👋 Happy National Wiggle Your Toes Day! Who comes up with these?! You can observe by “letting your toes feel the grass or the sand on the beach.” Dangle them in the ocean as you sit on your board and ponder the meaning of life. Done. Do not kick horseshoe crabs!

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Can you surf and hold a job? 😳

• Surfing with a severed toe 🦶

• Surf’s pup! 🐶

• From Costa Rica to Maui 🌴

• Surf news roundup 🗞️

^SURFODRAMA

🏄🏻‍♀️ Can you surf and hold a job? 😳

Confession time. As I'm writing this, I haven't surfed in weeks. I'm going to go out tomorrow after my 9am call. Guaranteed.

I started a new job back in April. Even though I work remotely and live a 15-minute bike ride from the surf, my surf frequency suffered. Massively.

That made me think. Can you surf regularly while holding a regular job? So I headed for Reddit, because where else would surfers share their deepest, darkest secrets?

And it turns out I wasn't the only one with the problem.

Most surfers who work and who surf regularly surf before work. Common sense: the conditions are calmer and by the time you finish work, it might be getting dark.

The fear is that going hard in the ocean before 9am will wreck you physically and prevent you from performing any tasks for the rest of the day.

There are two reasons why surfing may kill your desire to do anything else for the rest of the day.

🧠 Getting wrecked because physiology
The first reason is called immersion diuresis, and it's part of the mammalian dive reflex. When you spend time in cold water, your body shifts blood toward your core, which your kidneys read as fluid overload, so you pee a lot.

By the time you get out, you're dehydrated in a way that a gym workout of similar intensity wouldn't have done to you. Well, some of us are. There's even more science that explains why you can lift for an hour and be fine but surf for an hour and feel like you've been hit by a truck.

There are surfers who say they're worthless for the rest of the day, red-eyed and strung-out. One described it in a way that will feel familiar to any dawn patroller: "I would much rather surf after work, so that I don't have to worry about putting together coherent sentences with colleagues and my boss."

🧪 Getting wrecked because chemistry
The second theory offered by Reddit was a dopamine crash.

As one member put it: "When you surf you are releasing brain chemicals like dopamine and endorphins. Like cocaine or sex you feel great during and after but then a few hours later you dip."

Not sure if it was the mention of sex or cocaine, but many a surfer agreed. You are not tired because you paddled for two hours. You are tired because you spent the neurochemistry. Is this science, though?

🦸‍♀️ Getting superpowers because surfing
Not everyone agrees that surfing before work is going to make you useless at work.

There's this "energized camp," smaller but much louder.

These are the people who say surfing makes them nicer, more focused, and better at their jobs, because it lets them shake off whatever is on their mind and dragging them down.

One explained: "sitting at a desk all day staring at computers, sometimes a super exhausting activity that releases all internal frustrations, excitement, etc can be super helpful with any temper, anxiety, or stress at work."

Needless to say, the answer probably lies somewhere in the middle. And it depends on the length of your session, the type of job you have, and whether you are open to eating a ton of protein and rehydrating like Bradley Cooper spotted with his giant water bottle this week.

📋 The “surf & work” protocol
The second-highest-voted reply in the entire thread was essentially a productivity guide dressed up as a comment.

Cleaned up, it goes something like this:

Keep sessions short if you're working after. Two hours is often plenty. Four hours will kill you. Refuel immediately, healthy food and electrolytes and water. Front-load your important work by hitting the one or two hardest tasks right after the surf, while you're still sharp, and save the simple repetitive stuff for the afternoon energy dip. Take a nap if you can. Twenty minutes around 2pm gets called a game-changer by multiple members. And know when your dip hits, because some people crash at 3pm and others don't feel it until 5. Track it and plan around it.

I don't know what the surfers who believe this do for work. All I know is that they don't do what I do.

If the surf is good, and I don't have any meetings, there's no way I am only taking two hours. And by the time I'm back, I'll be dead and no good to anyone.

I guess you could argue that none of this is rocket science, but it's a lot more useful than the average work-life-balance advice, because it treats surfing as the fixed thing and work as the variable.

🚐 Getting extreme
Someone said: "I quit my job so I wouldn't have to worry about that shit." Well, lucky you for winning the lottery, having a wealthy grandma or retiring early. Some of us have bills to pay and cats to feed.

One member reduced the whole thread to a single question: "Do you surf to be able to work, or do you work to be able to surf? Answer that and you'll know what to do."

This question weighs on me quite a lot. Am I not a real surfer if I let my job get in the way? Am I not committed enough? Am I, after all this time, simply more interested in writing about surfing than surfing?

I'll have a think about it tomorrow in the surf.

^{SURF SKILLS}

🦶Surfing with a severed toe. Sorry, toenail!

Meet The Big Toe from Courage the Cowardly Dog

A few years back, I went on a surfing trip with friends in Santa Cruz. There was much merrymaking. On my way to bed, I stubbed my big toe and didn't even notice. The next morning, emptying a dishwasher, my toenail caught on the bottom of the door and fully dislodged. And I went out surfing.

Probably the stupidest thing I've ever done.

But it turns out this is not as uncommon as one might think. A member of our community posted this week that she'd been babying an already-injured toenail for months, hoping it would hang on until the new nail grew in. Then she kicked a horseshoe crab while instructing at surf camp, and that was the end of the nail. Half a nail bed, exposed skin, and a season of surfing still ahead of her.

"That poor horseshoe crab must have been like, ow lady," replied another member. Which is honestly the correct reaction.

The community delivered plenty of experience, although perhaps not an entirely medically approved treatment plan. We were impressed and surprised. We didn’t realize we were all so into toenails.

Let it grow out. This is the majority answer, especially from members who also trail run or run marathons and lose toenails as a matter of routine. The matrix regrows if it's still attached. The skin closes up faster than the ick factor would suggest. Toenails can take 12 to 18 months to grow back completely, depending on how badly the nail matrix was damaged.

Get an acrylic nail rebuilt at a nail salon. Multiple members swear by it, one for years, because the real nail grows in underneath and you can just remove the acrylic when it's ready. It also handles the "I don't want to look at this in flip-flops" problem.

Cover with nail polish or superglue. The emergency-cosmetic option. Won't heal anything, but it does hide the situation. I am not a podiatrist, but putting superglue over an exposed or injured nail bed sounds like the last resort to me.

Just keep it clean. Fresh water after every session. The skin is more resilient than it looks. But keep in mind that surfing with an open wound carries an infection risk. If the area is bleeding, increasingly painful, red, swollen or producing discharge, stay out of the water and seek medical advice.

And stay away from the horseshoe crabs!

^{VID OF THE WEEK}

🐶 Surf’s pup!

The New York Times has the best selection of photographs from the 10th World Dog Surfing Championships in Linda Mar/Pacifica that took place last weekend.

Which we cannot share because copyright.

This is the next best thing. Especially the GoPro footage.

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🌴 Where in the world has warm water, mellow longboarding, and low winds within three hours of an airport, this week? Community top picks: Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula (Playa Langosta, Tamarindo, and Grande all endorsed by a member who just landed home from a month there and said it didn't rain once the whole time), Southern Baja, Popoyo in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Oahu's South Shore. Key local intel: don't trust the weather apps, because rainy season in Costa Rica right now is a few hours at night, not all-day rain.

🌍 Where should you book a surf camp for September or October? Community top picks: Morocco leads (Mirleft specifically recommended for September conditions per a member who lives there, Taghazout still a favorite, and Salty Chicas running women-organized camps), Portugal (Peniche and Madeira Island both strongly endorsed), Cantabria's Somo in Spain, Sri Lanka's Riptide Surfhouse, and Camburi and Maresias on Brazil's north coast if you want to surf world champ Gabriel Medina's home break.

🌺 Starting to surf at 40+ after living on Maui for nine years? A member finally decided to try, and we’re ready for it. What to do: take a lesson your first week, find your people, and remember that everyone was new once.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Rippin Rosie won a medal. Californians won everything else. A robot joined the lineup.

🐕 Rippin Rosie takes extra-large at the World Dog Surfing Championships
Several thousand people packed Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica to watch about 30 top US surfing dogs compete, with Rippin Rosie, a 5-year-old Labrador, winning the extra-large category and the overall Surfing Spirit award.

🏆 Jake Marshall and Sierra Kerr win the 2026 US Open of Surfing
Jake Marshall (USA) took the men's final over Kanoa Igarashi and Sierra Kerr (AUS) took the women's final over Isla Huppatz, in two-foot onshore surf at Huntington.

🥶 The Alaska tidal bore can carry you for six miles or kill you
Turnagain Arm's twice-daily bore can carry a skilled surfer for up to an hour in 45-degree water lined with quicksand-like glacial silt.

🏗️ A Wavegarden surf park is coming to Britannia Beach, BC by 2029
Fifty kilometers north of Vancouver, Spanish company Wavegarden is building South Britannia Surf, a six-acre park with intermediate-to-expert waves opening in 2029.

🤖 A shark surveillance robot is being tested for the LA 2028 Olympics
The CSULB Shark Lab has unveiled an underwater robot that will patrol Lower Trestles and Long Beach ahead of the 2028 Olympics to detect tagged sharks and relay real-time data to lifeguards.

🌺 A first North Shore session, arranged by a Hinge date
Tracks Magazine ran a first-person piece about a Californian's first Oahu North Shore session at Chun’s via a Hinge date, and her best tip: skip Matsumoto shave ice, go to Aoki's.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—surf stories and guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 87k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

With stoke,

Zuz & The Wipeout Weekly

👋 Happy National Cheesecake Day! After the week we’ve had, we’re gonna need one. With strawberries. California hit by big waves. Florida, New South Wales and Western Australia by sharks. This too shall pass.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Sick spots to surf in SoCal, just not this week 😬

• A clean-up set will get you caught inside 🧹

• A hero is born 💪

• From Cocoa Beach to Bali 🌴

• Surf news roundup 🗞️

^SURFODRAMA

🏄🏻‍♀️ Sick spots to surf in SoCal, just not this week 😬

Remember the best surf spots for beginners? We've done it again. We give you a community-sourced guide to the forgiving, mostly non-territorial breaks worth learning at in Southern California, ranked by people who actually surf them.

We pulled every recommendation, ranked them by how many people mentioned each spot, cross-checked against the actual break conditions, and organized the result by region. Here's where our community sends beginners.

👑 The one everyone agrees on
Doheny State Beach in Dana Point is the SoCal beginner spot, and the recommendation always came with the same caveat: go on weekdays.

"Doheny during the weekdays!" said one member. "Doheny all the way. Especially during the week less crowded. And school is going back into session soon so that will clear it out even more," said another.

The wave itself lives up to the reputation. It's a soft, longboard-friendly break that works from March through October, and it's forgiving in a way most SoCal breaks aren't. If you can only go to one beginner spot in Southern California, this is it. Just do not show up on a Saturday and expect the water to yourself.

🏖️ The Ventura pick
Mondos, a stone’s throw from Ventura, is what the community sends you to if you're willing to drive north of LA.

"Mondos, hands down. It's between Ventura and SB," said one member.

The wave is a gentle sandy-bottom crumbler that usually runs one to two feet in summer, which is exactly what a beginner wants.

Parking is free but limited and sits across PCH, so get there early and cross the highway carefully.

🏙️ In LA proper
The community was honest about LA: pickings are slimmer, and the further you drive, the better it gets.

El Porto in El Segundo/Manhattan Beach came up as "the chill, friendly spot" for LA-based beginners. Wide sandy beach, decent peaks that spread the crowd out. "I love el Porto, it's always a chill, friendly spot," one member wrote.

Zuma Beach between lifeguard stations 11 and 16 is the pick if you want to sample Malibu without sampling the crowds. Sunset Point at Sunset Boulevard is the friendly exception to the "avoid Malibu" rule below.

Will Rogers State Beach in the Pacific Palisades got mentions, too.

Now, a word about Malibu itself. Every single mention of Malibu came with a warning. Too rocky and/or the crowd attitude at the main points is not welcoming to learners.

"Pretty much anywhere you go will be better than Malibu for crowd attitude and water quality," one member wrote. Another described the surfers at 2nd and 3rd Point as "especially" territorial.

We don’t disagree, but it’s doable and fun with a coach. Just skip it until you’re comfortable managing crowds, rocks and right-of-way.

🍊 Orange County (the beginner's paradise)
Beyond Doheny, OC has the strongest cluster of beginner options in SoCal.

Blackies in Newport Beach, between the 28th Street jetty and Newport Pier, is technically more intermediate than beginner (peaky sandbars, occasional hollow corners), but the community includes it because plenty of learners get their reps here on foamies. "Blackies Newport Beach! It's the best beginner spot," one member said.

Bolsa Chica State Beach in Huntington Beach was one of the most enthusiastic recommendations in the thread.

"For a reasonable drive from LA, Bolsa Chica is by far the best," one member wrote. "You'll want to go on a 2-3 ft day. 1-2 is also great fun for beginners and foamie enthusiasts. It's a beach break, easy parking and loooooooong shoreline so it accommodates a lot of people. Locals are generally friendly."

Two important things about Bolsa: it's a state beach ($15 to park), and "bring booties". And do the stingray shuffle. Do not paddle out if it's over 3 or 4 feet as a beginner. It gets dicey fast above that.

San Onofre in San Clemente got a mention with caveats. The classic slow-moving longboard waves at The Point, Old Man's, and Dogpatch are technically beginner-appropriate, but the paddle is long and the lineup is dense with experienced longboarders.

☀️ San Diego (arguably the friendliest coast)
If you want the softest introduction to SoCal surf, the community broadly agrees: head south.

La Jolla Shores is San Diego's answer to Doheny. Gradual sandy bottom, long mellow waves, year-round lifeguards, restrooms, showers, and multiple surf schools. Beginners spread out across a wide beach with several peaks.

"La Jolla Shores in San Diego is pretty beginner friendly and sandy," one member confirmed.

Old Man's at Tourmaline Surf Park in Pacific Beach is the other San Diego favorite. Mellow and welcoming. Beginners get pointed specifically to the section from Law Street down to the pier where the crowds thin.

"Old man's at Tourmaline in SD is a great beginner spot, during the week it isn't too crazy crowded," one member wrote.

North County San Diego (Encinitas and Carlsbad) came up as a broadly forgiving stretch of coast.

"Most beaches in Encinitas and Carlsbad are fun, slower and forgivable. Plus, there are enough waves that if one peak is too crowded you can paddle onto the next one," one member noted.

Pipes in Encinitas got a specific nod. Swami's came up too, though it holds a bigger wave than pure beginners want.

Oceanside works if you paddle out far from the pier. Oceanside Harbor Beach, Pacific Beach, and Mission Beach all got shoutouts.

🧳 A note for East Coast transplants
Several members chimed in with the same lived experience: coming from Charleston, Wilmington, Tybee, or Folly, Southern California surf will feel different.

"Nothing in CA is going to compare to SC, NC, GA surf," one member wrote. "Crowds, waves, size, temperature, sea weed, waves strength, and on. You are experiencing world class surf on a consistent basis. Get out there and enjoy. Don't give up. Mother ocean is humbling."

Go. Enjoy. But perhaps not this week.

^{WORD OF THE WEEK}

 🧹 A clean-up set will get you caught inside

Given Hurricane Genevieve is currently sending overhead sets to Southern California and the US Open of Surfing is trying to happen on top of it, this week feels like the right week to cover surf lingo that goes together like cheesecake and strawberries (yeah, still thinking about it).

A clean-up set is a set of waves noticeably bigger than the going standard on any given day. The name comes from what these waves actually do: they break far enough outside the normal surf zone that they "clean up" the lineup by sweeping every surfer in it toward the beach. Clean-up sets tend to arrive when the swell is on the rise, which means they show up unannounced, at the exact moment most people in the water are least ready for them.

Caught inside is what happens next. It means getting stuck on the shoreward side of an incoming wave or set, unable to punch through. And it's not just uncomfortable. In a 1987 survey called "Fear City," twelve out of seventeen pro surfers said being caught inside was their greatest surfing fear.

The physics of it are cruel. A big wave wipeout is fast; a caught-inside situation is slow. It gives you time to watch the wave build, and time to think about it. No escape.

For most of us, the caught-inside experience is smaller, mostly frustrating, and involves getting stuck in the broken wave zone unable to make it to the lineup. Not dangerous, just soul-crushing.

^{VID OF THE WEEK}

 💪 A hero is born

Ryder Williams is 16 years old.

He held on to a 10-year-old boy through wave after wave, then made four more rescues that same day.

This was his first rescue.

Hero.

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🏖️ Surf buddy in the Cocoa Beach to Melbourne, Florida area? Community top picks: The Stokeciety runs surf meetups, beach days, and a group chat for the area with occasional yoga and swimwear swaps thrown in. Central Florida Women Surfing on Facebook, and Tables Beach as the local go-to.

🌲 Beginner-friendly Oregon surf spot near Seaside for September? Community top picks: Short Sands (aka Oswald West State Park, all sand and beach break, need an Oregon State Parks pass to park), Otter Rock (flat beach break, closer to the headland is usually better, watch the rip near the rocks), and Indian Beach (protected, friendly vibes). Skip The Cove for beginners because it skews locals-only. Local tip: Surfline can be inaccurate for Oregon, so call Cleanline Surf Shop in Seaside for actual conditions.

🏝️ Chill surf camp in Bali for an intermediate beginner heading to Java after? Community top picks: Newbro Surfing in Nusa Lembongan (mostly Lacerations, one member said even on overhead barreling days they took great care of her and found small waves in a safe spot), Noesa Surf from Coconut Beach, also on Nusa Lembongan, and Medewi as a stopover on the way to Java.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Massive waves. Thousands of ocean rescues. And, of course, sharks.

🌀 Category 5 Hurricane Genevieve sends massive swell to SoCal
Surfline compared the incoming swell to Hurricane Marie 2014 (the gold standard of summertime Pacific swells).

🚨 Southern California lifeguards are already at capacity
San Diego lifeguards made 107 rescues at Windansea in one day., LA County did nearly 2,000 over the weekend.

🦸‍♂️ Sixteen-year-old lifeguard makes five rescues in one shift
Ryder Williams held on to a 10-year-old boy through wave after wave until a second lifeguard reached them, then made more rescues that same day.

🏄‍♂️ Paddleboarder saves shark attack victim at Sydney's Coogee Beach
Twenty-five-year-old Charlie Verco paddled toward an 11-foot white shark instead of away from it and helped the injured swimmer to shore.

🥊 Georgia man punches shark on the nose in Daytona
Jacorey High pushed his pregnant fiancée toward shore before punching a four-foot shark on the nose to make it release his foot.

🦈 Great white shark breaches behind a sponger at Newport Beach
A juvenile great white launched itself out of the water yards behind a boogie boarder at Newport Beach.

🏨 When Southern Living starts writing about surfing, we bite
The Sitio, a new 20-room boutique hotel in Virginia Beach, sits next to what's described as North America's first all-season surf lagoon. We would.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—surf stories and guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 87k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

With stoke,

Zuz & The Wipeout Weekly

👋 Happy Gorgeous Grandma Day! Which is pretty fitting since one of our stories is about surfing and adventurous aging.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• There will be no smiling in the lineup 😳

• Don’t you get faded! 🫠 

• We’re signing up for adventurous aging 🙋‍♀️

• From Ecuador to flat & curvy swimsuits 👙

• Surf news roundup 🗞️

^SURFODRAMA

🏄🏻‍♀️ There will be no smiling in the lineup 😳

I have pretty thick skin when it comes to surfing and dealing with surfing people. It comes with the territory of knowing where surfing came from, writing about how bad it used to be, and experiencing how bad it still is.

Even if I'm dreaming of everyone getting along in the lineup, I'm a surf realist. Surfing is the worst.

Not much about surfing surprises me any more. Until this week, that is. There was a post. It's always a post. And the comments that follow.

🙋‍♀️ The ask
The ask was mild and grounded in reality.

When another surfer, particularly another woman, is in the water near you and you make eye contact, is a nod too much?

Not a friendship, not a conversation, not a free pass on a wave. A nod.

🤨 A common sense check
Now, a common sense check before we begin.

Surfing means different things to different people. Some see it as a team sport, others as meditation.

How we engage on the beach and in the water with other surfers goes hand in hand with what surfing means to us.

Or how bad of a day we're having. Or whether we’re hard of hearing, surfing without our contacts, or wearing earplugs to prevent surfer’s ear.

But honestly, are we going to argue over a nod?

Will we purposefully go down the ever-so-expected rabbit hole of: men are the worst, women are the worst, society sucks?

Of course, we will. This is social media. The gloves are off, manners out of the window.

👓 Valid reasons for not nodding
There are many valid reasons why surfers don't actively engage with other surfers in the lineup.

Vision, for one. A lot of us surf without glasses or contacts because prescription eyewear can’t reliably survive a turtle roll. Some of us can’t tell a smile from a scowl at ten feet.

Add sun on water and the fact that most of us are looking at the horizon and not at each other, and a nod that never came back might just be a nod that was never seen.

Then there is everything else.

Some members surf to decompress after work, or through heartbreaking events, or the kind of week that doesn't leave anything for anyone else.

The water is their therapy, and it is cheaper than a therapist. A few of us are introverts who assume nobody is talking to us anyway.

And a few of us are so focused that our concentration face gets read as grumpiness at every lineup we paddle into.

All fair.

🚨 But it's about safety
What's not fair is an adamant refusal to see another surfer's point of view. When someone asks you for a nod in the water, they are often asking you about safety.

Not fellowship and not chat. Safety. I see you, do you see me?

