Have you ever looked out at a busy day at the beach, hundreds of surfers in the water, big powerful waves charging through the line-up, and wondered “how on earth do people not hit each other!”. The answer is really very simple, over the years surfing has developed a set of rules that all (or at least those with a brain) adhere to. Surfing has the potential to be a very dangerous sport – playing around in waves that can smash you into the sand, hold you underwater and generally rumble you around is bad enough, add on to that the fact that you’re trying to ride these things with people all around, riding on what is essentially a piece of foam covered in glass and that could be a recipe for disaster. It’s because of this dangerous potential that the rules of surfing etiquette developed and why they’re so important for beginner surfers to learn.
RULE 1 – The Drop-In Rule
This basic rule is the absolute minimum you should know before venturing into the lineup. Each wave either breaks left to right, or right to left (from the surfers perspective). Whichever surfer is closest to the peak (the point where the wave breaks first) has right of way on that wave. All other surfers should give-way to
him/her should they choose to take-off. If the surfer closest to the peak either doesn’t paddle for the wave or falls from their board then priority is passed down the line to the person who is next closest to the peak and so-on. If you don’t respect this rule then you are “dropping in” on the other surfer.
This rule should be respected absolutely every time you surf. If you don’t then you will never gain any respect in the waves. Consequences of “dropping-in” vary from break to break; in some places you’ll get a dirty look and a few harsh words, other places you’ll end up with wax all over your windscreen and some slashed tyres, try it at the most extreme breaks, and you’ll be dragged ashore by the locals and have a few bruises to show for your misdemeanour. One thing is sure though, wherever you are in the world you NEED to respect this rule if you want to surf.
RULE 2 – Paddle Wide to Stay Alive!
This scary sounding rule basically aims to stop surfers who are paddling back out into the lineup from affecting the rides of surfers already on a wave. As you’ve all been told during surf lessons; it’s the surfer who is up and riding on the wave who has the right of way over those paddling out. Think of it this way; when you’re riding a wave you’ve got to think about your
pop-up, what the wave is doing, where your feet are, what your arms are doing, how bent your knees are, what you want to do on the wave, how fast you want to go etc etc – the last thing you need to be thinking is how to avoid the guy on a mini-mal paddling straight at you!!
The way to avoid this is simple – paddle wide, aim for the channels! When you’re paddling out you should be constantly looking at the way the waves are breaking and what surfers are doing on them. If it seems like you’ll be interfering in their ride in any way, no matter how small and insignificant that may seem to you, then you need to take action.
That can either be paddling further out onto
the ‘shoulder’ of the wave, away from the steep fast section they’ll be riding on, or if you’re in any doubt of whether you can make it in time, then you should paddle for the white-water and take the wave on the head. It sucks, it really does, especially with tired arms but once you make it out back and catch a wave you’ll be so stoked if people get out of your way so you can enjoy the ride!
RULE 3 – Hold on to your board
This one is a real pet-hate of mine, having been a longboarder for many years I know how hard it is to hold on to a big board when you’re getting rumbled by a 6ft set. Nevertheless you HAVE to hold on to your board. Simply put, it’s dangerous if you don’t. We’ve all seen people doing it, paddling out, realising a wave is going to break on their head and ditching their board behind them as they swim under it; where’s the problem you may ask? For the surfer in question there isn’t a problem, they simply pull their board back to them and keep paddling, however pause for a second and think of the poor surfer who was paddling out behind them and has just been hit by a 7’6” lump of epoxy – not so much fun!
At the end of the day, if you feel you have to ditch your board in order to make it out past the broken waves, then you shouldn’t be out there in the first place. By ditching your board you’re endangering other surfers in the line-up and that’s not on. Stay in the shallows and practice your duck-diving or turtle-rolls until you’re confident that you can power through and make it out-back, keeping your board with you the whole time.
RULE 4 – No Snaking
Snaking is one of the most annoying things in any lineup. You’ll always find 1 surfer who thinks they deserve the lion’s share of the waves and doesn’t want to wait their turn. For those that don’t know what snaking is I’ll do my best to explain.
As you found out in ‘RULE 1’, the surfer closest to the peak has priority, if another surfer is to wait until the last minute then paddle around the surfer in priority and steal the wave, then that is snaking. It’s a hard one to spot as a beginner but as long as you don’t do it yourself then you’ll be golden – spotting other people doing it takes a bit longer!
So there you have it – stick to these rules and you’ll not only be safer in the water but you’ll have more fun! A huge part of surfing is the social side, you’ll meet some amazing people out there in the water, make sure you’re respecting these rules and respect will come straight back at’cha! If you’re showing good surfing etiquette then pretty soon people will recognise that and even call you into some waves. It sounds like a bit of a hippy thing to say, but surfing is at it’s best when everyone is having fun in the water – respect these rules and you’ll have those epic sessions every time you take to the waves!
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