SURF ETIQUETTE BREAKDOWN

To the untrained eye, a surf break lineup can look like a disorganised chaos with every man, women and child for themselves - fighting and jostling for waves.

A lawless, testosterone filled pack with no rules.

But, the reality is quite different…

In fact, there’s a real order to the way a line-up works and a set of surfer rules that keep things fair, safe, and organised.

These rules lead to our very own surf etiquette, rules which will govern line-ups all over the world.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY SURF ETIQUETTE?

Surf etiquette is a set of rules (or guiding principles if you like) that are enforced to maintain a level of safety, organisation, and fairness out in the water.

These surfing rules are present in all lineups the world over.

WHY IS SURF ETIQUETTE IMPORTANT?

Surf etiquette is important to maintain a fair order out in the water so that everybody can catch their own waves - without risk of injuring themselves and other surfers.

And, as line-ups across the world get more and more crowded by the day, surf etiquette is increasingly important to avoid conflict and injury and keep things fun.

WRAPPING IT UP

Alright, so there’s some good and some bad things about surf etiquette which many people disagree with, but they are the rules, and if adhered to they actually really work.

From the outside in, and to newcomers of the sport especially, these rules can seem unfair at times because as you’ll see in a moment the rules are not the same for every individual at every line-up around the world, instead there are different rules for different levels of surfer, and a few other nuanced things to bare in mind too.

But don’t worry, it’s kind of common sense and we’ll break it all down for you in the following lessons.

BREAKDOWN

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IMPROVER SURF COURSE - LEVEL 2

IT'S TIME TO PROGRESS...

POP-UP LIKE THE PRO'S

READING WAVES

CATCHING UNBROKEN WAVES

TURN BABY TURN

TRIMMING

SURF ETIQUETTE

NEXT STEPS...