But you're not a lifeguard, you're not a surf coach, you're just out here enjoying yourself, right?

Things go sideways in the water more often than we like to remember. Boards fly loose, people get held down, a rip drags a surfer thirty yards down the beach.

You wouldn't walk straight past a building on fire, would you? I know. The analogy is extreme. So is the ocean.

🌊 The ocean is not a special moral zone
I understand why this pattern exists. Surfing is intense, waves are a limited resource. It is the one hour in the week you get to yourself. You go out to escape people, not to frantically greet them.

I know. I do the same thing.

But wanting solitude doesn’t require us to refuse to acknowledge the person next to you.

And it doesn't give us automatic permission to be uncivil, as if surfing matters more than people.

Somehow, somewhere in surfing, we decided that wasn't true. That the lineup is a specific moral exception zone where the same social rules that apply everywhere else are suspended. That because the wave is important, the person is not.

You don't have to nod. But maybe, just perhaps, don't frown at others extending you this courtesy.

^{WORD OF THE WEEK}

🫠 Don’t you get faded!

When I can no longer stare at my screen, I randomly open the Encyclopedia of Surfing in search of an obscure, I-have-never-heard-this-one-before bit of surf lingo.

Have you heard of a fade? Yeah, me neither.

According to the EOS, a fade is an angled descent down the wave face, usually performed just after takeoff. A surfer initially heads toward the steeper, breaking part of the wave, then turns and rides in the opposite direction, away from the whitewater and across the unbroken wall.

The fade is sometimes used to set up a tube ride. It has to be timed correctly if you want it to look impressive in photos. The fade also has a variation called an S-turn. A more self-explanatory name, for sure. It involves a linked series of turns: first riding toward the wave’s shoulder, then turning back into the critical part of the wave before finishing with a bottom turn.

What I find most interesting about a fade is that it can double as an asshole move. Although a fade is a perfectly legitimate manoeuvre, a surfer can use one to cut in front of someone else and delay their turn until that person can no longer make the wave. A less dramatic version of a drop-in, perhaps, but an asshole move nevertheless.

May you never be faded!

^{SURFER GIRL OF THE WEEK}

🙋‍♀️ We’re signing up for adventurous aging

We rarely, read never, recommend another surf newsletter. But this one comes from one of our own.

Inessa Love, a longtime Girls Who Can’t Surf Good member, learned to surf in August 2020 because there was nothing else to do. At 5'2" and 110 pounds, it took her two years to stop pearling every other wave. Read her story.

Today, she surfs almost every day in Hawai’i, and co-founded Sassy Silver Surfers, a Facebook community for women over 50. She’s also the creator of @SassySilverSurfers on Instagram.

Inessa is passionate about surfing, healthy and active living, empowering women, and building community.

She’s just launched a monthly newsletter mixing inspiring stories with a little science (“because I’m a geek,” she says) and personal updates on aging with intention. It’s for anyone curious about active, joyful, adventurous aging which, honestly, is all of us eventually.

👉 Subscribe to Inessa’s newsletter

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🇪🇨 Beginner-ish surf spot near Guayaquil, Ecuador: wellness-oriented, plant-based friendly, sleep right by the water, longboard-friendly, and NOT Montañita? Community top picks: Ayampe and Las Tunas (beach breaks that work for longboarding when the swell isn't huge, lots of clean eating and "comunidad holistica"), Hermanos Perdidos hostel in Las Tunas for the community vibe, Canoa on the north coast for consistent all-year waves and vegan-friendly hosts, and La Punta as a quieter alternative if you'd consider staying just outside Montañita after all.

🇳🇮 Nicaragua surf camp for someone catching their own waves and learning to cross-step, between Popoyo and Playa Maderas? Community top picks: Chica Brava in San Juan del Sur (based in SJDS but takes you to different beaches based on swell and skill level, 3 hours of coaching a day, all-women, yoga included), Rise Up Surf (multiple Nicaragua locations, the instructors got the loudest reviews), Sardina Surf Camp in Popoyo (locally owned, right on the beach, coaches all levels), Popoyo Surf Camp for a slightly cheaper beachfront option, and Magnific Rock and Miramar as additional favorites. Note: September is Nicaragua's peak season, so waves get bigger and rain more frequent than winter months.

👙 Swimsuit that stays put for flat-and-curvy or pear-shaped surfers, without going full-cheeky? Community top picks: O'Neill Hyperfreak (won last week's pear thread too, great stretch and coverage), Seea for durability and coverage, Jolyn Surf Collection, Mollusk for pear silhouettes, TYR for bum coverage, Speedo one-piece if you check the leg cut, and Ramana Surf's bikini shorts with zip pockets. Winki Suits and Sunward Bound also got shoutouts.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Crocodiles. Sharks. Fog. Also—board shorts, Point Break returns and a new Canadian wave.

🐊 A saltwater crocodile was filmed in the lineup at Macaronis
Filmer Scotty Hammonds captured a large saltwater crocodile cruising the estuary beside one of the world's most famous waves in the Mentawai Islands.

🦈 A shark took a chunk out of a foam board in Northern California
A surfer at Moonstone Beach in Humboldt County had a wedge bitten out of his foam board over the weekend.

🎥 Surfline webcams are now helping scientists study Oregon's coastal fog
A UC Davis and USDA Forest Service study used publicly available surfing webcams to map patchy fog patterns along 93 miles of the Oregon coast.

🩳 Board short summer: fashion co-opts surfers, again
The Guardian reports that Miu Miu put satin board shorts on the catwalk and Louis Vuitton built an 8-metre wave in Paris for its show. Meanwhile, Vinted searches for board shorts are up 132% since last July.

🎬 Point Break is coming back to theaters
Fathom is bringing Kathryn Bigelow's Keanu Reeves–Patrick Swayze surf-heist classic back to cinemas August 16 and 19 for its 35th anniversary.

🌊 Calgary is expanding its Bow River wave
The city unveiled plans to turn the wave that formed under Louise Bridge after the 2013 floods into a more permanent surf spot.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—surf stories and guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 87k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

With stoke,

Zuz & The Wipeout Weekly

👋 Happy National Corn Fritters & National Cherry Day! Not a fan of celebrity surf stories? Do not despair. Because that's not really what this week's surfodrama is about. Or it’s not entirely about that.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Must celebrities surf good? 🤞

• Surfing, but for team players 👭

• Gnarly 1938 🫣

• From Virginia to Japan 🇯🇵

• Surf news roundup 🗞️

^SURFODRAMA

🏄🏻‍♀️ Must celebrities surf good?

We very rarely write about celebrities who surf. It’s not that kind of surf mag.

But we felt compelled to break our own rule after reading that “Lewis Hamilton Probably Surfs Better Than You.”

Whaaat?!

And… bear with us. This story is about a bit more than celebrities surfing. Plus it’s my birthday week, and apparently that means the editorial rules no longer apply.

🌟 Celebrities go surfing
This week, close-up footage circulating on social media showed Lewis Hamilton, who races cars for a living, riding what appeared to be one extraordinarily long wave. He even landed a 360.

Look a little closer, though, and you’ll notice that the board is not shaped like a conventional shortboard. Then, wait until the end and you’ll realize he has been wakesurfing all along.

Lies! 😜

We have also seen Hamilton “getting barreled” at Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch. And you already know how we feel about wave pools at The Wipeout Weekly.

Now contrast that with Amy Schumer, a celebrity beginner carrying a very different kind of surfing baggage.

Thirty years ago, Schumer was surfing alone at Rockaway Beach when she injured herself badly enough to need 40 stitches in three layers. She recently returned for a lesson with her son, partly so he could discover surfing and partly so she could overcome her own fear and get back on a board.

No wonder it was an emotional day.

🤔 Why does this even matter?
So why are we talking about either of them?

Obviously, celebrities are allowed to surf. Anyone can surf. And honestly, everyone should. We say so on our homepage.

But celebrity surfing stories are rarely allowed to be ordinary.

Lewis Hamilton cannot simply be very good at wakesurfing. He has to “surf better than you.” Amy Schumer cannot simply take a lesson with her kid. She has to confront a 30-year trauma and complete an “emotional return” to surfing.

Perhaps that is the strange thing about surfing in general. Nobody is ever simply allowed to stand on a board and have a nice time. Or not stand up at all.

Surfing is repeatedly sold as identity. Both masculinity and femininity, figure that one out. Also: bravery, spirituality, rebellion, healing and proof of authenticity.

Lest we forget: therapy.

It promises to cure anxious children, traumatized veterans, burned-out workers, disconnected teenagers, insecure men and women who have reached the apparently astonishing age of 40 without getting crushed by a flying house.

Surfing can absolutely make people feel better.

It can also make people feel cold, frustrated, frightened, excluded, embarrassed, physically demolished and irrationally furious with another human being for stealing a two-foot wave.

Sometimes, instead of making you calm and serene, it drives you completely mad.

To be clear, this is not an argument against the value of surfing. It’s wonderful! But it’s a call for that value to remain personal, inconsistent and sometimes completely unremarkable.

🌊 Why we surf
The mythology attracts people to surfing, but it can also make the experience feel strangely demanding.

You cannot simply enjoy yourself badly. You are expected to be good, and you are expected to be changed. Even when you’re famous.

Men are often allowed to take up surfing because it looks fun. Women, especially older women, are more often expected to prove something by doing it.

Perhaps this is not only a surfing problem.

We increasingly struggle to let fun remain fun.

Even when an activity is not expected to transform us, it is expected to optimize us. Running, cycling and even walking become discipline. Did you get your 10,000 steps today?

You can measure anything. So we obsessively start measuring our wave count, distance and time surfed.

And where is the fun in that?

🧳 Transformation sells the trouble
I understand why we tell these stories.

Surfing is stupidly inconvenient, absurdly difficult and damn intimidating. People need a reason to try it.

In marketing, transformation sells the trouble. Come surfing and you will find yourself!

Perhaps.

Or perhaps not. Perhaps you will spend 30 minutes fighting your way through the whitewater and getting absolutely nowhere.

Surfing is hard enough without packing all the additional baggage of being something more. We don’t have to carry all of that every time we paddle out.

Sometimes a surf is just a surf. And sometimes you do not even manage that.

^{WORD OF THE WEEK}

🚣‍♀️ Surfing, but for team players

Surf boating is a sport where four rowers take a boat out through the surf, turn around, and try to catch a wave back in. That's the whole thing, kinda.

It’s a surprisingly old, sorry, established sport. It started in Australia in the late 1800s, when the Surf Life Saving Association adapted fishermen's dory boats for ocean rescues. Once jet skis and RIBs (that’s rigid inflatable boats for you and me) took over the rescue work, surf boating stuck around as a competitive sport.

It’s still huge in Australia and New Zealand, where clubs race 22-foot fiberglass boats through overhead surf. Oars were once made from a single piece of wood, today like most pars, they are made of carbon fiber.

According to the Encyclopedia of Surfing, it really hasn’t changed since the beginning of time.

You get four rear-facing rowers and an aft-positioned “sweep steer,” meaning the sweep is placed toward the back of the boat, closer to the stern.

Teams launch their boats from the beach, row through the surf to the buoy which is anchored about 300 yards as the surf line, and surf back to the shore picking up waves along the way.

And if you want to see how gnarly it gets, head to our Video of the Week story. We’ve unearthed crazy footage from 1938!

🚣 Save surf boating!
What inspired this week’s Word of the Week was a story on BBC News about surf boating in Cornwall, UK.

The UK Surf Rowers League says the sport is at a critical point. When their chair started rowing in 2006 there were 15 men's crews and 12 women's crews turning up to competitions.

Now the numbers have thinned enough that the sport could die out in the UK entirely if they don't recruit soon. Perranporth Surf Lifesaving Club is running taster sessions to prevent this surfoapocalypse.

The only stated requirement: you must be a competent sea swimmer.

^{VID OF THE WEEK}

🫣 Gnarly 1938

Surf boating is serious business. We call this clip “Sons of the Sea, Come to Mother.”

And in this one, the narrator muses: “Those rollers are coming in with the speed and force of a torpedo, and muscular arms and powerful shoulders are going out to meet them.”

I think I’ll stick to surfing.

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🇯🇵 Surfing base in Japan for a working-holiday, longboard-friendly with a welcoming lineup? Community top picks: Miyazaki in Kyushu (longboarder-heavy, one member paid 11000 yen for two boards and a bike for two weeks), Hyuga specifically for lots of longboarders, Ichinomiya in Chiba (packed but ridiculously friendly, party waves shared with strangers), Kamakura for the longboard vibe with Tokyo-area work options nearby, and Shimoda if you don't mind shorter rides.

🩱 Wetsuit for pear-shaped surfers, tight on hips and gaping on the torso? Community top picks: O'Neill Hyperfreak (stretchy through the hips and thighs, long arms and legs, solid repair policy) got the most love, Sister Wetsuits for accurate sizing, and Mollusk for a nice fit on the pear silhouette. Or, as more than one member admitted, ditch the wetsuit and wait for water warm enough for a rash guard and shorts.

🏊‍♀️ First-timer at Virginia Beach wave pool (Atlantic Surf Park), how far ahead to book and what level to pick? Community top picks: book in advance because it fills fast in summer, pick a session one level below what you think you are (less buoyancy, real learning curve), take your time between waves rather than forcing every turn, bring a board you're okay with dinging (concrete bottom, expect scrapes), and consider an 8-footer over a bulky longboard.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Surf goes everywhere: festivals East and West, wave pools in Scotland, art in Cold Hawaii… and more

🎤 Super Girl Surf Festival announces music lineup for its 20th anniversary
The world's largest women's surf event returns to Jacksonville Beach November 7-8 with Switchfoot, Lupe Fiasco, B.o.B and Gym Class Heroes headlining a free concert alongside two days of surfing, skateboarding and the Super Girl 5K.

🎬 Surfalorus Film Festival hits 15 with a Wahine Classic partnership
North Carolina's surf film festival teams up with the East Coast's premier all-female surf comp August 7-9.

🌊 Denmark's "Cold Hawai’i" quietly becomes an art destination
The Guardian profiled the 30-mile stretch of Jutland coastline nicknamed by international surfers in the 90s.

🏰 There is a wave pool 30 minutes from Edinburgh Castle
National Geographic Traveller covered Lost Shore Surf Resort, home to Europe's largest wave pool.

🌍 Time Out picks the world's best places to surf
The list runs from St Ives to Bondi via Mauritius, Bristol's The Wave, Ericeira, Hikkaduwa, Taghazout and Nosara.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—surf stories and guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 87k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

With stoke,

Zuz & The Wipeout Weekly

👋 Happy National Sugar Cookie Day! That’s all I’ve got for this week for the intro. Wait! Next week: the big drones debate. Don’t miss it!

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Is it about time we went left? 🤔

• Surfing has a hair problem 💈

• Maine has a seal problem 🦭

• From South America to SW Europe 🇪🇺

• Surf news roundup 🗞️

• “I love Fatty” goes wild 🦦

^SURFODRAMA

🏄🏻‍♀️ Is it about time we went left? 🤔

I'm regular footed. Most of my best rides were going left. I could never put my finger on it, never spent much time thinking about it. I always assumed it was a fluke.

But a member of our community posted this week: "My best backside rides are often the ones where I am not necessarily planning on staying backside, but then it opens up perfectly."

And she wasn't the only one. How was it that riding backside was miraculously improving surfing for so many?

Which is not what the data says should happen.

🔬 What the science says
In 2018, three researchers from German sports universities published a study in a journal with the extremely serious name Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition. They surveyed surfers around the world and analyzed over 4,000 waves from the 2014 WSL Men's Championship Tour.

They found that recreational surfers prefer surfing frontside, and that they rate themselves as more skillful on their forehand. Even at the professional level, both regular and goofy surfers favor their forehand. Goofy-footers are 1.71 times more likely to go left than regulars in contests offering both directions.

Also interesting: recreational surfers ranked "speed" as harder backside than tube riding, harder than getting barrelled. That should tell you something about how shaky most people feel on their backside.

👩‍🔧 The mechanics agree
A surf forum thread from a decade back dug into why backside is objectively harder. In short, everything goes weird.

Balance goes all weird. On your toes going frontside, your weight sits over your board's rail naturally. On your heels going backside, you're perched on the outside edges of your feet with less contact.

Vision goes all weird. Your body is turned away from the wave, so unless you're actively looking back over your shoulder, you can't see what the wave is doing behind you.

Your back foot goes all weird. It ends up parallel to the stringer (middle of the board), so you're only really pressing down with the ball of the foot. Less surface, less stability.

The result: harder drops, bigger bottom turns to compensate, and less confidence when the wave gets bigger.

🔮 But then this happens
Here's where it gets interesting. That same forum thread had one longtime surfer note that his backside rides were consistently better than his frontside rides. His theory was psychological. He couldn't see the wave well going backside, so he stopped hesitating and just sent it. He committed because he couldn't afford not to.

You may remember that we wrote about hesitation as being the biggest mistake a surfer can make. I guess it's true.

That echoed something in the community thread this week. When one member said her best rides were the ones she wasn't planning to take backside, she wasn't saying she'd figured out a secret technique. She was saying that on those rides she wasn't overthinking. The wave opened up and she was already going. No hesitation, fully sent.

Could it be that this technical "inferiority" is creating psychological "superiority"? Meaning, when you don't hesitate because you can't afford it, the ride just gets better?

4️⃣ Four theories for this paradox
Let's assume the paradox is real. Why?

You stop fighting the crowd. In most beach breaks, the lineup skews regular and everyone paddles for the right. Which means the left is often uncontested. For a regular surfer, that's an uncrowded backside wave all to yourself. You get more waves in, you get better. Period.

Your body doesn't fight you. Sharp cutbacks going left, then right feel more natural than the reverse for a regular surfer. Your body naturally wants to close in, not open out.

You see better. Finally. On small, mellow waves, going backside means you can't see the wave face. On some steeper waves, it can flip. Suddenly you may be looking more toward where you’re going.

You don't get to hesitate. Backside forces you to trust the wave. One of the biggest problems in surfing gets suddenly solved.

🤡 One more thing
And this one may be just me projecting.

Imagine you are at a beach break that skews male in the lineup. Everyone fights for the same rights. But the girls often take the path of less resistance. For a regular surfer, that's the left, which is our backside. Over time, we get more reps on our backside than we would ever have chosen. The side we were supposed to be weak on is actually the side we got to develop.

There's a version of this for goofy surfers too, but the mechanics flip. Same lineup pushes them toward the left as well, which is their frontside. So the effect is asymmetric. Everyone drifts toward the unclaimed side, but for regulars that means accidentally training the backside, and for goofies it means getting more frontside reps.

🏄🏻‍♀️ What this means for longboarders
We hear that backside on a longboard is its own particular kind of hell, and its own particular kind of reward.

The board is designed for gliding. Gliding is easier frontside. Everything about a longboard (the length, the rocker, the surface area under your feet) is optimized for reading a wave you can see. Turn your back to it and the board turns clumsy. Cross-stepping to the nose feels unnatural because your body is angled away from the wave you're trying to feel.

Which is exactly why it's worth doing. Longboarding was never about speed. It was about grace. And there is no faster way to develop grace than being made to earn it. Slow, peeling lefts are the perfect training ground because the pace gives you time to think, and the wave gives you room to fail without punishment.

🙋‍♀️ The bigger question
The 2018 study measured what surfers preferred and what they thought they were good at. It never measured what they'd have been good at if they'd been given equal access to both sides.

Preference and practice are entangled. In a mixed lineup where everyone wants the right, the surfers who quietly kept taking the left have spent years on the same side of the wave. Whether they call it their weaker side or not, they've been developing it the whole time.

So maybe the question isn't "is it time to go left?" Maybe it's "when was the last time we actually paid attention going right?"

^{(MINI) SURFODRAMA}

💈 Surfing has a hair problem

It appears that no matter how much we write about hair and surfing, we keep circling back to the same topic.

Let's face it. We are as hair-obsessed as we are surf-obsessed. And that's okay.

Two threads this week racked up over 80 comments between them, all asking the same question: how do I keep my hair from turning into a bird's nest?

Here's the shortest version of what the community said this time round:

1. Wet your hair with fresh water before you paddle out. The most-repeated advice, and there's actual science behind it. Hair is hollow. Fill it with fresh water first, and it physically can't absorb as much salt water. Free, effective, no product required.

2. Coastal GRL, Betty's Special Sauce, Kind Sol, and Calleja Surf Hair Co are the surf-specific brands the group added to the mix this week. These are newcomers to our list.

3. New second-hand tip from a hairdresser: try a hair mask on dry hair before you shower.

4. Braid, bun, or swim cap to keep the strands managed.

5. Or, as one member put it: "Just lean in to the surf hair. It means you're enjoying life."

We wrote the full playbook based on more than 42 posts and 190, sorry, 270, comments from the community. Pre-surf rituals, post-surf rehab, reef-safe brands, mistakes to avoid, everything hair.

👉 Read the updated ultimate guide to keeping your hair healthy while surfing

^{PIC OF THE WEEK}

🦭 Maine has a seal problem

Pic by Tracy Herring-Nugent

What a treasure unearthed on Threads this week!

This is a picture of “Harbor Seal juvenile joyriding on a stolen boogie board off Old Orchard Beach, Maine” taken by, we believe, @herringnugent. You never know for sure on Threads.

If Santa Cruz has surfboard-thieving otters, Maine has its own seal problem.

