Surf Etiquettes

There is nothing more frustrating for a surfer, especially surfing your local break, than to have “rude” people in the water. When I say this, I mean no gender, age or surfing level, it is just that some people have no respect for others or don’t know any better. When clients are taking surf lessons with Costa Rica Surf Camp, we teach our students about surfing etiquettes and sometimes we need to remind advanced surf clients and even ourselves about the best way to behave in the water, after all we surf to have fun, right!

Here are the 10 rules we should remember before entering the water:

1. If you decide to go surfing with your friends and the break seems somewhat crowded, do not enter the water all at the same time, but go out separately. Don’t make look like an invasion! Don’t paddle straight out to where everyone is, instead wait on the side for a while and take your turn.
2. Once on the line up, do your best to say “hello” to the others, even if nobody answers you back. Remember that what really counts is your intention.
3. Wait your turn; do not paddle toward the inside for priority. If you look like you want to catch all the waves, don’t be surprise if someone drops in on you. Don’t be so aggressive!
4. When you paddle for a wave…catch it! If you refuse to go without a good reason, the locals may not give you another chance. Remember a wipe out is better than missing out a good wave. The really good waves don’t appear every second!
5. Respect priority! The surfer who stands up the closest to the peak has priority (even if you stand up first because you have a longboard). If you drop in, don’t just disappear; make sure to apologize with respect.
6. When you paddle back to the line up, be aware of the others. The ones surfing the waves has the priority among the ones paddle in.
7. Don’t yell after catching or loosing a wave. And don’t keep calling your friends while in the water. The majority of the surfers like to concentrate while waiting for the sets and shouting can be distracting and annoying.
8. Leave some waves for the others. Do not abuse of priority, even more important to remember when you have the advantage of a longboard and/or a paddle board.
9. When you are about to get worked by a set and have to let go of your board, be really careful that you don’t hurt someone around you in the water.
10. Make a ritual of peaking up a few pieces of trash before and/or    after each session. It’s a win-win situation and you will probably get somebody else doing the same thing.