. If the vibe gets negative then just head in and paddle somewhere else. If there are particularly grumpy locals, other locals will probably understand your position if you're cool about it.
Here are some things that could lead to a negative atmosphere: –tailgating, –slamming on your brakes for no reason forcing everyone behind you to stop, –swerving in front of someone, –running stop signs, –stopping in the middle of the lane to unload passengers, –turning without signaling right in front of an oncoming car, –driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
If you think folks rebuking people for antisocial behavior and not following simple community norms are “assholes”, I imagine you must find an abundance of assholes in just about every aspect of life.
Believing that you have a special privilege to possess, use, and regulate public lands for your own purposes over those of others, IS antisocial.
Surfers beat people up to impose their rules. This is wrong. They are assholes.
As far as your driving comparison, roads have laws that govern their use. If certain beaches adopted ordinances of "surfer law", then I would have no opposition to them. But the current regime is just privileged assholes imposing a class hierarchy for personal benefit.
I've been surfing for over 20 years and have never seen a surfer beat someone up. I have experienced bad vibes in the water and that's when I get out or move elsewhere.
Popular surf spots have signs up outlining some of the "rules" I listed earlier. It can help a lot. But things still get chaotic and many of these points also directly relate to safety in the line up.
If you for instance brought a camera crew to a national park and followed a random group of strangers for hours while they hiked through the woods even after they asked you politely to leave them alone, you should anticipate possible hostility.
If you found a group of musicians busking on the public sidewalk somewhere, and you set up a boom box blasting metal music at twice the volume right next to them, you should anticipate hostility.
If you found a few people playing a pick-up game of basketball in a public park and you brought 10 more people and started trying to play your own game on the same court during their game, you should anticipate hostility.
Then surfing could be more like skiing or snowboarding.
Snow sports don't demand that you walk up the slope every run, we have machines to do that for us. And you don't have to have great timing and a lot of experience to pick a ski run.
Anyway, I'm terrified of sharks. So I'll stick to the snow.
A good rule of thumb is a person should not surf a spot which they could not swim without a board. This keeps people from getting in over their heads and drowning.