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 2 things we’re figuring out this week

🌴 Beginner-friendly December surf destination in South America, bonus points for diving? Community top picks: Santa Catalina in Panama (with Coiba National Park for diving), Guanico via El Ranchito Surfcamp in Panama, Nosara in Costa Rica, Popoyo in Nicaragua via Sardina Surf Camp, San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua (Verdad + Sandbar Surf School in Costa Dulce), and Weligama Sri Lanka via Riptide Surfhouse if you're willing to stretch beyond South America.

🇪🇸 Beginner-ish surf camp in Spain, Portugal or Morocco for mid-August to mid-September? Community top picks: Women + Waves runs trips in both Portugal and Morocco (September), Tamraght or Taghazout in Morocco via Sun Surf Stay, Essaouira in Morocco through local camps, Sharks Lodge Portugal (surf + CrossFit + HYROX + yoga), and The Dames Raglan Surf Culture retreat in Les Landes, France (Sept 6-12) if you'll broaden to France.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Surfing sells out. Surf media goes sharky. Teen surfer's year-long charity mission… and more

Pic by Pele Cass

📈 Surfing must really be taking off if it's selling out
Carpinteria Surf Camp, at 27 years old, reports its busiest start ever, with opening week sold out and summer sessions filling fast.

🦈 Surf media goes sharky
Stab and BeachGrit covered NSW schoolteacher Riss Lasair's two close-call shark encounters at Inyadda Beach 48 hours apart.

🌊 Teen surfs every day for a year
16-year-old Isaac from Bude, Cornwall is six months into surfing every single day to raise £3,650 for BBC Children in Need.

🐻 Dylan Graves takes on Alaska
Dylan Graves and FCS GO released “The Outer Edge of Alaska,” a film Tracks describes as 'part surf film, part David Attenborough wildlife documentary.'

🇺🇸 Wounded Warriors ride the waves
The Wounded Warrior Project and the Adaptive Surf Project hosted an adaptive surfing day for veterans in North Myrtle Beach on July 7.

🏛️ A century of surfing in Jersey
The Jersey Maritime Museum in the UK opened “Wave Riders — A Century of Surfing,” spotlighting Nigel Oxenden, who brought surfing to Jersey in 1923.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{WEE SURF SHOPPE}

🦦 “I love Fatty” hats go wild

The “I love Fatty” hats have officially escaped containment, as seen in this video from your very own The Wipeout Weekly editor.

Anyway. Da merch is getting ridiculous. Please accept our apologies.

If you, too, would like to declare your love for Wee Fatty, our otter mascot, in public, the hats are waiting for you in the Wee Surf Shoppe, alongside stickers and buttons.

👉 Check out Da Merch at the Wee Surf Shoppe

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—daily surf stories and weekly* guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

With stoke,

Zuz & The Wipeout Weekly

👋 Happy Fourth to all who celebrate! To everyone else, hope you squeeze in a wee surf this weekend. 🏄🏻‍♀️

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• So you think you’re ready for a custom board? 🫣

• WTH is a surf city? 😳

• This is all of us 🤲

• From break-up to Denmark 🇩🇰

• Surf news roundup 🗞️

^SURFODRAMA

🏄🏻‍♀️ So you think you’re ready for a custom board? 🙄

I bought my one and only custom surfboard because of FOMO, more than a decade ago. A 9'6" from Brian Hillbers of Fineline, in LA.

After my husband picked up a Fineline longboard from Mollusk surf shop in San Francisco for our Bolinas Sundays, I didn't want to be left behind and contacted Brian directly.

Would he make me one? He would. Would it cost less than from Mollusk? It would.

It took a few months, and it was, very surprisingly, a collaborative process. When we went to pick the board up, we brought a six pack of beer. We read somewhere that's what you do when you work with a shaper. $800, which made it about $150 cheaper than buying it from the shop. My handpicked design and colors. I was in love.

I remained in love until I moved to SoCal, and Venice Breakwater became my local break. My board was not only long, but heavy as hell. Not made for someone who needs to navigate fast closing waves, even on the smallest days. But hey, that's the price you pay for stability and effortless pop-ups. It was a gliding machine.

Whenever I see someone post a picture of their new gorgeous, custom surfboard (little colorful flowers always get me), I wonder: would I ever do it again? And if you're thinking about it too, here are a few things to consider.

🤔 Should you even?
There's no rule against getting a custom board as a beginner. Plenty of beginners do. Plenty of flash-with-cash beginners get multiple custom boards, too. It's just that it makes more sense to wait until you know what's what. Because the main reason why you get a custom board is that you can't find a board that you want in a shop. And how will you ever know that if you don't at least try out a few different boards, from friends or second-hand, before committing to a considerably larger expense than a factory-made board?

📍 Where will you be surfing?
Next, think about where you’ll actually be surfing this specific board. Is this supposed to be an all-rounder replacement for your 8-foot foamie that you'll travel with, or a board you'll commit to one break? This is also one of the key questions that will shape not only the type of board you choose, but also which shaper you work with. Because it's always best to work with a shaper who's familiar with your surf spot.

The advantage of getting a custom surfboard for a specific break is also being able to observe what other surfers at your level and a similar build are riding. If you're lucky, you may even spot a local shaper's logo on their board. Or you can just talk to them. Preferably after the surf, on the beach.

🔍 Choosing your shaper
There's more to selecting your shaper than them being local. You wouldn't just go to any custom tailor, would you? Have a look at their website, see what types of boards they shape. Check out their socials. Now even the biggest traditionalists show off their wares on Instagram to bring in custom orders.

💬 The interview
The shaper will ask you about your weight, height, age, where you surf, how often, all year round or when it's only small or only big. They should drill down into your surf abilities beyond the level at which you surf, and what you like and dislike about your current board. Finally, what are your goals: do you want to cross-step or nose-ride, or are you hoping to graduate to 360-degree aerials?

They may ask you questions that you have no idea how to answer: what type of box do you want, more or less rocker than your current board, what blank you prefer, how do you want it glassed? This is why sometimes it is better to postpone ordering a custom board until you know what you actually want.

🖌️ Artwork, deposit, timeline
And then, there's the artwork or none, a deposit to be paid and timeline to be agreed upon. It helps if you connect with your shaper on a more personal level rather than making it solely transactional.

Depending on how busy your shaper is, it can take a few weeks to a few months to finally get your hands on your new baby. And then, no backsies, no returns. It's yours and yours alone.

💔 Things nobody tells you
Getting a ding in your second-hand board is annoying, but nothing hurts more than damaging your brand new custom board. Tail and nose are usually the first victims.

And if you're going for a custom color and a tragedy strikes, like in my case, a shortboarder embedding their fin into my rail, it costs a lot more to match it and repair it. Which is why I have a big, fat, ugly white stripe running across my board. You rip your custom fin box out in the shallows? That will also be a little bit extra.

But when it's all said and done, owning a board made just for you is a rewarding experience. And you should absolutely try it. Whenever you're ready.

^{WORD OF THE WEEK}

😳 WTH is a surf city?

Yet another Surf City. In Oregon.

Woohoo! Sayulita in Mexico is about to become a "Surf City"! But what does this even mean?

Sayulita will officially become Mexico's first Surf City, receiving the designation on November 2, 2026, during the destination's Day of the Dead celebrations. Sayulita is joining a global club that includes Ericeira and Nazaré in Portugal, San Sebastián in Spain, Miraflores in Peru, and Arica in Chile. And Nayarit (that's the Mexican state) got itself the Vice Presidency of the World Surf Cities Network while it was at it.

According to The World Surf Cities Network that has so far bestowed this honor on 19 (or maybe 20) cities now, a Surf City is "an urban area where surfing and its culture are an essential part of local life, and where the surf industry forms a significant basis of the city's economy, employment, and cultural identity."

Ok, cool, it's all clear now. Not quite.

🌇 A tale of too many Surf Cities
There's also Surf City, North Carolina, there's Surf City, New Jersey. And there's the one and only Surf City USA. No, wait...this is where it gets interesting.

It all started in 1963, when a band called Jan & Dean sang "Surf City" that starts with the line you may be familiar with: "Two girls for every boy!"

The lyrics didn't specify the location to said societal marvel and led to a conflict between Santa Cruz in Northern California and Huntington Beach in Southern California that both claimed to be "Surf City USA".

👩‍⚖️ Politicians enter, because of course
In 1992, according to the Encyclopedia of Surfing, former Huntington Beach mayor Tom Mays wrote a bill asking that the state of California officially recognize Huntington as "Surf City." Santa Cruz assemblyman Sam Farr countered that surfing was introduced to mainland America by Hawaiians at the Santa Cruz rivermouth in 1885, and therefore Santa Cruz is the OG.

Then there was Hillary Clinton campaigning for Santa Cruz: "This is the real Surf City where only real surfers surf." Huntington Beach congressman Dana Rohrabacher responded by saying "Surf City isn't supposed to be a laid-back place with laid-back people."

This political circus went on for decades and turned into a copyright dispute. So un-surfy.

🤡 Trademarkgate
Huntington Beach filed nine trademark applications for "Surf City USA".

Santa Cruz's Mayor Mike Rotkin went on local TV to sing his own version of Jan & Dean's tune, threw in a lyric about leaving your lawyers with their trademark tricks, and proposed a surf-off with the trademark as the prize. Legend. He also threatened to file a competing trademark for "Original Surf City USA."

Dean Torrence, half of Jan & Dean, told the press: "None of us had Santa Cruz in mind. I'm flattered that Santa Cruz is so uptight about it."

The lawsuit that followed dragged from 2006 to 2008 and settled quietly, with Huntington Beach keeping the trademark.

Then in 2009, Surfer magazine crowned Santa Cruz America's number one surf town anyway, adding: "Huntington Beach may have won the right to the name in the California courts, but any surfer who's ever paddled out at Steamer Lane knows the judge got it wrong."

In 2023, California officially designated the I-405 / Beach Boulevard interchange in Huntington Beach as the "Surf City USA" interchange.

So it's on the road signs now. Great. Maybe these guys should go out surfing a bit more.

^{PIC OF THE WEEK}

🤲 This is all of us

Pic by @amir.yurman.seal.photography

Looking at this pic, I feel so seen. Don’t you? 🥰

This is Yachel, @yacheliphotography, one of the Girls Who Can’t Surf Good surfer gals. She started surfing in November and absolutely fell in love with it.

Yachel shared: “Not sure what I was thinking of starting in the winter, but in hindsight it was a good choice. Less surfers out and good waves.”

Smart surf cookie.

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🥶 4/3 wetsuit recs for cold-water Denmark surfing, ideally with a chest zip and a bit of color? Community top picks: O'Neill Hyperfreak (stretchy but not the most durable), Rip Curl Flashbomb (skip the Dawn Patrol), Sisstrevolution 4/3, Need Essentials with a bib zip for easier entry, Feral, C-Skins 4/3, Rip Curl E Bomb, and Janga if you want patterns and colors. Abysse if you fancy Yamamoto neoprene, though not for the very coldest water.

🏝️ Beginner surf camp in Lombok, for someone getting back into it after a break? Community top picks: LMBK Surf Camp, Insider Gerupuk, Lombok Logs, Xanadu Surf & Yoga, and Roots Surf Camp & Yoga Retreat.

🌸 Post-breakup August getaway, 35-45 crowd, mellow waves, social but not messy? Community top picks: Costa Rica (Santa Teresa, Nosara, Tamarindo, or Damo Surf Camp in Jaco), Puerto Escondido or Baja in Mexico, WaveHouse or Medewi in Bali, Xanadu Retreat in Lombok, Women + Waves in Portugal (Aug 1-8), The Dames Raglan in New Zealand, the Mentawai women's retreat, Playa Venao in Panama, and Folly Beach in South Carolina for a Southern US option.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Orca meets a surfer. Canoe’s big wave day out. The ISA comes to its senses.

Pic by Robert Pittman

🐋 Orca surprises solo surfer in Oregon
A solo surfer in Neskowin, Oregon, got the scare of a lifetime when a large dorsal fin appeared about 30 yards from his board.

🛶 Canoe surfing triple-overhead Waimea
A crew of Hawaiian watermen charged triple-overhead waves at Waimea Bay in an outrigger canoe.

🏄 LA28 Olympic surfing qualification gets updated
After pushback from surfers and national federations, the ISA revised the LA28 Olympic qualification system, increasing WSL Championship Tour spots from five to eight each for men and women.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—daily surf stories and weekly* guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

👋 Happy National Swim a Lap Day! Which feels fitting, because our main story this week is for anyone who’s landlocked and wondering if swimming laps is now the closest they’ll ever get to surfing.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• How to surf without surf 🥺

• Twenty-five years to a pop-up 🙌

• Surfing bliss incarnate 🤘

• From Oregon to global solo trips 💬

• Surf news roundup 📰

• The surf retreat lineup 🏝️

^{(NO) SURFODRAMA}

🏄🏻‍♀️ How to surf without surf 🥺

There’s no surfing in the desert.

'Some days I think I'll just quit my surf dreams.'

If you've ever thought that, you're not alone. Landlocked. Postpartum. Stuck in winter blues. Recovering from an injury. Or between the surf trips. The reasons vary, but the feeling doesn't.

Here's the playbook straight from the Girls Who Can’t Surf Good community. How surfer girls train for surfing when they can't actually surf.

🛹 Pop-ups and burpees
Lowest-tech, biggest bang for buck. Practice your pop-up on the carpet, on a yoga mat, on the kitchen floor. One member wrote: 'Surf burpees, pop up practice every day, watch surf videos while doing them.' Another lays on the wheelchair ramp at her local hydrotherapy pool to do slow-motion pop-ups in warm water. Before work. Every day.

But but but do not get hung up on a perfect pop-up. There’s plenty more to surfing!

💪 Pilates (especially after a baby)
Pilates came up more times than any other single recommendation in the thread. Mat Pilates, reformer, postnatal Pilates. The reasons surfaced quickly. Core strength. Hip stability. Shoulder control. Balance. And one comment worth its weight in gold: 'I was surprised by how much my weak pelvic floor muscles affected my balance. So don't neglect those muscles.'

If you've recently had a baby, this appears to be the category.

🌀 Balance and surf skate
Some members take surf skate lessons in their off months. Some have surf trainer boards at home, commercial ones, DIY builds made from Lowe's lumber, custom ones designed to mimic actual foot placement on a surfboard. One member keeps a thick piece of foam in her kitchen and stands one-legged on it while she's making dinner. It all helps.

Anything that wobbles and teaches your feet to react is working.

🏊‍♀️ Paddle endurance
Surfing means a lot of paddling. Most sessions, you'll spend more time on your belly than on your feet. Or just waiting for the waves.

Swimming was the most-cited paddle-fitness recommendation. One member put it: 'I never get gassed paddling out now cos I'm always paddle fit even if I haven't surfed much lately.' SUP and paddle boarding on lakes were close behind. One landlocked surfer takes her board to a lake, runs along the shallows, dives on, paddles hard, and gets a short stand-up. Wow.

For the truly committed, there's the Surfbasis paddle trainer. Costs money, we haven’t had a chance to review it yet.

🏋️‍♀️ Strength (lats, shoulders, core)
Strength training for surfing has a shape to it. Lats and back for paddling power. Shoulders for endurance and the pop-up. Core for balance and the moment your board catches an edge. Hip stability for the bottom turn.

Planks, push-ups, TRX rows, deadlifts, lunges with a pop-up at the bottom. Bouldering came up too, from a member who said it's 'great for all round strength and mobility, and really works on your pull strength for paddling.' Climbing as cross-training is underrated.

📱 The apps and the toolkit
A few apps got named. Hydromind for surf-specific training programs. The Salty Club for routines and community. The Peloton app for general strength and cardio.

🤍 One last thing
If you just had a baby, first of all, congratulations! And if you feel like you may never surf again, this piece of advice from the group may be for you: 'Don't quit. You will need something for yourself more than ever after having children.'

The ocean (and the bores, lakes, oil tanker waves and wave pools) will still be there whenever you feel ready to get back to it.

^{GIRL WHO CAN POP UP AT LAST}

🙌 Twenty-five years to a pop-up because of Point Break

Meet Shari, one of our Girls Who Can't Surf Good. Canadian by birth, Dee Why local since 1998. She sat down for a long interview. This is her story.

Shari was 28, out very late on the Greek island of Ios, and had just finished watching Point Break at the Red Lion Restaurant. She climbed onto the table.

"That's it," she announced. "I'm gonna learn how to surf."

All the guys laughed.

That was 1993, give or take. Shari is Canadian by birth, has lived in Australia since 1995, and to hear her tell it, every consequential decision of the thirty-odd years in between traces back to that table in Ios.

She left her family behind. She went bankrupt twice. When Shari met the man who would become her husband, she laid down a single condition for a second date: he had to be willing to live within 100 meters of Dee Why Beach.

"I came here because I wanted to surf," she says, "and I didn't leave because I want to surf."

The road from Ios to Dee Why ran through two ski seasons in St. Anton, Austria, and a London doss house in Hammersmith. 31 people in a two-bedroom walk-up. Shari started on the living room floor, graduated to a bedroom floor, and finally graduated to an under-the-stairs closet. "I was the only person out of 31 people who had a door I could close."

She fell for the Australians in that house. Things had gone sideways. Thefts, "bad things." And the Aussies kept saying, you got to do the right thing, you got to do the right thing. "I thought, well, any country that has that as a saying has to be a good place."

But first there was Maui.

A friend she'd skied with in St. Anton called her in Canada: Shari, we're all down in Maui. I've got a room, a job, and a car for you to buy. Get down here. Shari quit everything and inside ten days, flew to Pa'ia, and moved into a house with ten surfer guys. She was working, and she was, finally, learning to surf.

A Hawaiian man at Pu'amana, on the south side near Lahaina, took her under his wing. Every morning she and a German friend named Franziska made the 45-minute drive across the island to practice surfing in the small waves.

Then Shari decided she had to surf the North Shore…

What happens on the North Shore is bad. Very bad. What happens after is the whole story.

A roll of duct tape. A Hawaiian woman who returns Shari's board to a house she's never been to. Two decades in Dee Why's lineup. Cancer. A forty-pound comeback. And the pop-up revelation that took twenty-five years to land.

👉 Continue reading Shari’s story

^{VIDEO OF THE WEEK}

🤘 Surfing bliss incarnate

Here's one minute of absolute bliss featuring Sandi, @sandiwol, one of our mighty Girls Who Can’t Surf Good crew.

That’s it. That’s the video.

Yes, she can surf pretty good. 😜 No, it’s not Pavones.

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🏖️ Looking for a beginner-friendly surf instructor near Doheny Beach in South OC, ideally a woman-owned business? Community top picks: M&M Surfing in Seal Beach, Girl in the Curl in Dana Point (ask for Mary), Bella, and San Diego South County Women's Surf Club for a road trip south.

🌲 Surf spots within reach of Boise on the Oregon Coast? Community top picks: Short Sands, Otter Rock, Agate Beach, Indian Beach, Lincoln City, Newport, Pacific City (long logs), Seaside (the Cove), and Westport in Washington for some jetty protection.

🛫 Solo August surf trip for an advanced beginner with JetBlue points?
Community top picks: Tamarindo and Nosara in Costa Rica (direct from Boston), Pura Vida Surf Adventures in Santa Teresa, Chica Brava in Popoyo Nicaragua (running an Aug 8-15 women's camp), San Clemente or Santa Cruz in California, Algarve Portugal with Tiny Wave Surf Camp, and Imsouane in Morocco.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Surf fashion in Paris. Competition tech o’clock. Artificial reefs in Santa Cruz. Teahupo’o tragedy.

Not the actual Pharrell fashion show.

🌊 Pharrell sends Vuitton surfing
Louis Vuitton’s spring-summer 2027 men’s show brought surfing to Paris, with an artificial wave, logoed surfboards, Monogrammed diving gear and a beach-to-boardroom collection from Pharrell Williams.

⌚ Apple Watch joins the WSL kit
Apple showed how World Surf League competitors use the Apple Watch in heats to track time, scores and priority in real time, even when they cannot hear beach announcements from the water.

🪨 Pacifica surfers pitch Rob’s Reef
A group of Pacifica surfers and coastal engineers wants to build an artificial reef that could slow waves, fight erosion, restore beach sand and possibly create a new surfable wave.

🏄‍♀️ Santa Cruz statue finds its meaning
Surfers Kaila Pearson and Sarah Gerhardt explained why a female surfer statue matters in Santa Cruz: representation, balance and a public symbol that says women have always belonged in the lineup.

🖤 Teahupo’o tragedy
American surfer Patrick Phillips has died after a wipeout at Teahupo’o, a reminder that even smaller days at one of the world’s most consequential waves can be deadly.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{ALL THINGS SURF DIRECTORY}

🏝️ The surf retreat lineup around the world

The directory just got a refresh, and the next six months of surf escapism are looking nicely populated. Retreats across Indonesia, the Philippines, Spain, Mexico, Sri Lanka and one stateside contest. Highlights:

🧘‍♀️ For the wiser crowd. Two Over-40s retreats this year. Siargao in October (Oct 4-10) and Lombok in late November (Nov 30-Dec 6). The 'when do I stop being a beginner' demographic finally has options.

🌺 For the cultural curious. The Women's Surf & Cultural Retreats in the Mentawais run twice in August (Aug 2 and Aug 16). Daily surf, local food, coral planting, batik workshop, jungle hike.

🍂 For the European autumn. Surf & Soul in Spain runs back-to-back start dates (Oct 16 and Oct 17). Pick your week.

✨ For something different. MoFlo x Surf in Baja, Mexico (Nov 11), and The Sevana in Sri Lanka over Christmas (Dec 20). Both improver-level.

