Surfing in crowds can be quite challenging, especially at waves like Malibu where there are often people who don’t know surfings ‘rules’ and therefore there’s often boards flying and people falling on each other all over the place!
As Makala shows us here, sometimes collision is unavoidable. We do our best to anticipate if someone is going to let their board go into the wave, if we see the possibility of it, prepare to redirect. Surf etiquette is important to learn, as it keeps safety at the forefront, yet as more people are learning to surf, the guidelines often don’t get passed down. If you see someone who clearly doesn’t know the rules, kindly paddle to them and enlighten their world with a little conduct!
If you are learning and don’t yet know the etiquette ways, there’s some good explanations online, some great books, but your best resource is to ask someone in the lineup, make friends (that’s what surfing is all about anyways). So in short, surfing in crowds is like defensive driving, expect people to do the ‘unexpected’, be ready for it, and have no shame to be a learner or teacher of surf etiquette, as it is important for all to know!
#seeatiptimetuesday
@shredsista navigating in the Ayla One Piece.
shot by @pipergraber_