So how do you become a local to a spot? I am a pretty good surfer I show respect and follow all the rules of not dropping in on someone and so forth but I’ve now been surfing at a beginner spot for about three years and feel like I am ready to move on to somewhere with better waves but all the spots where I’m curious to surf at are very localised and I am not sure where to begin
Make an effort and build a rapport…
Be seen and friendly in the lineup
Join the local board club
Hang out at the local hangouts.
Be a great personality. We had a new guy arrive and he just had the knack of great conversation, honesty, humour and a stunning wife.
Marry a local girl who surfs. ( some aging rocker married a local ex pro surfer and now he’s (sort of) accepted as part of the community even tho he’s never paddled out.)
I say that but he’s never going to be accepted. Sorry Layne.
Surf like slater.
Surf when the crowds are less.
For a while I was obsessed with picking up rubbish off the beach and in the car park and that got more notice than anything else, people like it when you respect their town.
There’s no substitute for growing up in the same community tho. Most locals are keen to make new friends.
Where are these localized spots?
Paddle out in the dark in the morning so you’re the first guy in the water every time there are waves for an entire year.
Good surfing is universally respected so long as the surfer is couteous. If your abilities aren’t compatable with those around you you may never be accepted. There is no substitute for putting in your time.
no one owns any spots… just surf and don’t put yourself or anyone else in danger and you will be accepted. They may not call you into set waves but they likely won’t drop in on you if they see you making sections. Have fun cheer for a good wave
Don’t paddle out with friends to a new spot show up alone
Respect the pecking order at those spots until you’ve earned the respect of those in that pecking order. Paddling directly to the top of the peak amung a buch of locals is never a good idea and will set you back. Stay on the fringes until the locals accept and are comfortable with you. Respect is earned, not given blindly to outsiders.
Surf this new spot religiously for a few years and be cool, and the locals will welcome you. If you aren’t related to someone, it takes time.
Let the local crew take the first waves in a set. Take the last waves yourself. The locals will be inside, paddling out, watching you. Use the opportunity to demonstrate your riding skill. Courtesy and skill, have a way of opening doors, that you think are closed to you.
Dawn Patrol. Civility. Control temper. No ego. Wave time.
Do not paddle out through the take-off zone!
Funny thing about being a local…I’ve been surfing the same spots since the 80s. I live closer to them than just about anyone that surfs them. I’ve seen several batches of “Locals” come and go. These days I don’t even recognize half the people in the water. At my home spots there really aren’t many actual locals like myself left. The real estate market priced most people out of here so most people have to drive to get here. True locals got replaced by wealthy out of towner’s summer vacation homes. You don’t see too many people in these parts bicycling to surf. The few actual locals are my friends from back in the day and now our kids who don’t realize how lucky they are to live close enough to get on their bicycles and go surfing before or after school.
As mako says, very few people can afford to live on the coast. The only affordable place for me is 20 miles from a coast now.
I was never a true local. For many years, my main break was a 60-70 mile drive. Funny though, in my late 20s I had been surfing my spot for over a decade and the “locals” who had been there for only a year or two still had a proprietor attitude.
Like the air around us, the oceans have no owners…
Another funny thing about being a local, the minute you leave your spot…you’re not.
tblank is right.
I’ve had 2 spots that I lived at and I mean I lived right there. I surfed them religiously. I knew everyone that surfed there for 20+ years, but then I moved. First one was Shark Country, where we had beach front weekend homes. I learned how to swim and everything about the ocean’s bounty there. Then I lived across the street from Ala Moana Park and my backyard was some of the best surf along the south side of our island. My favorites were Tennis Courts, Big Lefts and Baby Haleiwa.
I still go back to those breaks, but the faces are different. The old timers that still surf there know me well, but the younger crew think it’s their spot, and I’m the outsider. Funny thing is that other than 1 or 2 others, no one lives at those breaks like I did.
Luckily, I’m old enough and have been surfing long enough to see familiar faces everywhere I go. I may not be a “local” anymore, but I can fit in whereever I decide to surf. Fitting in is the key. If you don’t do dumb stuff like drop in, or try to catch every wave, you should be OK.
you surf a spot every day
multiple times a day
before sunrise and after the sun goes down
surf in all kinds of conditions even when no one else wants to paddle out
paddle out or snorkle when its flat
clean the beach when you can
harvest your meals from the water in between sessions
earn the lineup nomicker grom, ripper, the man, to uncle
go in to paddle out another’s lost board
bring out your friends, nephews/nieces, sons and daughters to the same line up you grew up on
know everyone your age and over and their kids name so that smiles and handshakes comes with every paddle out.
being able to paddle out with out worrying how many waves you are going to get
not paddling out when it’s crowded because you know you can come back when it isn’t
being able to see a wave coming in before most of the pack
having a spot named after you
those are all signs that you maybe be “local”
and yes once you stop paddling out consistantly or move a away
you’ll get the stink eye from the newbies until another old timer says hi to you or they scold the newbie
just my observations having lived next to and surfed the same spot since the 1960s
Keep your mouth shut.
Smile at no one.
Talk to no one.
Laugh never.
Hoot never.
Surf the spot religiously even/especially on junk days and huge days.
Take the scraps.
Never be the guy catching more waves than anyone else.
That’s my gameplan at least.
Even if you are the most “core” local and have the spot named by or after you, then that is THE ONLY spot you are “local”. Everyone surfs elsewhere from time to time. That makes the term meaningless to anyone other than the guy posturing and “claiming” the break. It’s a bullsh## term. Don’t act like a dick wherever you surf. At home or away. Taking turns is not a difficult process to follow. It is pure joy surfing with friends or guys having fun. It takes one jerk to break it all up. In my opinion slaps, not beatings are a teaching tool to those that can’t or won’t get along. Give some to get some. Simple.
all good advise
try different spots too as at certain spots you may never break through depending on the social dynamics
and try different times - a lot of spots have different crews at different times
also some really good non-beginner spots are not ‘localized’
best option is to find a non crowded break - not always possible but you can optimize this by checking multiple places and try to maximize the wave quality / crowd factor.
One word to becoming a local, respect. Respect in and out of the water.
actually a true local doesn’t care how crowded it gets because they can surf the spot anytime the want and usually surf it uncrowded when people have to live their lives and ake a living. sometimes a spot will be great for only an hour or two a day at the most unopportune times. to be able to just grab your booard and paddle out when the time is right is a gift and priviliage of just a few.
there were many times sitting out by my lonesome in muddy shark infested waters a couple hundred yards off shore I prayed for another soul local or not to paddle out just to break the stress of surfing alone. I hate it when my only lineup buddy is a fin that tells me i need to go in now.
[Quote=tblank]Even if you are the most “core” local and have the spot named by or after you, then that is THE ONLY spot you are “local”.
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Imagine surfing a spot that you named, and having total strangers drop in on you, try to back paddle you, or paddle directly in your path while they’re trying to get back out. And when you call them on it they react as if you did something wrong.
This is the way it is at most of my local spots now. And I’m the guy who named at least four of them because they didn’t even have names when I moved here. Like others mentioned, my town is infested with wealthy people who have decided to “learn” how to surf. They think their money and real estate holdings entitle them to be kuks with no repercussions. Back in the 70s, these same types would have been sent to the beach, or gotten a dunking.