👉 Check out the All Things Surf Directory for details

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—daily surf stories and weekly* guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

👋 Happy International Surfing Day! That’s on Saturday. Join a paddle out or a beach clean up, or just go out and have fun. Celebrate your way, and stay safe!

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• The break you’d marry 💍

• It’s going to be a destination wedding 🌴

• May your sunset sessions rock 🤘

• From Europe to French Polynesia 🇵🇫

• The only sharks we ever want to meet 🦈

• Surf news roundup 📰

^SURFODRAMA

😱 The break you’d marry

Someone asked me recently what the best break I'd ever surfed was, and without thinking I said Waikiki. Then I added Bolinas. And then, immediately, I felt incredibly ashamed. Because neither answer is impressive.

Waikiki is the surf equivalent of the Eiffel Tower, and Bolinas is a sleepy Marin County town with a foggy beach break that nobody outside Northern California ever talks about. Neither would crack a top hundred list of objectively great waves. But that wasn't really what the question was asking, was it?

I've been thinking about this because of a thread where someone asked surfers a more pointed version of the same question: if you could only surf one break for the rest of your life, what would you pick?

Hundreds of answers came in. And the pattern of why people picked what they picked turned out to be more interesting than any individual answer. Here's who surfers would like to marry.

🛟 The forgiving wave
One surfer picked their break and added, simply: 'I know it won't kill me.' I don't think he was joking. When you're looking down the barrel of a single wave for the rest of your life, the question stops being 'what's the most exciting break I've ever surfed' and becomes 'which one lets me keep surfing into my seventies without getting hauled out on a backboard.'

It also reminded me of Mark Mathews, a famous heavy wave surfer, who surfed Cyclops (it's a very dangerous wave) once and vowed never to surf it again. Sounds about right. 'Crazy exciting' doesn't necessarily make for good marriage material.

🛋️ The cruiser
From one explainer: 'It's an easy drop with a nice wave. It's a cruiser wave and that's my favorite ride.' Mellow, makeable, offers no surprises.

The kind of wave you can surf when you're hungover (we do not recommend), and still have a decent session. You may even feel more alive afterwards.

🤹 The versatile wave
The most well thought through answer in the entire thread talked about getting the most out of a single wave: 'It has a right and a left. It's a high-performance wave but easy to surf. Fun whether there's not much swell or plenty of swell. 1-2 ft or 6-8 ft. Stays relatively glassy and rideable throughout most days.

Someone else made the same case for their break: 'Longboard in the morning and barrels when the tide drops. Best of both worlds.' This almost sounds bigamist, doesn't it?

⏳ The long ride
Several of the most-voted picks were all chosen because they go forever. One commenter put it perfectly: 'That left goes forever, you can ride till your legs get tired.' When you can only have one wave, length begins to matter. I bet we all remember our longest ever rides.

🥹 The sentimental wave
That was the softest category, and probably the largest. The home break, the wave with a person attached. 'Learned there, taught there, my ashes will be spread there.' 'My father's ashes are there. I talk with him about stuff when I'm there.'

Someone picked a South African spot because his dad grew up surfing it. Another picked his home break: 'Might not be world class but it's home. Surf there daily rain or shine.' The feeling, the memories matter more for some than the quality of the spot.

🙅 The conditional wave
Then there's the with-conditions group, who name famous breaks, but only with caveats: 'Empty Lowers.' 'Uncrowded Malibu.' 'Costa Rica minus the crowds.' 'Cloudbreak with no one out.'

That's not really an answer to the question. It's a wave plus a condition the world will never grant you. You will be single forever.

But in the same group, I discovered surfers who would marry any wave really, as long as their mates could come to the wedding. They'd rather have a mediocre wave with three friends than a perfect one with thirty strangers.

🙉 The unthinkable wave
There were a few, very few surfers, who for their wave to marry, have kids, and spend the rest of their lives with picked a wave pool wave. Some said it jokingly, some did not.

Whatever my feelings on the matter (wave pools are not, like, real surfing), the reality is that wave pools are quietly entering the conversation as legitimate answers.

🌺 So why Waikiki and Bolinas
Waikiki is my forgiving wave, and the long ride. It's a beginner spot, there are no expectations, no stress. If you're willing to do a dawn patrol, you can experience it relatively uncrowded. The trade-off is that the only crowd is the locals.

Bolinas is my sentimental wave: longboards, friends, lunch at the Sand Dollar after, and somehow never once a thought about sharks, even though Bolinas sits right next to Stinson Beach and one of the more colourful great white résumés on the California coast.

Had I stayed living in San Francisco, I would've been married to Bolinas for sure. But sometimes things don't work out the way you plan them, and so I've been engaged to Venice Breakwater, the convenient wave, for quite some time.

So, what wave would you marry?

^{SURF SPOT SPOTLIGHT}

🌴 It’s going to be a destination wedding

We talked about the types of waves the surfers would like to marry, but what about specific surf spots?

We have a shortlist! Call it the consensus dream honeymoon list.

Pavones, Costa Rica. It's the long, machine-like left on the Pacific coast of the Osa Peninsula, and the appeal is obvious. When you can only have one wave, you want one that goes forever.

Honolua Bay on Maui is Hawaii's emotional favorite, picked over Pipe and Sunset by people who've ridden all three. Several said it was the wave they'd want when conditions are right and they're in shape to deserve it.

The Gold Coast superbank cluster (Snapper Rocks, Rainbow Bay, Greenmount, Kirra) is very popular. So popular that a few people refused to pick just one of the four and named them as a single ride. Technically a violation, but we’ll allow it.

Rincon. Some of those Rincons are in California, north of Santa Barbara. Some are in Puerto Rico. And we couldn’t tell which one was which.

Lower Trestles in California, Cloudbreak in Fiji, Chicama in Peru and Macaronis in the Mentawais got notable mentions.

If you're planning the trip of a lifetime and want crowdsourced authority, bear in mind that these were very emotional choices for some surfers. Love, right?

You can always refer back to our list of the 25 best beginner surf spots on earth or 11 countries to surf on a budget.

^{PIC OF THE WEEK}

🤘 May your sunset sessions rock on this International Surfing Day

Pic by Scott Fisher

For International Surf Day, we're wishing you all a sunset session as spectacular as this one, captured by Scott Fisher of Cornish Drone Photography.

Scott’s mission is to portray the breathtaking beauty of Devon and Cornwall in the UK through his unique drone, landscape and water photography styles.

You can purchase prints on Scott’s website.

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🇪🇺 Where in Europe can I post up for a week or two of mellow longboard waves and good cafés in September? Community top picks: Baleal and Peniche in Portugal, Saunton Sands and Croyde in north Devon, El Cotillo and Corralejo in Fuerteventura, Caleta de Famara in Lanzarote, Imsouane in Morocco.

🌴 Relocating to Guadeloupe or French Polynesia with two small kids, any family-friendly cruisy longboard spots? Community top picks: Le Helleux and Port Louis in Guadeloupe, Papenoo in French Polynesia, Marie-Galante.

🏝️ Surf camp in Central America or South America for an intermediate and her beginner friend? Community top picks: Witch's Rock and Pura Vida in Costa Rica, Sardina and Chica Brava in Nicaragua's Popoyo, Pure Surf and Surf Bikini in Nosara, Corky Carroll's in Costa Rica, Longwave in Peru.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THIS WEEK’S WEE SURF SHOPPE FIND}

 🦈 The only sharks we ever want to meet

El Niño is coming. There’s a talk of a sharky summer. Here are three sharks that won't ruin your surf.

🦈 Feels good on your feet shark bath rug
Designed, redesigned, and redesigned again until the manufacturer landed on this exact shark. Ultra-absorbent, extra-soft microfiber. Step out of the shower, onto a shark. Why not at $18.

🍷 'Wine O'Clock Shark Ride' framed cat canvas
A sophisticated cat. A glass of red. A shark. The best gift for a surfer, possibly ever. Whimsical incarnate, framed and ready for the wall. I hung mine in the bathroom. $25 and totally worth it.

🍣 Fun as hell ceramic shark cheese/sushi/fruit plate
Looks like a shark. Has a dipping bowl. Tail doubles as a chopstick rest. Cheese, sushi, fruit, whatever the occasion calls for. The plate is the party. $36 right now.

👉 Check out The Wee Surf Shoppe

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Carissa goes back-to-back. SoCal has a brutal ocean week. Hunter Jones loses to the pier.

Hunter Jones is about to lose to the pier

🏆 Carissa Moore goes back-to-back
Carissa Moore is very much back, winning the Surf City El Salvador Pro at Punta Roca for her second WSL Championship Tour victory in a row.

🌊 The ocean was not in a chill mood this week
Between king tides, elevated surf, dangerous rip currents, coastal flooding warnings, multiple rescues, and three deaths, California had a brutal ocean week.

🏄‍♂️ Hunter Jones tried to shoot the Malibu Pier and lost
YouTube surf creator Hunter Jones attempted to thread the pylons at Malibu Pier this week, and… didn’t make it through.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—daily surf stories and weekly* guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

👋 Happy National Corn on the Cob Day! 🌽 I’m not making these up, I swear. Crazy week in Southern California. The biggest south swell of the year turned The Wedge into a spectator sport on Tuesday (see the pic later in this issue), Malibu Pier had to close, and apparently we're not done yet.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• This may just save your surfing 🥹

• Not your grandma’s skimboarding 👵

• SoCal got hit 🫨

• From SoCal to Nova Scotia 🍁

• For the love of surfing, and books 📚

• Surf news roundup 📰

^{SURFODRAMA (KINDA)}

😱 This may just save your surfing 🥹

They are currently filming new Baywatch at my local break

We're interrupting our regular surfodrama programming to bring you a story that just may save your surfing.

A few months back, one of our own Girls Who Can't Surf Good posted that she'd developed snow blindness. And yes, it applies to water just the same. Her cornea was literally getting sunburned. She couldn't keep her eyes open. Her description: think sunblock in your eyes, but for the rest of the day.

It was killing her surfing.

Her optometrist suggested swim goggles. Anyone who has ever taken goggles to the lineup knows it's a hit-or-miss situation. I used to be allergic to salt water, and even then, surfing in goggles felt worse than just dealing with the stinging.

Because goggles are fine for laps at the pool, the worst that can happen is some raccoon eyes (guilty). But they do not stay on when you're getting ragdolled by whitewater. Our hero knew this firsthand as she'd lost a pair the day before posting. And here's the kicker: they don't even float, so it can be an expensive hobby.

She'd solved the problem in the mountains with glacier glasses. But water, as she put it, is tricky.

🧠 The hive mind kicks in
The advice poured in, and honestly, the collective ingenuity was a thing of beauty. The suggestions fell into a few camps:

The strap engineers: Floating straps, croakies, pilot fish straps, boater's keychain floats, cords tied to bikini tops and wetsuit zippers. One member braids the strap directly into her hair. Another tucks her ponytail through the back of her hat so nothing escapes.

The sunglasses faithful: SeaSpecs, Ombraz armless sunglasses, Rheos floating frames, Gill sailing glasses with backstraps, and one budget queen's polarized fishing glasses from Walmart with a fluorescent green floating strap, a 'cheap and cheerful' solution.

The hat brigade: Surf hats with chin straps, dark under-brims to cut glare, even a neoprene hood to lock everything in place. As one member put it: 'hat and glasses get you weird looks and nasty comments, but F*** 'em, you're still surfing.'

The schedule changers: Dawn patrol. Best sun protection there is.' Technically correct. Spiritually exhausting.

The wildcard: An actual welder chimed in to say welders get the same condition from arc flash and recommended torch-cutting glasses. We love this group.

💡 The actual fix
Buried in those comments was the suggestion that changed everything: tinted contact lenses. Not transition lenses, not lightly tinted ones. Proper dark, sunglasses-level tint, sitting right on your eyeball. A few members mentioned brands; one pointed toward a company called Altius that makes performance contacts for exactly this problem.

A while later, an update came in a follow-up post, and the photo alone stopped people mid-scroll. Her naturally blue eyes, completely dark with the contacts in. Like sunglasses fused to your eyeballs. 'Spooky,' as one commenter said, 'but so cool.'

Her verdict: it's the only thing that worked. She can look at the sun bouncing off the water without pain. The company worked with her optometrist, who fitted her and wrote the prescription. They come with vision correction or without, just for sun protection.

The practical details, because we know you want them: a box of 10 runs about $33, our surfer girl's fitting was $100. Another member skipped the fitting altogether using an existing prescription. Fair warning: the lenses do alter how you see colours, so they take getting used to.

Bonus: we hear that you may see better in them on the water than in your regular contacts. Turns out elite water polo goalies have been quietly using these for years.

The comments lit up. 'I had no idea this existed and I've had surfer's eye for a while.' 'One of the coolest surf advancements I've ever seen.' 'I've been saying someone should invent this for years.' And our favourite: 'Yay for the help of this amazing community!!!!'

🙌 The moral of the story
Somewhere between the goggle casualties and the welder cameo, this group did what it does best: took one surfer's 'this is killing my surfing' and turned it into a solution none of us knew existed.

Your eyes only get one lifetime of UV. Protect them however works for you, be it a hat, straps, dawn patrol, or sunglasses you wear inside your eyes.

Regular surfodrama programming resumes next issue. Probably.

^{WORD OF THE WEEK}

🌊 Not your grandma’s skimboarding 👵

Pic by Jakkolwiek

Skimboarding, it appears, has many flavors. The photo above shows a girl at a Polish music festival enjoying a spot of mud skimboarding.

It doesn't look like much, does it?

But skimboarding is actually a very dynamic boardsport that sometimes looks like reverse surfing.

You probably know skimboarding from the beach. Kids on a foamie, running from the sand, dropping the board, skimming across the wet edge of a shore break, hopping a tiny wave back in. Cute, and totally manageable.

But what you probably don't know is that on the other end of this sport, there are crazy people who ride their finless boards into actual open ocean monsters.

The poster child here is Brad Domke, a Florida skimboarder who has spent years taking flat skimboards into waves you'd expect to see a bunch of tow-in surfers on. In 2014, he was towed into a 30-foot wave at Puerto Escondido on a skimboard, with no fins, no leash, just this thin lacquered plank. Surf media of course collectively lost its mind.

There are, broadly speaking, four flavors of skim.

Wave (beach) skim is the classic: run from the sand, drop the board, catch a shorebreak wave back in.

Flatland skim is the trick discipline, heavily influenced by skate culture, done on wet sand, ponds, puddles, anywhere thin water meets a flat-ish surface (ollies, shove-its, grinds).

Wave (proper) skim means paddling the skimboard out like a surfboard and riding real waves with no fins.

And tow-in skim is the Brad Domke extreme: getting towed by a jetski into big-wave conditions on a finless board.

What makes it different from surfing? Skimboards are flatter, thinner, lighter, and finless. They slide rather than carve, which is why turns look loose and drifty.

The smaller surface area means you sink fast if you stop moving. There's no paddling out, no sitting on it, and you don't get to wait for a set. You're either in motion or you're swimming.

The skim community lives at places like the Wedge in Newport Beach, Aliso Beach in Laguna, Cabo San Lucas, and Sandy Beach in Hawai'i. If you've never tried it, the entry version is cheap and the wipeouts can be fun.

That reverse surfing I mentioned? Blair Conklin is the guy. Watch a clip of him and you'll see.

^{PIC OF THE WEEK}

🫨 SoCal got hit

Pic by Grant Ellis

What is happening?! This pic by Grant Ellis won the surfing internet this week.

According to his Instagram, Grant took the kids to The Wedge to see the surfers Andre Botha and Koa Rothman riding the biggest swell this season in SoCal.

The Wedge is a circus on a regular day, but this week it was absolutely preposterous.

Grant was the photo editor of Surfer magazine for 17 years (2003–2020). He's currently the photo editor at The Surfer's Journal and continues his career as a surf photographer.

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🤙 SoCal trip late August/September, looking for the best beginner surf lessons. Community top picks: Malibu Makos and Ventura Makos near LA, Banzai Surf School and Salysol Surf (women + BIPOC owned) in Huntington Beach, Surfin Fire in Oceanside, Surf Diva in La Jolla, Todd at Girl in the Curl in Dana Point. Spots: Pacific Beach, Encinitas (Beacons, Swamis, Cardiff Reef), San Onofre. Plenty of surf schools at Venice Beach.

☀️ What to wear surfing in tropical heat when you don't want a bikini and want to skip reef-toxic sunscreen. Community top picks: long-sleeve rash guard with bikini bottoms or surf leggings, hooded rash guard for serious sun, brimmed surf hat with chin strap, zinc on the face (Surf Mud is the popular brand). Specific brands: Tutublue (full coverage, fast-drying), Kiniki. Universal advice: accept the tan lines.

🍁 Heading back to Canada (Toronto) after three years of surfing daily in Nicaragua, looking for surf options in the backyard, ideally volunteer-for-accom. Community top picks: Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia (the locals will adopt you), Tofino on Vancouver Island (service-industry jobs often include accom, but it's not cheap), Great Lakes surfing in Ontario (Scarborough Bluffs, Lake Erie, Kincardine on Lake Huron, best in fall/winter), river surfing year-round in Montreal, Rockaway Beach NYC for summer. The Lake Surfistas community got the warmest shoutout: "the most welcoming community of surfers I've ever experienced."

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THIS WEEK’S WEE SURF SHOPPE FIND}

📚 For the love of surfing, and books

Summer is coming, which means beach reading. And since we're all about surf surf surf, we're going to nudge you toward the kind of beach reading that is, well, about surf. Three books for the longer days ahead: one to make you the smartest surfer out there, one to discover a new surf culture, and one that is simply required reading for every surfer.

🧠 The History of Surfing by Matt Warshaw. Matt Warshaw, a former pro surfer and editor of Surfer magazine, spent five years writing this, and is widely regarded as the person who knows more about surfing than any other human alive. It's packed with 250+ rare photographs, and written with the obsessive depth only a true believer can manage, yet somehow still extremely entertaining. Currently free on Kindle Unlimited, which is its own kind of magic.

🌍 AFROSURF by Mami Wata. The first book to capture and celebrate African surf culture, compiled by Cape Town surf brand Mami Wata. It covers 18 coastal countries from Morocco to Mozambique, with over 50 essays, surfer profiles, poems, photographs, illustrations, and a mini comic. Bonus: 100% of proceeds go to two African surf therapy organizations, Waves for Change and Surfers Not Street Children.

🏆 Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William (Bill) Finnegan. The Pulitzer winner (2016) and the surf memoir incarnate. Bill, a longtime New Yorker writer and war reporter, started surfing as a kid in California and Hawaii and chased waves to Maui, Fiji, Samoa, and South Africa. It's about waves, but also about friendship, obsession, and being consumed by all things around the ocean. Surfing only looks like a sport.

👉 Or you can scroll the shoppe instead

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Windsurfing legend. Shark bite. Pharrell's surf school. Colorado goes surfing. Ocean City revolts.

Original pic by kallarena

🌬️ Windsurfing pioneer remembered
Hoyle Schweitzer, co-creator of the Windsurfer, has died at 93, leaving behind a legacy that helped shape modern windsurfing, foiling, and kiteboarding.

🦈 Hawaiian surfer survives shark attack
Oahu surfer Koa Smith is expected to make a full recovery after an apparent eight-foot Galapagos shark bit both of his legs during a session on the South Shore.

🏄 Pharrell funds free surf lessons
Atlantic Park Surf's Next Wave program is giving more than 100 Virginia Beach kids free access to swimming, surf instruction, and equipment.

🏄‍♂️ Colorado's newest surf spot takes shape
The $3.8 million Surf Shack indoor surf facility is nearing completion in Colorado Springs and will feature a FlowRider, spa, and competition league.

🏖️ Surfers seek more beach access
Ocean City surfers are asking local officials to revisit long-standing regulations after being cleared from the water during one of the better surf days of the season.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—daily surf stories and weekly* guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

👋 Happy National Hug Your Cat Day! And National Cheese Day. 🧀 We can’t top this, can we?

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• What do surfers eat? 🤤

• Sandboarding madness 🏜️

• The myth of the Costco board 🦄

• Foiled by momma and baby whale 🐳

• From San Diego to Peniche 🇵🇹

• Surf news roundup 📰

• Surf forecasts don’t surf your local 🏄🏻‍♂️

^SURFODRAMA

😱 I was wrong about what surfers eat 🤤

For the past twenty years of surfing, I thought I had a pretty good handle on what surfers ate. Like normal people. Maybe a banana before, maybe a burrito after. End of.

Then last week I came across an article about the best snacks for surfers. Behind a paywall. People are paying money for this. People are researching this.

And then, as one does, I went down a rabbit hole. Articles on macros for surfers, and hydration strategies for surfers, and pre-surf protein timing for surfers. Reddit threads with hundreds of comments where strangers argue about whether you can eat half a bagel before dawn patrol. Pro surfers get name checked next to their preferred meals (Italo Ferreira reportedly eats twenty bananas a day, which is almost certainly a lie).

It turns out: surfers think about food. All this research made me terribly hungry.

🥪 First, a confession
When I was 17 and flying gliders, I had to take my annual acrobatics test. Being young and stupid, just before takeoff I ate a few slices of fresh bread piled with fatty meats. It was so delicious. It was less delicious when I threw up in the cockpit halfway through a corkscrew spin. The saving grace: my instructor was sitting behind me. The clean-up was a mess.

That experience stayed with me, and I have basically never eaten properly before exercise since. This is not, I'm told, a good thing. So when I dug into this surf food rabbit hole, I was as much a student as anyone.

🦈 The drowning myth, busted
Most of us grew up being told you can't swim for an hour after eating. The reasoning was vague but ominous: cramps, drowning, blood 'rushing to the stomach'. It was a thing.

Modern sports science and medical organizations now agree: there's no evidence that eating before swimming or surfing increases drowning risk (per the lovely people at Surf Club Maui, who actually wrote this down). Your body has plenty of blood to handle digestion and movement at the same time. The real risk isn't eating before water. It's eating the wrong stuff at the wrong time, and then asking your body to perform.

So the question isn't 'should I eat?' but 'what should I eat, when should I eat, and how much should I eat?'

🤢 Time it for not throwing up
The first rule of pre-surf eating: don't end up burping your way out of a hold-down with the taste of breakfast in the back of your throat. The Reddit threads are full of surfers who learned this the hard way. 'I usually puke if I eat too much before a morning surf, but a banana and coffee plus some mixed nuts work for me.'

You don't need a full hour between food and water. You probably do want 20 to 45 minutes between eating and the first turtle roll. So, quick digesting carbs are your friend while heavy meals are not.

🌡️ Fuel for surf conditions
Cold water is a different workout than warm water. A 4/3 wetsuit and 50-degree water means you're burning calories just staying warm, and you keep burning them the whole time you're out there. A short cold session can leave you shivering and depleted faster than a long warm one.

Hot conditions cut the other way. Sun, salt and a wetsuit pull water out of you faster than you notice. Research suggests just a 3% drop in body water meaningfully reduces athletic performance. It doesn't sound like much, but you don't want to give that away if you don't have to. Bonus: peeing in your wetsuit warms you up when it's cold, and is one of the great freedoms of surfing the rest of the time.

One Florida surfer described filling a 2-gallon jug of yerba maté before cold dawn patrols, sipping all day, never shivering. This is the way. From experience, I recommend eating a whole watermelon.

⏱️ Plan for session length
A 60-minute paddle-and-pop session and a 3-hour mission are not the same workout. A short session you can probably get away with on coffee and a banana. But a long session needs actual fuel, and you'll feel it when you don't bring any.

A useful principle from the safety side: don't surf until you're empty. Keep what surf coaches call 'exit energy' in the tank. This means enough to paddle in, escape a current, or even help a friend. Running yourself flat halfway through a long session makes coming back to the beach so much harder when the waves are not co-operating.

🌅 Consider time of day
Dawn patrol is its own beast. Your stomach has been empty for nine hours or longer, your blood sugar is low, you're slightly dehydrated, and the temptation is to skip food and slam coffee on the way to the beach. Don't be like me. A pure-caffeine-empty-stomach approach often leads to shaky hands, an early energy crash, and the legendary 'wetsuit on, urgent bathroom run' panic that lots of surfers describe in surprisingly graphic detail.

A mid-morning session is friendlier. You've had breakfast, you're hydrated, you can think. An evening surf after work means you've probably been running on lunch for too long, but who are we to say that you didn’t have a late lunch?

😌 Mind your comfort
The single most repeated bit of advice across hundreds of Reddit comments: don't eat anything that makes your stomach feel weird.

You know what those foods are. For some people it's eggs. For others it's anything fried. For one Californian commenter, it's a very specific breakfast burrito: 'DO NOT eat a Cafe del Sol breakfast burrito before paddling out.'

Trust your stomach. Surfing is hard enough as it is without feeling pukey when you should be staying assertive in the lineup.

🎒 The wetsuit pantry (sidebar)
Mid-session snacking is, apparently, a thing. The Reddit threads turned up: surfers who let Cliff bars stick to their teeth so they can chew bonus calories mid-session. One guy who pulled an actual burrito out of his wetsuit at a San Diego lineup and ate it mid-paddle. Hmm.

Most of us aren't going there. But knowing it's an option is its own kind of freedom. Naturally, you can be more civilized. Paddle back to the beach, have a snack, a wee rest and head back in.

🌯 And then, the burrito
After all the research, all the Reddit threads, all the macro advice and electrolyte strategies, and dawn patrol caveats, there is one universal truth in surf nutrition: post-surf burrito.

The Reddit thread on this question is essentially a 150-upvote love letter to the post-session wrap. 'Yeeah, one time my boyfriend made me a hunk of a California burrito after surfing, and I'm pretty sure I passed out from happiness.'

In case you don't know, a California burrito is like a regular burrito, but you add fries. And then you nap.

Still not cheese, though.

^{WORD OF THE WEEK}

🏜️ Sandboarding madness

Pic by Bongani2

You may be wondering why we're talking about sandboarding when it's not actually surfing.

That may be true, but according to the Encyclopedia of Surfing, sand surfing was once described as "four or five lads pouring down the side of what looks like a 150 foot wave, pulling off almost every surfing gimmick in the book."

Similarities to surfing? Well, the actual sandboard resembles a snowboard more than a surfboard. It's narrower than a snowboard, and its sliding surface (usually Formica or Laminex) is harder, working on both wet and dry sand. It can be fast. The record is 51 mph. And you strap in, like in tow-in surfing.

What's harder, surfing or sandboarding? A Western Australian surfer-sandboarder delivered the verdict: sandboarding wins.

"You're pretty much flying. We land on our heads all the time. You just roll, but you're still getting clubbed. Then you go home with 20 kilos of sand in your undies."

These days you can sandsurf literally around the world: Australia, California, the UK, Germany and France. But the true enthusiasts opt for Chile, Egypt, Namibia, Peru and Saudi Arabia.

If you try it, let us know how it went.

^{THIS WEEK’S WEE SURF SHOPPE FIND (KINDA)}

🦄 The myth of the Costco board

"Should I get a Costco board?" is one of the most common beginner questions in the US. Well, should you? 🤔

Here's the thing: there's no such thing as a Costco board, or a Kirkland surfboard. Every year or so, Costco partners with a surfboard manufacturer and carries their boards, both in the warehouse and online. A few years ago it carried an 8' Wavestorm for under $100, which now retails at $250+. There were also surfboards from Gerry Lopez and Scott Burke.

Despite no coherent brand, Costco boards enjoy one of the most horrendous personality profiles in surfing. They're considered "kook boards" and a visible signal that someone may not know what to do in the lineup. They're also usually the cheapest, easiest and safest way to get into surfing, for around $100-$120 on a good day.

The catch: these specific boards are the ones you'll find at surf schools and on the secondhand market. And they're not the same. All three popular 8' models differ in width and volume (how much they float):

• Wavestorm: 86L

• Gerry Lopez: 73L

• Scott Burke: 73L

That's a 14L gap between the Wavestorm and the rest, which is the difference between an easy first paddle-in and a real fight if you’re not on the lighter side. Volume is the one stat that actually matters when shopping a foamie as a beginner.

Costco also occasionally carries random sized boards, like a 5'7" Wavestorm fish, or the current 7' Wavestorm that comes in a pack of two at $340 ($170 each).

This year so far, we haven't seen an 8' footer available from Costco. Maybe they sold out quick, or there's a delay.

But if you're buying a "Costco" board secondhand, check the make and dimensions before you commit. And wax it. Who knew you sometimes needed to wax a foam board so you don't slide?

👉 Read about how to choose your first board

^{VID OF THE WEEK}

🎥 Foiled by a momma and baby whale

Do you remember the foil surfer dude from Santa Barbara who got chased by sharks? Well, he's at it again.

Last week, Tavis Bois ran into what he thought was a sea lion, and turned out to be a whale and her calf. The turbulence of foiling so close to the giants knocked him off his board. As it should've.

The encounter occurred not far from Rosewood Miramar Beach hotel, if you know the area. But we would not recommend chasing whales on your own, just in case you bump into an orca instead. As for recommending foiling… looks fun as long as it's far far away from a lineup.

If you're wondering how Tavis always gets such spectacular footage, he has a GoPro attached to his paddle.

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🌴 Heading to San Diego, where to stay near the surf without paying La Jolla prices. Community top picks: Pacific Beach (hostels, walkable to Mission Beach Jetty, Crystal Pier, Tourmaline, Law Street), Encinitas in North County (Inn at Moonlight Beach, D Street, Beacons, Boneyards, Swamis, Cardiff Reef), Solana Beach, San Elijo Campground in Cardiff, or Airbnb for around $2k/month.

🌮 Last minute solo trip from LA, Mexico or Central America, June 6-13. Looking for mellow longboard waves (3-4 ft sweet spot), La Saladita too big in this window. Community top picks: Dominical (Costa Rica), Tamarindo (Costa Rica), La Lancha in Punta Mita, Rancho AguaSal on the East Cape near Cabo, Malibu Popoyo (Nicaragua).

🌅 Surf camp in Europe for September/October, improver level, chill non-party vibe with yoga, skating, sunsets and good food. Community top picks (heavy on Portugal): Rapture Surf Camp Ericeira, Chicks On Waves, Tasha Surf Camp (Peniche/Biarritz), Dreamsea Alentejo, A-Salty-Life Peniche, PKSC Peniche, Sharks Lodge Peniche, Aldo's Surf Camp Arrifana. Plus Mint Surf Morocco and Surfcamp Ribadesella in Spain for options further afield.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Shark bite. Scottish surf pioneer. $50,000 wave pool. Surfer's stolen truck.

🏆 Malibu seeks its next surf legend
Nominations are now open for the 2026 Malibu Surf Legend Award honoring contributions to the city's surf culture.

🏄 Scotland celebrates 50 years of a surfing accident
A work placement sent surfer Pat Kieran to northern Scotland in 1976, helping spark the growth of the now-famous Thurso surf scene.

🦈 Koa Smith recovering after shark bite
The Hawaiian surfer underwent multiple surgeries after being bitten on Oahu's south shore and says he plans to return to the water.

♿ 76 adaptive surfers hit the water in South Carolina
The third annual Wheel to Surf event brought surfers, volunteers, and adaptive equipment together to make the ocean more accessible.

🌊 New York plans a $50,000 surf club
A proposed Long Island wave pool will charge country-club prices for guaranteed, customizable waves.

🏗️ Los Angeles wave pool remains in limbo
The $200 million South Bay Surf Park project near LAX continues to face permitting and development hurdles.

🚗 Surfer's hidden key leads to truck theft
A Huntington Beach surfer is warning others after thieves allegedly watched him stash his key before stealing his vehicle.

🚩 Florida introduces steep fines for entering dangerous surf
Panama City Beach will fine people up to $500 for entering the water during double-red-flag conditions.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY POD}

🏄🏻‍♂️ Surf forecasts don’t surf your local break

We have a podcast, did you know? 😜

We recently chatted with Tobias Work, creator of the Swellify app (New Zealand surfers, it's all for you!) about why surf forecasting is so hard, and why even the best surf apps can only get you so far.

We talk Surfline vs. "Surf Lies," swell height vs. surf height, cams, crowds, local knowledge, and why experienced surfers read forecasts completely differently from beginners. You thought the surf forecasting app was enough. It ain't. We gotta put some work in, too.

👉 Check out The Wipeout Weekly pod

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—daily surf stories and weekly* guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

👋 Happy National Hamburger Day! And also National Brisket Day, apparently. We’ve never written about what surfers should eat, and we will not start now. Wait… there are dozens of articles dedicated to the subject? Okay, now we do want to know. Maybe we’ll do a meta-analysis for the next issue. For now, eat what makes you happy. 🥰

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• What’s with the piers? 🎣

• Saying “no” to Cyclops 🌊

• Should I wax or should I go now? 🧽

• Do squirrels surf? 🐿️

• From Mallorca to Cabo 🇲🇽

• Surf news roundup 📰

• Summer’s a-coming, get yer bikinis out! 👙

^SURFODRAMA

😱 What’s with the piers? 🎣

“This (surfing) is for little rubber people who don’t yet shave.”

Have you ever wondered: what's with the piers? Or: will I get a fish hook embedded in my head if I come anywhere near one? Shooting the pier is a badge of honor, for sure. It's all worth it, or so we're told. But why are surfers flocking to these bridge-like structures, and who put them there in the first place?

Walk past any working pier on any half-decent day and you'll see the same thing: a clump of surfers stacked up within twenty feet of the pilings, paddling for the same handful of waves, while above them a fisherman or five, muttering that surfing should be banned. Both groups think the other is in the wrong spot, and both groups are technically right. So why even bother?

🌊 The waves really are better
No doubt about it, and there's actual physics behind it.

This is the part most beach goers (and fishermen) miss: a pier isn't a neutral structure that surfers happen to congregate around. It actively shapes the wave.

The pilings interrupt the sideways flow of water along the beach. Sand that would otherwise drift past gets dumped, building up a sandbar in the lee of the pier. Sandbar = shallower water = a more predictable break. One Florida surfer on a Reddit put it: "Where I'm at in Florida, the sandbars without a pier are terrible. So basically, find a pier or a jetty."

There's a second thing going on too. It's called the "pier bowl." Wave energy hits the pilings, bounces back, and meets the next incoming wave. They combine, and the result is a steeper, peakier wave usually 20 to 50 yards off the pier. It's not directly next to the pier, but it's near it. Surfers paddle out at the pier and then work over to the bowl because that's where the actual peak forms.

Add in the rip current that almost always runs alongside the pilings (handy for paddling out), the slight wind shelter the structure provides, and the fact that you can objectively tell how far out you are because there's a literal landmark next to you. Plus the piers just rock. So, of course people pile in.

🏄🏻‍♂️ "Piers were built for surfers"
Here is where things can get awkward. Spend any time around a busy pier break and you'll meet at least one local who acts like the pier exists for their convenience and it's the fishermen who showed up uninvited. Check again. It's actually backwards.

Piers were built for fishing in the first place, for boat docking, for cargo and passenger offload. At some point they became a tourist attraction as more dining spots and amusement parks set up shop. We have working piers, and fishing piers, and pleasure piers. But even the latter doesn't mean that pleasure equals surfing, and therefore we own them. The fact that the pier happens to also build a beautiful sandbar is just a happy accident.

And we don't apologize either. I've never read a more honest statement from a guy in a thread about pier conflict: "I remember getting a hook in my foot surfing south side Crystal Pier and having to pull that shit out. The pier usually causes the wave to wedge up or form better, and because the inside surfer gets priority, we usually try to get as close to the pilings as possible."

Translation: I know they're trying to fish here. I know I'm going to get hooked. I'm going as close as I physically can anyway, because the inside surfer wins the wave.

That's the attitude, and it's why fishermen are pissed.

🥶 The cold war
The surfer/fisherman thing has been going on at every pier on every coast for as long as both groups have existed. Which has probably been true for centuries. There were probably fishing piers in ancient Hawai'i, and there are fishing piers in Hawai'i today.

The fisherman says: I'm told I need to fish from this specific spot and I'm not allowed to move. My line goes where it goes. In many coastal cities you're not even allowed to fish from the beach anymore, the pier is the only legal spot. So if you, little rubber man whizzing under the pier like a madman, get hooked, that's on you.

The surfer says: Good waves are scarce. You can fish further down the pier where I'm not surfing. Also, your tackle attracts sharks, and your bait churns up the water, and frankly we were here first this morning.

The honest answer, articulated in that same Reddit thread by a guy who does both: "Fishermen are casting where they think they're most likely to catch a good fish, and surfers are surfing where they think they're most likely to catch a good wave. Unfortunately that often tends to be the same spot."

It’s a geo-colocation problem, not a people problem, we’d like to think.

🥰 Is there a truce?
Apparently there are a couple of rules that make this situation a bit more workable.

The 30-foot rule. Several fishermen in that thread proposed it independently: if surfers would just stay 30 feet off the pilings, and fishermen would stick to underhand casts, nobody would get hooked.

Time-of-day separation. The most diplomatic surfer I've come across said this: "I surf when the waves are good and fish when they aren't." If you've got a flexible schedule, you can avoid most of the conflict just by paying attention to what the swell is doing.

So, if you surf piers, do it knowing you're a guest, not the host. The structure was not, in fact, built for you. The wave you're enjoying is a side effect of fishermen's infrastructure. So, stay a respectful distance off the pilings when there are lines in the water.

But the etiquette runs both ways. If you're at a beach break learning to surf, and you see a fisherman's line too close to your face for comfort, send them to the pier where they belong. The beach is yours; the pier is theirs. Everyone has somewhere to be.

^{SURF SPOT SPOTLIGHT}

👁️ Saying “no” to Cyclops 🌊

In 2002, somewhere off the south coast of Western Australia, a local diver named Greg spotted something. He was working the water for abalone (or fishing, depending which version you trust). What he saw was a wave that didn't break the way waves are supposed to break (more on that in a moment). He went out, he surfed it, and he told a few mates. They called it Greg's Knoll.

A few months later the Billabong Odyssey crew showed up, and renamed it Cyclops. If you haven't heard about the Billabong Odyssey, it was a sponsored 2002–2003 expedition by a crew of big wave surfers hunting the planet's biggest waves. They made a documentary about it. Currently available to stream…nowhere.

👻 What makes it a nightmare
Cyclops sits off the Esperance coast in the far south of Western Australia. Seven hours from Perth by road, then boat-only access, then a long beach run. From Margaret River, the nearest world class surf town, it's a 2,000-km round trip. It is close to…nowhere.

The wave itself behaves weird, like physics doesn't apply. Swell drops from 50 metres of deep ocean to 30 centimetres over a granite ledge in about 2 seconds. And boom, it detonates. It doesn't break, it simply explodes. The lip folds back over itself in an oval barrel that looks, from above, like a giant eye opening and closing. Hence the name. Surfline once called Cyclops 'surfing's closest version of an inkblot'. Apparently different swell directions produce shapes that we're not familiar with.

The wave rarely holds anything bigger than 8 feet, the tide window is narrow, and the reef is sharp. Fun. Wait…Oh, and great whites. The neighbouring seal colony is, as photographer Jamie Scott put it, 'not the greatest idea' to hang off a jet ski near.

And photographer Ted Grambeau, who documented many early sessions there said about Cyclops: “I would consider this arguably the world’s most dangerous wave that has ever been surfed. To me it is the definitive line of what is possible to surf (and survive) and not (survive). The more likely outcome is severe injury or death! As an empty wave it’s one of the most intoxicatingly beautiful distorted waves on the planet.”

👎 The surfer who said no
Mark Mathews, one of Australia's most famous heavy wave surfers, surfed Cyclops years ago and refuses to go back. From his Stab interview in 2016: “It's borderline impossible to surf. If I'd fallen at the bottom I don't think I'd be surfing anymore. I vowed never to surf it again after that wave.”

So that's Cyclops. A wave that surfers go to once, survive, and don't talk about again. We won't be going at all. Surfline has a great collection of photos though.

^{SURF RECS}

🧽 Should I wax or should I go now?

Rental surfboards. Hit or miss, right?

The real-life scenario of a rental board where wax was melted into pooled trails on one rail and worn down to nothing in the middle got us all divided about what our expectations should be.

It's the shop's job. You're paying for a service. Renting a car doesn't come with "do your own oil change first." Surfboards should be no different.

It depends. On country, price point, type of board, duration. A $10 half-day foamie rental in a tourist town isn't getting the white-glove treatment. A multi-day longboard rental at a higher-end shop probably should. Don't expect perfection. We should expect "rideable", but perhaps not perfectly waxed.

It's the renter's job. The hygienic argument: people sweat into wax. Strip-and-rewax is hygienic, plus you get to set your own stickiness. Honestly, we never even thought about wax as being unhygienic. You learn something every day.

Solution? If it's a longer surf trip and rental, get used to carrying a surf comb (or a dough scraper), and have both basecoat and temp-appropriate wax handy. Decent surfboard rental places will almost always provide you with extra wax.

^{PIC OF THE WEEK}

📸 Do squirrels surf?

Pic by Renu Urvashi Sagreiya

Flat Malibu? Oh yes, it happens more often than you think. Still, it remains iconic.

Here pictured: Malibu, flatso as a pancake, with a squirrel facing The Third Point, by Renu Urvashi Sagreiya (@dreamdolphin97 on Threads). The photo was taken on the grounds of the historic Adamson House in Malibu, with the Malibu Pier and Surfrider Beach in the background.

If you ever visit Malibu, the Adamson House Museum is a must-stop, both for its incredible tile collection and to justify the Surfrider Beach parking fee. It's the former home of Rhoda Adamson, completed in 1930, set on what's known as Vaquero Hill. The estate borders Malibu Lagoon State Beach, which is worth a walk-through on its own.

The squirrels, as far as we know, do not surf.

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🏝️ Surfing Mallorca over the weekend, flat-water question. Community verdict: barely any wind in the Mediterranean right now, no waves to count on. Better bets: Alcudia for small ones in August, Buena Onda in Palma for local intel, or pivot to windsurfing in Port d'Alcudia later in summer.

🥖 Late-June trip to Biarritz and San Sebastián, looking for gentle, beginner-friendly waves. Community top picks: Zarautz over Zurriola (multiple peaks, more space, easier wave), Hendaye if the swell's too big elsewhere. Also flagged: Joyu surf house in Biarritz, Gipsy Riders for guided sessions.

🌵 What to wear surfing Cabo right now, bikini or wetsuit? Community verdict: water's running 83-84°F, bikinis are fine, but the sun will destroy you. Long-sleeve rashguard, surf pants, hat. East Cape warm, Pacific side cold.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Perfect 10 air. Mystery sea creature. WSL dating app. Surfer statue finds home.

🌊 Yago Dora lands insane perfect 10 air at the New Zealand Pro
The Brazilian world champion delivered a full-rotation aerial with two seconds of hangtime, and got a perfect 10 from all five judges.

🚨 WSL competition halted after photographer bitten by mystery sea creature
Surf photographer Ed Sloane was attacked at Manu Bay during the men's semi-finals prompting the WSL to issue a "code red" and evacuate the lineup.

💘 The WSL has an official dating app now The WSL partnered with SURF Dating as the official dating app of the 2026 Lexus US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, because of course it did.

🗿 Female surfer statue finds new home after massive backlash The proposed 18-foot female surfer statue was relocated from Pleasure Point to Capitola Esplanade after months of public backlash, with installation possibly happening in 2027.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{THIS WEEK’S WEE SURF SHOPPE FIND}

😎 Summer’s a-coming, get yer bikinis out! 👙

Surfing in a bikini can be fun for some. But not for everyone. For those of us who want to embrace the warmer water, but aren't quite willing to give up the comfort of keeping all our bits together and our thighs and knees protected, we have just the ticket.

Looks expensive, feels expensive front zipper summer suit
It has UPF 50+ protection, a front zipper, and "wireless support with removable pads," which typical summer suits usually don’t. Comes in a selection of colors and designs, but we recommend going darker, otherwise the pads shine through. Fits like a glove for $25.

"Only borrowed would be cheaper” swim leggings
If your pop-up isn't yet perfect, a pair of these can save your knees from getting bloodied and scabbed. Tested and trusted at $22.50. Yellow not recommended, just trust us.

A pretty flowery wet bag
Do you need one? Probably not. What is wrong with just chucking your wet suit in the trunk and letting it dry naturally? Included here because we like things to come in threes. Doubles as a makeup bag, a diaper bag, or whatever else you can think of. Under $10.

👉 Check out the Wee Surf Shoppe

^{ALL THINGS SURF DIRECTORY}

☎ We’re still calling all non-profits!

A Walk On Water

Last week we put out a call for surf non-profits to add to the directory. Thank you for all your contributions so far!

Still open, so hit reply if you know of one.

👉 Check out the directory

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—daily surf stories and weekly* guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

👋 Happy National Memo Day! And the memo is: we can surf cheaply, but we may need to work a bit harder. Welcome to the affordability issue. It’s a giant one. Scroll to what rocks your boat, skip what doesn’t.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• How to surf when you’re broke 😜

• 11 countries to surf on a budget 💰

• Under an arctic sky 🌌

• Solo in Mexico & a steamer in QLD 🌮

• Bumper surf news roundup 📰

• Cheap as chips, but they do the job 🧑‍🚒

• Calling all surf non-profits! 🎗️

^SURFODRAMA

😱 How to surf when you’re broke 😜

Things will get better, Louis.

Surfing has a branding problem. Scroll through Instagram for ten minutes and you'd think the sport belonged exclusively to people with $1,700 longboards (yes, some cost as much, and more), a van conversion, and a passport stamped in Sri Lanka, Bali, Fiji…

But that's not us. Well, not all of the lucky us.

We know that the actual barrier to entry is much lower than that. You just have to stop shopping the way the industry wants you to shop, and start treating surfing like a treasure hunt.

If you're lighter on the funds, but have some time to spare, you'll be surprised what you can find.

📚 Borrow before you buy
Before you spend a dollar on a board (wetsuits are trickier, for obvious reasons), find out if you can get one for free. Library of Things branches (where you can borrow non-traditional items like home tools, musical instruments, and camping gear) have started stocking surfboards.

If there's no library option nearby, your local surf school is the next stop. Most will rent a foamie by the hour for less than the price of two large lattes, and some run "try before you buy" deals where the rental cost gets credited toward a used board if you decide you're hooked.

♻️ Freecycle, Buy Nothing, and the warehouse circuit
Once you know you want your own board, the worst place to start is a brand-new shop. The best places are:

Freecycle and Buy Nothing groups. People give away surfboards. They give away wetsuits with one small tear. They give away surf wax. Yes, it may take a bit of work, and daily due diligence, plus joining a few cities around you, but it can be done.

Secondhand surf warehouses. Most surf towns have at least one. Even inland, eBay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and Gumtree are full of boards that have been ridden twice by someone who decided surfing wasn't for them. One of the Girls Who Can't Surf Good members reports: "My first (secondhand) wetsuit ended up with a huge hole, so I got another one. $40 nearly brand new, someone's teenager outgrew it."

We have a guide on how to buy used surfboards.

End-of-season rental fleets. Surf schools sell off their used rental boards every fall. These are usually beat-up but bulletproof foamies, exactly what a beginner should be learning anyway. Ask around. A small ding is not a deal-breaker if you know how to fix it. And we have a guide for that too.

🙋‍♀️ Wacky idea: ask and you shall receive
You'd be surprised how many surfers who have been at this for a while keep spare gear lying around.

These could be an extra wetsuit that they don't fit into any more, a duplicate leash, some cold water gear that they will never use again. I pick up old foamies my neighbors are getting rid of. You know, just in case.

In short: there's plenty of unused surf stuff knocking about. The problem is that these surfers are not actively trying to part with them unless they do a big spring cleanup. Some of them are not great at setting prices or asking for money.

But you can always ask. It's something I would definitely like to encourage in surf groups and communities: support your fellow surfers. What goes around, comes around.

🏠 Surf where you live
Finally, this is the angle nobody wants to admit, because it's not aspirational. But it's the single biggest cost-saver in the sport: the cheapest surf trip is the one where you sleep in your own bed.

You don't need warm water to learn. And you don't need a tropical spot to keep you surfing. Cold-water surfing is having a moment specifically because the lineups are emptier and the locals are nicer. A used 4/3 wetsuit costs less than a flight to anywhere, and you may just love it.

We asked this question of a surf community recently (what's the least expensive place to go on a surf trip?) and buried in a thread full of exotic destinations, two answers cut through the rest. One person said "local beach." Another just said, "In one's mind."

They weren't being cute.

^{SURF SPOT SPOTLIGHT}

🌏 11 countries to surf when you're on a budget

Pic by Sharon Hahn Darlin

Broke, but not quite broke, and still want to travel? That’s okay, too.

This shortlist of the cheapest places to surf is based on a thread in Girls Who Can't Surf Good, the world’s largest community of surfer girls where members shared the destinations where their money actually goes furthest.

We've counted mentions, weighed the consensus picks, fact-checked typical camp prices, and cross-referenced with our existing top 25 beginner surf spots. ✅ marks the countries that also made that list.
Here are the 11 countries that came up most often, roughly in order of how loudly the community advocated for them.

🇲🇦 Morocco: the consensus pick for European surfers ✅
Mostly Taghazout. Cheap flights from Europe, cheap accommodation, surf camps in the £500-a-week range (that’s $670) including food and lessons. Already on our beginner spots list at Taghazout and Imsouane.

🇳🇮 Nicaragua: the repeat favorite for North Americans ✅
Popoyo and San Juan del Sur are the named spots. Reliable offshore winds, beginner-friendly waves, and prices that haven't caught up to Costa Rica's. Already on our beginner spots list at San Juan del Sur and Popoyo.

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka: famously cheap once you arrive ✅
Riptide Surfhouse came up specifically: €75 a night with two meals, four hours of daily surf lessons, yoga, and analysis included. Caveat: the flight from the US is brutal. Already on our beginner spots list at Weligama.

🇲🇽 Mexico: cheap, but spot-dependent ✅
Big spread of named spots: Sayulita, Puerto Escondido, Baja's Los Cerritos, Ensenada, Cabo. Multiple people warned about Sayulita's water quality ("Google Sayulita norovirus" was a memorable contribution), so do your homework. Already on our beginner spots list at La Saladita and Sayulita.

🇸🇻 El Salvador: budget surf with everything included
One surfer reported a $1,350 week including lodging, lessons, gear, airport transfer, most meals, and yoga. Surf City is the area to know.

🇵🇷 Puerto Rico: no passport needed (if you're American)
Aguadilla and Rincón got the most mentions. The hidden value: no passport, USD, no language barrier, and a 4-hour flight from most of the East Coast.

🇮🇩 Indonesia: cheap on the ground, expensive to reach ✅
Bali especially. Beach-front rooms and surf lessons for prices that don't exist in California. The flight is the cost. Already on our beginner spots list at Batu Bolong and Kuta Beach.

🇵🇭 Philippines / Siargao: 90-minute lessons for C$25 ✅
Once you arrive, lessons are basically pocket change. Cloud 9 is the famous (heavy) spot; beginners should aim elsewhere on the island. Already on our beginner spots list at Jacking Horse.

🇪🇨 Ecuador: USD in South America
Ayampe, Canoa, and Montañita named. One commenter living in Canoa noted Ecuador uses USD and is closer than Sri Lanka for North Americans, which is a fair point.

🇵🇹 Portugal: cheap-ish Europe ✅
Ericeira specifically came up. Easy entry point for European surfers without the flight cost of Morocco. Already on our beginner spots list at Baleal Beach.

🇵🇪 Peru: the long-wave budget pick
Chicama in particular came up, often paired with coach Tessa Timmons. Long left-handers, off-the-beaten-path.

⚠️ A note on Costa Rica
Costa Rica got several enthusiastic mentions in the thread and several outright "why is anyone suggesting this, it's as expensive as San Francisco" rebuttals. It seems to have shifted in the last few years from budget destination to mid-range one. We have plenty of beginner-friendly spots listed there (Dominicalito, Santa Teresa, Samara, Nosara, Tamarindo) but it's no longer the budget option.

👀 Also worth mentioning
Panama and Vietnam got nods in the thread without specific spot details. Worth investigating if you're heading those ways.

🧭 The cheapest trip is geometry
The most-repeated insight in the entire thread wasn't a destination, but the math involved: the cheapest trip is the closest cheap-once-you-arrive country to where you already live.

For Europeans, that's Morocco or Portugal. For North Americans, that's Mexico, Central America, or Puerto Rico. One person summed it up: her flight cost more than her whole week of accommodation. That math runs the trip.

So: pick your home base, find your closest cheap-once-you-arrive country, and go.

^{PIC OF THE WEEK}

🌌 Under an arctic sky

I came across these shots on Reddit recently. Absolutely spectacular, so obviously I needed to know more.

As it turns out, these are not actual photographs, but the stills from a documentary titled "Under an Arctic Sky," directed by photographer Chris Burkard and co-written with filmmaker Ben Weiland. "Under An Arctic Sky" is a film project documenting the journey of six surfers to the most remote corner of Iceland in the middle of winter in search of perfect surf.

A few days in, the worst storm in twenty-five years blows through and shuts down the country, turning the search for waves into a life-threatening prospect. But you know, surfers, so they continue.

The film is available to purchase on Apple TV ($9.99), and it looks like it will sooner or later arrive on Netflix (you can set a reminder).

Chris seems like a nice guy. He responded to my DM asking if it was OK to share the stills. Bonus fact: 4M followers on Instagram.

I'm going to watch it over the weekend.

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🥶 Looking for a steamer with long arms but legs only to the knees, for QLD winter. Spring suits aren't warm enough; full steamers kill the pop-up. Community top picks: Rip Curl Dawn Patrol with half-length legs, Mystic 2/3 with half-leg, Patagonia, Manera, Need Essentials (VIC-based). DIY route: cut the legs off an old 4/3. Also flagged: a 2/2 layered with a vest gets you to 3/2 warmth.

🌮 Solo surf vacation in Mexico or Central America, Oct-Nov, boutique feel, no shared rooms or hostels. Community top picks: Coco Loco Eco-Resort, Casa Kura Kura in Baja, Rancho AguaSal near Cabo, Puro Surf and Walk Along Wellness in El Salvador, Sardina Surf Camp in Popoyo (Nicaragua), Santa Catalina (Panama), Rise Up Surf, Jaco (Costa Rica), Chicama (Peru) with Tessa Timmons.

🦘 Australia east coast surf retreat in June, Bali-style vibe, beginner-friendly, ideally up north for warmer water. Community top picks: Black Dog Surf School in Byron Bay, plus the "consider Lombok instead" camp (Xanadu Surf & Yoga and Lombok Surf Camp in Gerupuk both came up, plus Rapture Padang Padang).

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Cold water Scotland. Cowboy boot surfboards. Jack Johnson. Desert wave pools. Adaptive surfing.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland’s cold-water surf scene keeps growing
Scotland’s Hi-Land Fling surf event drew international competitors and growing crowds to the country’s expanding cold-water surf community.

🎨 Surfboards or sculptures?
French surfer and designer Lucas Lecacheur is creating functional surfboards shaped like crab claws, cowboy boots, stingrays and brutalist sculptures as part of his experimental art-meets-surfing project.

🎸 Jack Johnson’s surf documentary heads to theaters
SURFILMUSIC, a new documentary about Jack Johnson, revisits his Pipeline injury, lifelong friendships and the death of Tamayo Perry.

🎶 U.S. Open adds beach concerts
The U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach announced concerts from Local Natives, Real Estate, G. Love & Special Sauce, Matt Costa and Arcy Drive during this year’s event.

🌊 Utah wave pool moves closer to opening
Zion Shores says its surf lagoon development in Washington, Utah, is halfway built and expected to open in about 16 months.

🛟 Surfer who survived rip current launches safety push
British surfer Euan Gray is fronting the RNLI’s Float to Live campaign after surviving a dangerous rip current using floating techniques instead of fighting the water.

🎥 40-hour surf film tackles men’s mental health
In Pieces Together follows Australian surfer Blake Johnson surfing for 40 hours straight to honor his father and encourage conversations around suicide and mental health.

🏄‍♀️ Adaptive surfing returns to Folly Beach
The annual Wheel to Surf event in South Carolina brought adaptive surfers, nonprofits and volunteers together to help more people experience the ocean.

👯‍♀️ Women’s surf festival secures major support
Australia’s Seas The Day surf festival received backing from Surfing Australia and the New South Wales government as women-focused surf events continue to grow.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{THIS WEEK’S WEE SURF SHOPPE FIND}

💸 Surf stuffs that don’t get cheaper than this

Only a bar of surf wax (around $2.50 on a good day) can rival this week’s finds in their inexpensiveness or cheapness, if you like.

Cheap-as-beach-dirt heavy duty wetsuit hanger
This hanger is so heavy duty it can handle all your surfing and all your diving gear. Simple design, strong as an ox or a great white. $11.99, and it comes in yellow. 

Possibly better than a surf comb
We love surfboard combs. But we really love how this flexible scraper just glides on our surfboards taking off all the gunk. Comparable price-wise, and doubles as a dough scraper. $5 for three.

“No more surfer’s ear” seals
Surfer’s ear is no joke. Probably the cheapest method of avoiding it. Around $4 per pair.

👉 Check them out

^{ALL THINGS SURF DIRECTORY}

💛 Know a surf non-profit? Send it our way.

Black Surfing Association with Lou Harris

The Wipeout Weekly All Things Surf Directory is growing a new section: surf non-profits. The orgs out there doing the actual work of getting people in the water who otherwise wouldn't be there. Kids who can't afford lessons. Adults who never learned to swim. Survivors. Adaptive surfers. Veterans. Communities surf culture has historically left out. But no more!

The Black Surfing Association (East Coast/Rockaway) is already on the list. Lou Harris provides free surf lessons to kids in New York. You can hear him speak about his mission on our pod.

Every week we're reaching out to more organizations, bringing them into the directory. We just need a little bit of help from you.

Adding a listing to our directory is absolutely (and will forever remain) free. Each org manages their own entry, because they know their work better than we do.

Know a surf non-profit doing good work? Hit reply and tell us about them. We'll feature the best ones, and they'll all go in the directory.

If you run one yourself, especially yes. Submit your listing today.

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—daily surf stories and weekly* guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

👋 Happy National Dance Like a Chicken Day! Do chickens surf? Unlike dogs, and cats, and pigs, we haven’t come across any surfing birds. Well, there’s a bird called a surfbird, but it doesn’t surf either. Its song is a whistled tee tee tee.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• How do you know you’re progressing? 🤯

• What the heck, asym! 🫤

• Lola faces a wave 🌊

• San Francisco to LA for beginners 🚗

• Surf news roundup 📰

• The cutest surf thing we’ve found 🥹

• Three surf trips we’re wishing for 😭

^SURFODRAMA

😱 How do you even know you’re progressing?

Surfing progress, but you're Benjamin Buttoning it.

Lifting weights is easy. Okay, not fair. Lifting weights is easier than surfing, because tracking progress in lifting is a breeze.

You know what your form should look like. You know how much you can lift in pounds or kgs, and you know how many times you can lift it.

Tracking progress in surfing sucks, because none of the above have a true equivalent in surfing. Not even one.

So when people ask: how do you even know that you're progressing in surfing, the answer is: how long is a piece of string, and how much time do you have until your next appointment.

Beginners especially may be plagued by the thoughts of despair: Am I getting better? Or am I simply surviving, week after week? Or month after month, if you're a less frequent flyer.

Bad news. There's no objective answer. There's no exam you take, and if you're thinking: "but coaches!", we will get to it.

🪤 The counting trap
Most beginners try to measure surfing by applying the lifting metrics: number of reps. This includes counting the number of waves you caught, how long you surfed for, how far you paddled out to the lineup. And there are surf apps (Dawn Patrol, Garmin custom apps, Surfline session tracking) that take this data and present it in a pretty dashboard for you to ogle.

And this works for some people, even for a while. Then it stops working.

As one commenter put it: "After a certain point, raw wave count becomes a poor measure of progression. Once wave catching is truly removed as a barrier, you learn to care more about wave selection and quality more than quantity."

I used to count waves when I couldn't catch waves yet. Once you can catch them, the metric has to change.

The same logic applies to: how many times you popped-up, how many times you popped up without using a knee or fast enough to turn, how many times you've managed to turn on a wave and go down the line, how many surfers you restrained yourself from having words with in the parking lot because they snaked you.

Counting works to a point.

🎯 What experienced surfers actually track
The real progress signal, according to most experienced surfers, is internal. It's the moment when something that used to require thought becomes automatic.

It's easier if we share how some surfers describe it.

"Last few weeks I really focused on looking where I wanted to go during pop-up. Noticed yesterday I was just doing it, not thinking about it. Progress."

So this means we need to move from counting to… what? The best way to describe it is probably: when the thing (pop-up, turn, duck dive etc.) moves from "thinking about it" to "doing it without thinking." In short: when it becomes automatic.

Some surfers believe that this is the only form of progress that surfing actually offers.

We will talk about "what level of surfer you think you are" some time soon, but automation doesn't mean that the skill order doesn't matter.

This one is easier although not perfect science.

Get to the back, pop-up becomes a second nature (but it still doesn't mean that it has to be a super fast pop-up), then wave selection, position on the wave, trim, bottom turn and so on. Each skill, once it becomes automatic, should, in theory, unlock the next.

🤷 The anti-tracking camp
Now that we've figured out what we could track, let's talk about how bad tracking actually is. Because there's a small, but a very loud cohort of surfers that believe that we should stop tracking entirely.

These surfers say things like:

"The only thing I track is the fun I'm having."

"Every surfer should really get the idea of some timeline of progression out of their head. Just go have fun, prioritize that as much or more and you're good."

And we get their argument. Surfing isn't like any other sport. The ocean changes every session, and you will never have controlled conditions. I don't want to hear a word about wave pools. That's a different sport.

Should beginners just let go and stop torturing themselves with progress anxiety, because while anxiety can be measured, progress in surfing cannot?

Not so fast. That would be a total cop out, wouldn't it? Human beings, after all, derive pleasure and happiness from winning, or mastering new skills.

👁️ What you can't see from the inside
The most agreed-upon advice across everything we've researched (and experienced) is: if you can't tell, someone needs to tell you.

Many argue (and we agree) that surfing is easier and progress is faster when a coach is watching and giving feedback. Unless you don't enjoy being coached, in which case, all bets are off.

Most beginners' biggest problems (positioning, timing, looking down at their feet during pop-up) are invisible from the inside. You may think you're doing it right, but that's just an opinion.

That's why hiring an instructor occasionally, not constantly, may not be the worst idea.

Just enough to get an outside eye telling you what you can't see yourself.

"If you get a lesson once in a while from a good instructor, they can diagnose what you need to work on and give you some tips. Then you practice on your own."

Alternatives if a coach isn't available: video yourself, surf with more experienced people, watch better surfers in the lineup and copy what they do.

📌 The single best practical move
If you only take one thing from this:

Before each session, pick one thing to focus on. Just one. I'm pretty sure we talked about this before once or twice. But it's surfing, so we forget.

So, tape a sticky note to the nose of your board if you have to: "I will not let anyone steal my wave today."

At the end of the session, ask: did the thing happen automatically, or did I have to think about it? The former means progress!

💡 The honest answer
There is no objective metric that tells you whether you're progressing fast or slow. Whether you're going forward or backwards. It's too much of an unpredictable sport. All we hope for is for our surfing skills to progress from conscious to unconscious like breathing.

"My progression feels like one step forward, two steps back, then three steps forward! It's infuriating sometimes. Right now I'm out of the water. And I feel like the old fears are creeping back in. The patience you need for this sport is insane—and I am not a patient person! Why do I keep going? I do not know." says one of Girls Who Can't Surf Good.

Yeah, I don't know either. But we just keep going.

👉 We don’t need surf apps for tracking, but we still have a long list

^{WORD OF THE WEEK}

🤨 What the heck is an asym?

Asyms. Asymmetricals. Asymmetrical surfboards.

Once upon a time, and roughly every other day since, they've been hailed as the future of surfing. The ultimate response to every surfer's dream to own a surfboard so customized to their skill level and wave conditions that no matter how crap they are at surfing, they will surf like a pro.

Sorry, not happening.

👀 What does it look like?
If you've never seen an asymmetrical surfboard before, they look… just wrong. So wrong.

One side of the board may have a different tail shape than the other. Or one rail may be longer, and one side may be wider. Then the fins may not match.

Sometimes they look like someone shaped a regular surfboard and then got high and accidentally melted half of it. We know this is subjective, but they aren't pretty. Because symmetry is the prettiest one of them all.

🦶 Regular vs goofy
Still, some surfers, more experienced surfers, swear by them. Their argument? We humans are not symmetrical (especially frontside vs backside), therefore our boards shouldn't have to be either.

You know how you prefer going right or left on a wave, depending on what your stance is: regular or goofy.

Yeah, most surfers have a "good side".

Frontside usually feels more open, powerful, natural. You can see the wave, your eyes can follow it, so your body rotates more freely.

Backside, meanwhile, often feels compressed, kind of awkward and stiff. Plain weird, really, especially for beginners.

🔑 Backside surfing is key
That's where asymmetrical surfboards enter the conversation. Let me tell you a little secret: what if you could make your backside feel like your frontside?

This matters because backside surfing is where a huge number of intermediate surfers fizzle out. Their frontside surfing is pro-level, but when it comes to backside, bodies feel twisted, surfing feels somehow delayed.

And asymmetrical boards claim to directly address some of those problems. Sort of.

Some shapers are being more honest and admit that few surfers need hyper-specialized boards. That for the asym boards to be successful, you need consistent conditions, certain wave types, and to be performing specific types of turns. Dare we say, you need to be a specific type of surfer?

🤷‍♀️ Do I need one?
Probably not. But wouldn't it be fun to try one anyway?

^{PIC OF THE WEEK}

🌊 Lola faces the wave

Pic by Rick Jackoway

I mean, what a shot!

This is Lola Fleming, also known as Limitless Lola, photographed by Rick Jackoway the day before the SLO County Open in Pismo Beach in Central California.

In case you haven’t heard of Lola before (we hadn’t), she surfs, skis and skates, and is on the USA Surfing Junior National Team.

Rick’s photo “Lola Faces the Wave” was named as a semi-finalist in the first NYU Sports Photo Contest.

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🌴 Looking for a Bali surf camp for Christmas/NYE, beginner-ish, ideally not just 20-somethings. Community top picks: Xanadu Surf & Yoga in Lombok (30+ crowd, Christmas and NY dinners, 25 min from Bali), Hanging Surf Club in Bali (book Leo for 3-5 day lesson packs at Serangan and Baby Reef Sanur), Kima Surf Camp, Rapture Camps Padang Padang.

🌉 Five days in San Francisco, advanced beginner or intermediate, want mellow waves and a lesson. Community top picks: Pacifica/Linda Mar (closest mellow option, 30-40 min from SF), Traveler Surf Shop in Pacifica (women-owned, rentals + sauna + storage), Sonlight Surfshop for board rentals, Alvaro Tisoc for coaching, Santa Cruz an hour south (Jacks, Cowells, Steamers), Bolinas via Pacific Coast Surf Lessons (no board rental locally).

🛣️ SF-to-LA road trip, advanced beginner, looking for mellow spots along the coast. Community top picks, from south to north: Malibu, Mondo's (north of Ventura), Cambria, Morro Bay (cool vibe, not always mellow), Capitola, 38th/41st Street and Cowells in Santa Cruz, Linda Mar in Pacifica. Skip Ocean Beach in SF. Locals also flagged: check with surf shops about shark breeding seasons and currents before paddling.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ River surfing injuries. Burnout in British surfing. Munich’s wave returns. Surf films go to Cannes.

“In Waves” produced by Silex Films

🌊 Surfer nearly loses leg after river surfing wipeout
What initially seemed like a minor fall at Boise Whitewater Park turned into a rare medical emergency requiring emergency surgery and a long recovery.

😮‍💨 Eight-time English surfing champion opens up about burnout
Lucy Campbell says years of nonstop competition, travel and pressure eventually left her bedridden and unable to surf for weeks.

🏞️ Munich’s famous river wave is back
The iconic Eisbach wave has officially reopened after disappearing during maintenance and following months of controversy and safety concerns.

🎬 Surf-themed animated film to open Cannes Critics’ Week
“In Waves”, based on AJ Dungo’s beloved graphic novel about surfing, love and grief, is heading to Cannes.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{THIS WEEK’S WEE SURF SHOPPE FIND}

🫎 The cutest surf thing we’ve found in a while 🥹

This week's Wee Surf Shoppe gem is...Jonas Claesson. Because honestly, how do you choose just one thing from his world? 😭

Jonas is an artist inspired by the ocean, surfing, and the natural world. He grew up in Sweden, keeping an eye out for moose while exploring forests and remote islands. These days, he lives in Australia with his family, where the wildlife spotting has mostly been replaced by glassy ankle-slapper (not an animal) spotting.

His work somehow manages to be funny and cute + peaceful and whimsical. We want to buy everything!

And yes, we absolutely added The Surfing Animals Alphabet to the Wee Surf Shoppe. 🥰

👉 Check it out

^{JUST IN ALL THINGS SURF DIRECTORY}

😭 Three surf trips we wish were going on

What’s down there, you guys?!

Summer is almost around the corner in the Northern Hemisphere. Who wants to go on a surfing vacay?

🥹 Cold Hawai’i—sorry, Denmark—in June: they had us at “warm soup” and “wild water swimming.”

🌺 Mentawais in August: who can say no to coral planting and batik workshops?

😜 Baja in November: coaching by a pro surfer? Meals by a pro chef? What next—a pro hot tub?!

👉 More surf retreats, events and meetups in the directory

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—daily surf stories and weekly* guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

👋 Happy… sorry, we don’t have time for this. So. Much. To. Cover. This. Week. And only one mini-surfodrama.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Don’t you go burning them eyes! 👀

• Puerto Escondido, but for beginners? 💀

• Alpacas on the beach 🦙

• Latest from Girls Who Can’t Surf Good 💬

• Surf news roundup 📰

• This week’s surf shoppe gem 💎

• Ready to party at your first surf contest? 🪩

^{MINI SURFODRAMA}

👀 Don’t you go burning them eyes! 👀

Making wearing shades look good since 1983

We’ve talked at length about “surfer’s eye”, this totally un-cute, occasionally freaky growth that can develop on your eyeball from too much sun, wind, and saltwater exposure.

And I’m sure everyone—myself included—was like: nah, not happening to me, not surfing enough. Nothing is going to grow on my eye, no siree.

But burned eyes? This can happen to anyone.

It came up in the group this week—someone’s kid surfed in Costa Rica and ended up with properly burned eyes. Think snow blindness, but make it surf.

So, what can you actually do about it (besides learning the hard way)?

🧢 Wear a surf hat
The least sexy, most effective option. Multiple people said it’s a game changer. Blocks a surprising amount of UV, and not just from above, but reflected off the water too.

🕶️ Surf sunglasses / goggles
Not cute, but extremely functional. Bonus: you’ll see waves coming earlier than everyone else, which honestly might be worth the trade-off. Brands like Sea Specs and Surf Shades came up, plus the good old “cheap pair + strap so you don’t cry when they disappear.”

🌅 Surf early or late
Dawn patrol and sunset sessions aren’t just for vibes, they massively reduce UV exposure. Midday (10–3) is when your eyes get absolutely blasted.

💧 Eye drops after surfing
Preservative-free lubricating drops came up a lot. Helps with dryness, irritation, and that gritty “my eyeballs hate me” feeling after a session.

👀 Contacts (with UV protection)
Apparently a thing. Not a silver bullet, but can add a bit of protection—especially for contact lens wearers already dealing with saltwater chaos.

Stay safe out there!

👉 More on surfer’s eye if you have a stomach for it

^{SURF THRU HISTORY | WAVE OF THE WEEK}

💀 Puerto Escondido, but for beginners?

Yeah, no, still not beginner enough. Pic by StellarD.

Savage. Gnarliest sand-bottom wave. Mexican Pipeline. That's Puerto Escondido, according to the Encyclopedia of Surfing.

And yet, we keep hearing: "I took my first surf class in Puerto Escondido" and "I spent the best 6 months living in Puerto improving my surfing".

So which one is it?!

But hold on, let's start at the very beginning, because it's important.

🤩 The dream of Puerto Escondido
"Some people love it. Some people get pounded, turn around, head for home and never come back," according to local hero surfer Coco Nogales.

And no freaking wonder.

The surf is big. It rarely drops below 4ft, May to October. You can expect the waves to be 6-8ft, sometimes 15ft. There are riptides, and currents, and exploding tubes, and closeouts, and it's hot hot hot, in and out of the water.

Okay, the wind is offshore until midday, but did we mention the pros and experienced crowds even on the smallest days?

American surfers came upon Puerto Escondido in 1959, but it wasn't "discovered" (meaning the surf press didn't publish any pics) until 1974. By the time the Puerto Escondido International Airport opened in 1986, it was all over, man.

The secret was out, the crowds were in. Then came the surf contests, and the movies: Ticket to Ride (1986) and Siestas and Olas (1997). In 2011, Puerto Escondido made it on Surfer Magazine's list of 100 best waves, at #40.

🙋 Can a beginner surf there?
Universally, neither Puerto Escondido nor any breaks in its vicinity are considered beginner breaks. Intermediate at minimum.

Not that it ever stopped anyone. Because, as we've learned from this week's surfodrama, not all beginners are created equal.

First, when people say "Puerto Escondido," they often mean two completely different things.

Either: Playa Zicatela, the famous heavy beach break with massive barrels, or the broader Puerto area, which includes smaller, more approachable beaches nearby.

To make things more confusing, we have both Playa Zicatela (Mexican Pipeline) and La Punta (Zicatela), which sits at the southern end of Zicatela.

The latter can be deceiving. Softer than main Zicatela and heavy on surf schools, so surely that's the place to be? Ha. The mix of more advanced surfers and heavy surf school crowds can make for a more stressful surf than necessary.

Better still, our group recommends Playa Carrizalillo. A protected cove, smaller waves, and plenty of surf schools. But it's a punchy little shorebreak, and there are these stairs… Everyone's mentioning the stairs.

Translation: Puerto Escondido is a serious surf town, with a "let's get surfing better" vibe, but it's still not "easy" in the way somewhere like Waikiki or parts of Sayulita can be.

😬 Why should I bother then?
Everyone loves it. And it changes people's lives, we're told.

Despite Puerto having a reputation for heavy waves (and crowds), beginners are describing it almost like a surf bootcamp.

Most find it incredibly motivating. Perhaps it has something to do with the perfect storm of warm water, surf-centric and aspirational culture, and super-easy access to surf schools and surf coaches.

If you go, do let us know if you come back obsessed with Puerto Escondido.

^{PIC OF THE WEEK}

🦙 Alpacas on the beach

Pic by Tina Heaney

We’ve seen photos of horses on the beach, pigs swimming, and even a cow.

But have you ever seen any alpacas enjoying the surf?!

Our own Tina Heaney captured this scene on her local beach: Long Sands Beach, Maine.

It was one of those rare mornings when Tina wasn't actually surfing. Because, and I quote: "it was disorganized."

Thank you for sharing, Tina!

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🏖️ Where do beginner longboarders surf in Huntington Beach? Community top picks: Bolsa Chica (Tower 18, surf school crowd), Wahine Kai meetup at Towers 22-24, Seal Beach Jetties (close by, super chill vibe).

🌴 Looking for a Bali (or nearby) surf camp for two friends with mixed beginner levels: one wants all-inclusive vibe, the other prefers flexibility. Community top picks: LMBK in Lombok, Pelan Pelan Bali, WaveHouse Bali, Lombok Surf Camp (social but not party).

🌺 Planning Oahu in October, beginner-intermediate. Community top picks: Hook Up Surfing (Ivan & Jen), Moku Surf for affordable rentals in Waikiki, Quality Surf for week-long rentals with board swaps, White Plains for less crowded sessions, North Shore Surf Girls.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter & support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Steamer Lane & sea lion fights. Teenage and adaptive surf champions. Steph is GOAT. Dogs are surfing.

🦭 Surfer chased out of water by sea lion in New Zealand
A surfer in New Zealand was forced out of the lineup after being aggressively pursued by a territorial sea lion.

🥊 Lineup tensions go full fight club at Steamer Lane
A Santa Cruz surf session turned into a full-on shoreline brawl after a dispute over lineup etiquette reportedly involving cliff-jumping into the break.

🏄‍♀️ Hawaiʻi crowns first-ever high school surfing state champions
Hawaiʻi has officially held its first statewide high school surfing championships, with nearly 180 student surfers competing across Maui.

💛 Adaptive surfing championships underway in Waikiki
More than 90 athletes from around the world are competing this week at the Hawaiʻi Adaptive Surfing Championships in Waikiki.

👑 Steph Gilmore wins gold coast pro in comeback season
Stephanie Gilmore claimed her 34th WSL event win at Snapper Rocks, proving very quickly that writing her off was premature.

🐶 Dog surfing tour draws crowds in Pismo Beach
The World Dog Surfing Championship Exhibition Tour brought crowds, surf dogs, and mild confusion to Pismo Beach.

🏄‍♂️ Longest-running longboard contest returns to Santa Cruz
The Santa Cruz Longboard Union Invitational returns to Steamer Lane later this month with nearly 200 surfers expected to compete.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{THIS WEEK’S WEE SURF SHOPPE FIND}

🩴 Foldable flip flops under $10

Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of the Wee Surf Shoppe, where we feature fun, useful, cheap, widely reviewed, and highly rated surf and surf-adjacent stuffs.

(Okay, sometimes we sneak in something outrageous and obscenely expensive, but only in Surf Indulgences.)

This week's find pulls triple duty: beach, travel, and your suitcase.

You know how the sand gets too hot to walk across from the parking lot, but you don't want to sacrifice your good flip flops in case you leave them behind?

Or how you're fully packed and just remembered you don't necessarily want to go barefoot in your hotel room or surf camp showers?

Introducing: foldable, lightweight, no-slip flip flops 🩴

I came across these earlier this week, ordered them in pink, and I'm now getting them in a couple more colors. Because honestly, you can't beat $7.59 (or $8.40 if you're as big-footed as me).

👉 Check them out

^{JUST IN ALL THINGS SURF DIRECTORY}

🪩 Ready to party at your first surf contest?

Pic by Bengt Nyman

We said: party. Because the cheering, the post-heat hangs, the "did you SEE that?!", the women who came second buying drinks for the women who came first—that is totally a party.

And paddling out as part of an all-women lineup is pretty great and a party in itself.

If you're contest-curious, mark your calendar:

🏄‍♀️ Sea Her Surf Women's Surf Contest. Cocoa Beach, FL. August 29, 2026. Open to all levels. Built around sisterhood, sportsmanship, and the idea that every surfer has a place in the lineup.

If you're contest-curious but contest-terrified (this is normal), three coaching spots from the directory to help you get ready:

🌴 ISA Level 2 Female Surf Coach. Rincón, Puerto Rico. ISA-certified, Red Cross lifeguard, longboard and shortboard. A feminine-led approach focused on flow, timing, and confidence. Limited weekly slots.

🌊 Women's Surf Collective. Santa Cruz, CA. Private coaching, custom surfboards, and retreats for women in Santa Cruz and internationally.

❄️ Cold Water Sirens. Nordjylland, Denmark. Feminist surf coaching and ocean-based therapy, for people whose access to surf culture isn't always easy: gender, age, mental health, or mobility.

👉 More events and coaches in the directory

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—because of course
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

👋 Happy National Oatmeal Cookie & Raisins + Bubble Tea Day! Also—Honesty Day, which honestly fits perfectly with this week’s surfodrama—dating and surfing, and not having fun doing it either.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Let’s surf together goes wrong 😝

• Mad to surf the Severn Bore 🤪

• Let’s break some swell windows 🪟

• Pic of the week: Supergirl at Jaws 🌅

• A very big surf news roundup 📰

• Sunscreens. Stickers. Surf stuffs. 😎

^SURFODRAMA

😱 Let’s surf together goes very wrong 😝

Have you heard the one about “alpine divorce”?

Just in case you were lucky enough not to: alpine divorce is when a dude (usually a dude) leaves a girl (usually a girl) in a remote, dangerous, or difficult hiking situation to fend for herself.

Now imagine this, but surfing.

Two people go on vacation. Let's call them Jack and Jill. Jack: experienced surfer. Jill: non-surfer who wants to learn. Because surfing is something couples do together, n’est pas?

Picture this: Jack paddles out to the lineup, catches some waves, chills. Jill gets stuck in the whitewash, doesn't know how to get out, and gets worked. Same ocean, completely different experiences.

Cue the surfodrama. Jack sets the expectation: “Maybe in a week you'll be out in the lineup with me.” Jill rises to the challenge, signs up for lessons, and tries to deliver on the promise of surfing together. And fails. Because of course. It’s surfing.

💭 The surfing fantasy vs reality
There's a version of surfing that exists in people's heads. Slow rolling waves at golden hour. Two people paddling out together, catching a few, laughing, whoop whooping each other, maybe sharing a party wave. Fun.

Then there's actual surfing. Where lifelong surfers have no real memory of what it's like to be a beginner, and beginners can't fathom why the crusties are so nonchalant about something that feels impossible.

🧱 Beginner surfing is a brick wall
Beginner surfing is not a gentle ramp. Actually, it’s not a ramp at all. It’s a brick wall. For a long time it feels like no progress at all.

If it doesn't feel fun yet—that's normal. If it feels hard, frustrating, occasionally miserable—also normal.

So when someone says “let’s just have a chill surf together,” it's normal to hear “I should be able to do that by now, why can't I do it by now?”

What's not normal is expecting yourself to fast-forward onto someone else's timeline. Not in a week. Not on vacation. Not happening.

🍸 The actual solution that does not involve “dumping his ass”
The way out is simple, if not easy: either separate the surf and meet up after for cocktails and snuggles, or Jack meets Jill where she is and they both ride smaller waves. Hell, maybe he gives her a wee push.

What I hope doesn't happen:

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water;
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.

Sucks to be Jill. Sucks to be Jack.

^{SURF SPOT SPOTLIGHT}

🤪 Mad to surf the Severn Bore

Pic by Ruth Sharville

It may work more often than your local break—up to 130 days a year, twice a day—and you may get the ride of your life—40 minutes and counting. Yes, 40 minutes. But in our humble opinion, you’d have to be absolutely mad to surf the Severn Bore.

🌳 Duck, weave, survive
“Ducking under branches and riding through bushes”, “riding under the railway bridge”, “looking at the cows in the fields”—all while fighting off kayakers and the occasional “odd dead animal”.

This is what you can expect when surfing the Severn Bore, one of the most famous bore waves in the world.

🌍 What even is this wave
The Severn Bore is a British “surf” break created by an incoming tidal surge funneling up the River Severn (220 miles long), about 100 miles west of London.

The Severn Estuary empties into the Bristol Channel and has the third-largest tidal range in the world—about 49 feet.

Quoting the Encyclopedia of Surfing: “The bore rolls upriver one hour before high tide, twice a day, with the biggest and best waves—usually waist-high, but sometimes up to six feet—arriving just after the full and new moons around the spring equinox.”

Six feet? You nuts?!

🗡️ Enter Mad Jack
The break was first surfed in 1955 by John “Mad Jack” Churchill, a World War II vet renowned for carrying a Scottish broadsword into battle.

He learned to surf after the war and, in 1955 at age 49, rode the Bore on a surfboard he made himself. See: “Mad Jack”. And I’m really hoping he didn’t surf with his sword…

In 2006, Steve King from Gloucestershire set a world record for the longest surfing ride on the Bore—7.6 miles.

⚠️ Should you surf it? (no!)
These days anyone can surf the bore, but not everyone—actually, no one—probably should. At least that’s the message straight from www.thesevernbore.co.uk.

There you’ll learn that even experienced surfers can encounter life-threatening situations. The bore can become overcrowded very quickly. Kayakers are Satan’s spawn. It’s easy to get knocked off your board, tangled in your leash, and dragged into nearby bushes. Not fun.

Honestly, the sight of brown, muddy water should put anyone off, but apparently it doesn’t. Surfers, paddleboarders, and kayakers compete for the wave and, on rare occasions, peacefully co-exist.

Just not like in this video:

But hey, if this sounds like fun to you—on yer head.

^{SURF SCIENCE}

🪟 Let’s break some swell windows

Pic by Phillip Caper

Swell direction, we all know and love. It’s the direction waves are coming from. You’ll see it in your surf forecast—hover over the little arrow and boom: SSW, WNW, etc.

🪟 Wait… what is a swell window?!
The Encyclopedia of Surfing describes it (poetically) as “a set of coordinates between a wave-producing storm and a surf break that, when met, will produce the best surf at that particular break.”

Translation: a swell window is the range of swell directions that can deliver wave energy to your break—cleanly, in a straight line—without getting blocked by coastline, islands, or underwater features.

Not all breaks are created equal. Some, like Huntington Beach, work year-round because they have a wide, open swell window—meaning swell can arrive from many different angles. Others, like Maalaea, have a tiny swell window and might only work a few days a season.

⏰ Swell window ≠ swell period
You hear a swell window, and you might be thinking of a swell period. But these two are different.

Swell period (also called swell interval) is the time between two consecutive wave crests passing a fixed point—like a buoy or offshore platform (that’s where forecast data comes from).

As waves travel away from the storm that created them, their period increases. And generally speaking, the longer the swell period, the better the waves—although local wind conditions can absolutely ruin the party.

It’s kind of wild that surfers only started paying attention to swell period in the mid-80s (again, shoutout to the Encyclopedia of Surfing).

🤯 Periods' impact explained
If you see an 8–10 second period, it’s likely local wind swell or overlapping swells (you know—primary + secondary on Surfline). Translation: messy.

If you see a juicy 20-second period, that swell has traveled a long way—and you’re getting longer, more evenly spaced waves.

And one more thing: swell period affects surf height. Longer-period waves carry more energy.

10 ft swell @ 14 seconds → ~12 ft surf
10 ft swell @ 20 seconds → ~20 ft surf

Not exactly scientific, but directionally pretty real.

And if you’re still unsure about the difference between swell height and surf height—we got you.

Now, how big is your local break’s swell window?

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Shark chase. Sharks at comps. Lakey wins. Steph last?! Wave pools rising. Legends remembered.

🦈 Shark chase, not a sighting
A foil surfer off Santa Barbara was chased by a shark that matched his speed and turns for minutes, turning a casual session into a full-on ocean sprint.

🦈 Sharks now attend competitions
A shark sighting paused the Vans Jack’s Surfboards Pro in Huntington Beach for 24 hours, proving even surf contests answer to the ocean.

🏆 Lakey Peterson is back back
Lakey Peterson won the Margaret River Pro with a last-minute score, jumping into a tie for first on the Championship Tour.

😬 Steph Gilmore…dead last?!
Stephanie Gilmore is currently at the bottom of the rankings after two losses, in a format that leaves little room to ease back in.

🌊 Florida builds its own waves
Florida’s first major surf park is underway, promising consistent, customizable waves in a state better known for waiting than riding.

🏛️ Surf history, now on display
A new museum in West Palm Beach is opening with over 100 boards and a century of surf history, spotlighting Florida’s surprisingly deep roots in the sport.

🕊️ Aloha spirit, embodied
Paul Strauch has passed away at 83, leaving behind a legacy that helped shape modern surfing and define what people mean by “Aloha spirit.”

🎙️ The king, speaking for himself
Duke Kahanamoku appears in a resurfaced 1966 interview, offering a rare, firsthand glimpse into the origins of modern surfing.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{PIC OF THE WEEK}

🌅 Supergirl at Jaws

Pic by Brandon Kirk

Wow! Just wow! I spotted this pic last week on Threads, and reached out to Brandon Kirk who took it to get permission to share it with you.

And I’m so glad that I did, because I got to hear the story behind it.

Maddie Anzivino known as @maddiesouthbay is the only girl lifeguard on the North Shore.

Last week, Maddie messaged Brandon: “I think I’ll be going to Jaws this weekend.” when the forecast unexpectedly shouted: good waves.

Good they were indeed, described as near perfect and uncrowded.

And the ride? This must’ve been absolute perfection for Maddie.

^{WEE SURF SHOPPE}

😎 Sunscreens. Stickers. Surf stuffs.

This is officially becoming our Wee Surf Shoppe always-on segment where we share fun and useful surf stuffs. And show off our merch.

Need a sunscreen? We have put together a shortlist based on the recommendations from our community.

👉 Check out sunscreens and/or get a sticker to support The Wipeout Weekly

^{ALL THINGS SURF DIRECTORY}

🌴 Don’t miss out on a surf retreat of a lifetime. Or a surf comp!

Ever wanted to be a contender? Now’s your chance if you happen to reside in Southern California or are willing to travel.

Ocean and Her is hosting an all-women surf comp in Manhattan Beach on May 9.

Need more time to plan? There’s a surf retreat for 40+ gals planned for late November in Lombok.

👉 Check out the directory for more surf stuffs

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—daily surf stories and weekly* guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

👋 Happy weekend! A big thank you to everyone who responded with suggestions on how to make The Wipeout Weekly even more riveting and useful! 😜 Stickers are on their way. Ideas—always welcome, payment in…stickers, obviously.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Are you a granola surfer? 🤯

• When to fix your wetsuit 🧵

• Down the line, off we go 🏄‍♀️

• Mission: Impossible pic of the week 🌅

• Surf news roundup 📰

• Who the hell is Wee Fatty? 🦦

^SURFODRAMA

😱 Are you a granola surfer? 🤯

There Will Be Blood. But… make it surfing.

Whaaat? A granola surfer? Let me explain. One of the surf mags, The Inertia, did a story on 15 ironies of surfing. Ironies mostly applicable to experienced surfers like its author.

One commentator called him out on being a “granola surfer” (I only understood this nickname in context), conveniently forgetting that surfing is “one of the most environmentally unfriendly activities on earth.”

Oh the irony!

🤯 Wait…what?
That stopped me in my tracks. Whaaat? Surfing is not environmentally friendly? I swear I wear reef-safe sunscreen and when I pee in the ocean it is merely water!

How can this statement even be true?

Short answer: it’s not true in the way that comment suggests—but it’s also not totally wrong. It’s a classic oversimplification, with an annoying grain of truth.

🌊 The “clean” version of surfing
If you strip surfing back to the very basics, it’s about as “clean” as an ocean sport gets. No engines, no oil—unless it’s tow-in. No noise…well, unless it’s e-foiling. No permanent structures. Crap. Wave pools. No ongoing energy use except your own paddling power. At least that one still tracks.

So yes, from a pure activity standpoint, surfing sits much closer to swimming or hiking than anything industrial. Or even a more involved ocean sport like wakeboarding.

🧠 The weird middle ground
Because that’s where surfing lives—in this weird middle of being eco-friendly and not eco-friendly at the same time.

The act of surfing is low impact. It’s just you, the water, and your board (more on that in a moment). But then there’s everything around it, and that’s where things get a bit less…granola.

Surfboards are the obvious one. Most are made from petroleum-based foam, fiberglass, and resin. They don’t recycle easily, they break—especially when you’re learning, sorry—and the manufacturing process isn’t exactly gentle on the planet.

Wetsuits don’t help the case either. Traditional neoprene is petroleum-based, energy-intensive to produce, and difficult to recycle. There are better options now, but they’re not exactly everywhere yet.

And then there’s the one surfers don’t love talking about. Travel. The flights, the road trips, the “it’s only a quick mission” that somehow turns into a three-hour drive each way. One surf trip can outweigh years of just paddling out locally. That’s the part that quietly does the damage.

🌍 So is surfing actually bad for the environment?
No. That’s way too dramatic.

Put it next to motorsport, ski resorts, or golf courses and it doesn’t even come close. But put it next to running, swimming, or just existing and it’s definitely more resource-heavy than we might like to admit.

Which is kind of the point the commenter was trying to make—just with a sledgehammer.

Because, let’s face it, this isn’t really about facts. It’s about identity.

We like to see ourselves as nature-loving, ocean-protecting, eco-conscious humans. Reef-safe sunscreen only! And to be fair, a lot of that is true.

But there’s no denying that some very un-eco supply chains are hiding in the background.

So the critique isn’t that surfing is terrible. It’s that maybe it’s not quite as pure as we like to think.

And that’s still ok.

Just…a bit ironic.

^{SURF SCIENCE (AT LEAST WE THINK THIS IS SCIENCE)}

🧵 When to fix your wetsuit

There are two types of surfers in this world. The ones who replace their wetsuit the moment a sleeve starts fraying. And the rest of us. The granola surfers who want to keep our impact on Mommy Earth to a bare minimum.

Wetsuits can suffer a multitude of mishaps. They get worn down, stretched, yanked a bit too much, baked in the sun, and generally pushed to their limits.

Time in the surf is the biggest killer, but we tend to forget how surprisingly easily neoprene can get cut—by reef, rocks, seashells, fins, and, of course, our own fingernails. One awkward landing on a shallow section and suddenly you’ve got a mystery tear you don’t remember earning. Unless, of course, it’s from a chain-linked fence.

Our movements also put seams to the test, especially in high-movement areas like the underarms from paddling and…yes, the crotch. No idea what movement that entails.

🧪 How to fix your wetsuit the official way
If you go the “official” route (and by official, I mean something like a Quiksilver repair guide), the process is very methodical.

Clean the suit. Dry it fully—inside and out. Only then assess the damage and figure out how to approach the fix. Don’t even think about glue until everything is prepped. According to Quiksilver, if a tear is larger than five inches, you should probably talk to a repair pro.

Your repair kit will require neoprene glue, rubber gloves, a paintbrush for application, and a heavy round weight. Yes, a weight. Apparently, you use it to hold the tear open while applying glue. Mind blown.

Then it’s all about layers. Glue it, wait. Glue again, wait again. Only then press the edges together carefully. Leave it alone for at least an hour. Do not tempt fate. Once it’s properly bonded, apply a thin finishing layer of glue on top.

It’s a process.

Some committed surfers even add stitching on top for extra strength. If you go that route, don’t punch all the way through, just catch the surface layer.

🪡 How to fix wee holes
When you get a hole in a sweater, you grab a needle and thread and off you go. Sewing neoprene is not particularly fun—still easier than fixing a leather couch, though—but it can be done.

You’ll need a curved needle and nylon thread, and you basically lace it up like a shoe.

The same method works for larger tears too, but clean up the edges with scissors first. A clean edge = a stronger repair.

🧃 Left field surfer solutions
There are proper wetsuit repair tapes, neoprene cement, and patches.

But there’s also crazy glue and dental floss.

Yes! Waxed dental floss is strong, water-resistant, and weirdly perfect for small repairs. It’s the kind of hack that feels slightly unhinged until you realize it works. Threading a needle can be a bit of a challenge, though.

We should probably add that surfing in a ripped, hole-filled wetsuit can absolutely be done. It’s just not recommended.

🪦 When to call it a day
You’ll know when it’s time.

After spending far too long staring at your wetsuit thinking, “this is still structurally sound,” it starts to feel colder, crustier, and takes on more water. The branding fades.

Until then, if you can fix it, you probably should. As we’ve discovered this week, recycling wetsuits is not easy, and they’re not exactly eco-friendly.

Left field suggestion: wetsuits are expensive, so if you come across a good sale, grab one just in case.

You will need it eventually.

👉 And here’s how to care for your wetsuit when it’s still intact.

^{SURF SKILLS}

🏄🏻‍♀️ Down the line, off we go

There’s a very specific moment in surfing where things start to feel not the way you want them to be going.

You’re catching waves, the proper kind: green ones, totally unbroken. You paddle, you pop up fast, you ride straight to the beach. Because somehow—despite angling your takeoff, despite your best intentions—you just keep going straight.

You know you’re close. So close to being a proper surfer, you can almost taste it. And that’s the worst part.

Because everyone says the same thing: “Just go down the line.”

Oh. Cool. Thanks. Let me just have a wee coffee and off I go down the line.

🛜 The internet weighs in
When someone asked this exact question on Reddit, the responses came in fast. And reading through them feels a bit like being handed pieces of a puzzle, and you’re expected to put it together picture side down.

One person says it’s your pop-up. It has to be fast and clean so you can set up your bottom turn. Another says wave selection is the real issue. Someone else throws in that if you don’t engage your rail, you’ll just skip down the face no matter what you do.

Then someone casually drops: “Look where you want to go.” At this point, your blood starts boiling, and you sign up for a Surf Simply or Ombe subscription.

👀 The “look where you want to go” thing, again
This comes up again. And again. And again. We’ve written about it time and time again. We forget it the moment we wade into the water.

So, one more time. Look down the line. Always. And never at the nose, not at the beach, not at where your feet land after the pop-up. Down the line.

Because your body follows your head. Not metaphorically—literally. Because it’s the heaviest part of your body.

🏄‍♀️ But also…your body is doing weird things
At some point, someone explains something that feels more technical but actually unlocks a lot. This sounds promising—they call it “engaging the rail.”

You’re not meant to stand directly on top of your board. You’re meant to be slightly off it. Your center of mass shifts over the rail, not perfectly centered. Which feels wrong at first, because every instinct says “stay balanced.”

But balanced is exactly what sends you straight down into whitewash.

And that’s why, to go down the line, you have to lean into the wave. Engage that rail. It will feel more like being on your heels if you’re going backside, or on your toes if you’re going frontside.

Someone described it like riding down a snowy hill. If you keep your board flat, you slide straight down. If you angle the edge, you hold your line.

⚡ The other, not so helpful stuff
Even if we all hate hearing it, we will say it again. A slow or messy pop-up means you’re already late. Annoyingly, the pop-up does matter if you want to go down the line. You can get away with it if you want to go straight.

And then there’s the wave itself. You’ve got to know how to read it, where to sit on it, and what ride to expect. East Coast waves are not like West Coast waves. You will need to manage your expectations.

🧠 The real answer no one wants
Back to the puzzle. You need to piece it together. Angle your takeoff. Pop up quickly. Look where you want to go. Engage your rail. Shift your weight. Stay low. Relax your body. Let your shoulders follow your head.

If it sounds like a lot, it’s because it is. It all has to come together in a split second. We skip a step and it all starts falling apart. Argh.

There’s nothing to it. Successfully going down the line will only come from doing it badly, repeatedly, until our bodies figure it out faster than our brains can. Good luck to us all!

👉 And if you need help with bigger waves or pop-ups…

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Skiers almost ran surfing. Comeback after paralysis. Surfing as therapy. Drunk lifeguards. Statue drama.

🌊 Surfing almost got handed to the ski people
After a bizarre detour where U.S. Ski & Snowboard tried to take over Olympic surfing, USA Surfing is officially back in charge ahead of LA 2028.

🏄‍♂️ A surfer finds his way back after paralysis
San Diego surfer Collin Bosse is back in the water after a life-changing spinal injury, redefining what continuing in surfing looks like.

🧠 Surfing as therapy…again (but this time with a stroke)
UK wave pool founder Nick Hounsfield credits surfing with helping his recovery after a stroke, adding to the growing pile of “there’s something in this” stories.

🍺 Lifeguards, alcohol, and very questionable decisions
Three Honolulu lifeguards have been suspended after testing positive for alcohol on duty during severe conditions—yes, really.

🏖️ Newquay gets a surf statue (and people have thoughts)
A new surfer statue overlooking Towan Beach is already doing its job—drawing crowds, photos, and the full spectrum of opinions.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{PIC OF THE WEEK}

🌅 Surfing in the South Bay of LA

This week’s pic of the week is by Bo Bridges (@bobridges on Instagram), a self-described visual artist and entrepreneur.

Well, actually, it’s a shot from a video Bo took about a week ago in the South Bay.

Bo is also responsible for the iconic photo of Tom Cruise hanging off the side of a plane (while it took off and landed) in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. Kudos.

^HOUSEKEEPING

🦦 Who the hell is Wee Fatty?

Good things come in threes. Meet Wee Fatty, our resident sea otter with a penchant for surfboards and holding hands.

Well, that’s Wee Fatty.
Don’t call her a surfboard thief—
No one should surf alone.
Found an old red paisley kerchief once,
Bandana Crew—all her idea.
The best surf buddy you could wish for.
Ridic cute. Floatsalot. Will hold hands.

👉 See our stuff

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—daily surf stories and weekly* guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

👋 Happy… to see you! The big story this week is… surf apps. But perhaps not in the way you think. Also, surf news is totally ridiculous. Pelicans! Who knew!

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Do we even need surf apps? 😜

• Unstad Beach is chill(y) 🥶

• I surf now, did you know? 🏄🏻‍♀️

• Ridic surf news 🗞️

• Pic of the week 🌅

• The only shark you’ll want to meet 🦈

• Where will you retreat next? 🌴

^SURFODRAMA

😱 Do we even need surf apps? 😜

If you had to guess how many surf apps exist, what would you say? Five? Ten? Twenty? Try 40+.

Yeah, it caught us by surprise too. The research for this story was an eye-opening experience, and not in the best of ways. We put together a full surf apps roundup anyway, because ultimately, it's up to you.

1️⃣ The “find” problem
Here’s the thing though, despite the plethora of choices that feels like the buffet at Bellagio (that’s in Vegas, which apparently is getting a wave pool too), finding decent surfing apps is weirdly hard.

They’re poorly categorized, the descriptions are misleading, and you can’t filter by rating or number of reviews. The first two unpromoted results in the App Store when we searched? Surfing games. Cool, not what we needed.

So we did the work. We dug through the whole landscape and also asked our community—you—what you’re actually using.

2️⃣ The “need” problem
Then we asked the bigger, more interesting question: do any of these apps actually matter? Do we even need them?

Short answer: No, we don’t need surf apps. We’ve never needed them.

We didn’t need them in ancient Hawai’i, or when surfing returned from the dead in the early 1920s, or when it all exploded in the 50s, or when the shortboard revolution came. We didn’t even need them when Covid hit.

But we use them because surfing can be confusing as hell. Okay, so that was the short answer.

3️⃣ The “why” problem
The longer answer… We use surf apps because surfing these days can cause so much anxiety on so many different levels that it feels like we’d just feel safer with a wee app crutch.

The anxiety comes in many shapes and intensities:

“Is it even worth going out today?”
“But seriously, is it even worth going out today?”
“Am I getting any better at this?”
“Can someone tell me how I could get better at this?”
“I must get in shape to get better at this!”
“I don’t think I am getting better at this at all.”
“I wish there was someone who I could get better at this with.”
“I’m never getting better at this. I’ll stick to re-enacting surfing on my phone instead.”

Can the apps help? Yes and no, it depends.

But what they can do is create a false sense of certainty in a sport that is, fundamentally, unpredictable. Unpredictable because of conditions, the lineup, your own progress path, or fitness.

And that’s exactly why we want you to take all of this with a pinch of salt. Still, we do have a full list of different app categories with examples.

This story—very long, links—many, please continue reading online.

👉 Continue reading online

^{SURF SPOT SPOTLIGHTS}

🥶 Unstad Beach is chill(y)

We're all about tropical surf destinations and surfing without wetsuits, aren't we? But shouldn't we expand our horizons from time to time? You know, to grow as surfers. 😬

And Unstad Beach might be just the place.

A surf beach in the Norwegian Arctic, ringed by jagged mountains and fjords, with cold, deep water sending in swells that may have started building near Greenland.

It is remote, wild, and one of the best known cold water surf spots in Europe. You may get to see the Northern Lights, but we're promising nothing.

🌊 Arctic break for everybody
Technically, Unstad is for all abilities—but with some very important fine print.

The beach is usually the place for beginners, especially in summer, when the waves are gentler and more manageable. According to the local surf school, people start in waist-deep water and work their way out gradually, and with the right instruction, everybody gets up in the end.

The reefs and points are for experienced surfers and demand more confidence, wave knowledge, and comfort around rocks, currents, and a lot of power.

On the northern edge of the bay is Unstad Right, a high-quality, fast, reef break that can produce seriously good waves.

On the southern edge is Unstad Left, a long, fast, hollow point wave breaking over rocks. It is often described as one of the best lefts in the world, and it is a major reason pros and advanced surfers travel here.

Then there is the Garbage Dump, further outside. Advanced surfers only.

🌬️ Swell makes all the difference
Unstad works best with SW to NW swell, with WNW often singled out as the sweet spot.

The ocean off the coast of Unstad is about 500 metres deep, and because there is so little to interrupt the swell, waves can travel all the way from Greenland. You know what this means—more consistent waves!

The break can work on all tides, though the reef and point waves are best on low to mid tide, and it handles anything from waist-high to double overhead.

🧊 The vibes
Welcoming and mellow, though summer gets busier.

Surfing here has deep roots—it dates back to 1963, when some local guys went to sea, ended up in Australia, got introduced to surfing, and came home inspired enough to make their own boards in woodwork class, reportedly inspired by the cover of a Beach Boys record.

Since the 1990s it has been taken more seriously, and since 2007 the Lofoten Masters has helped put Unstad firmly on the international surf map. Many big-name photographers have made the trip in recent years, and the beach is now one of Europe's most iconic cold-water surf locations.

🧼 Water quality
Clean and cold. Sea temperature sits around 6°C / 43°F—full winter-kit territory. Cloudy days can make it feel about the same in and out of the water, which is a weird little Arctic bonus.

🧥 Wardrobe
You know it. Bring a proper winter wetsuit, neoprene hood, gloves, and booties. No, really. All of it. Even in summer, this is not boardshorts-and-a-rashie territory.

📅 Best time to surf
Unstad works all year, but the character of the place changes a lot with the seasons.

September to November is often highlighted as the best period—bigger, more stable swells arrive in autumn and winter, which is when experienced surfers come from all over the world for the better lefts and more powerful setups. Summer is the time for beginners, when the waves tend to be smaller and kinder.

⚠️ Hazards
Rocks, reefs, and rip currents. Cold water if you're not used to it, and it's pretty remote. The beach has a sandy middle section, though there can be quite a lot of seaweed.

✈️ How to get there
Unstad is on Vestvågøy, a Norwegian island, around 21 km east of Leknes. The closest airport is Bodø, about 116 km / 72 miles away, with Evenes the second nearest at around 129 km / 80 miles.

🤓 Fun fact
Unstad is home to Unstad Arctic Surf, reportedly the most northerly surf school in the world at 68 degrees north.

^{GIRL WHO SURFS AND WANTS EVERYONE TO KNOW IT}

🏄🏻‍♀️ I surf now, did you know?

Andrea will tell anyone who will listen that she is in fact a surfer. She lives in New Hampshire, she's a mom of two, and she came to surfing in her forties in the most unexpected way.

She's tried it before— twice—and it did not go well. 😬

But then something happened in Costa Rica that changed everything, and she hasn't stopped since.

She surfs cold New England winters. She takes herself on solo surf trips. She's raising two little surfers. And she has a lot to say about surrender. We loved this one.

👉 Read Andrea’s story

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Surfer gnawed by pelicans. Female surfer statue in trouble. Olympic surfing sold out. Australia gets a wave pool.

Terrifying. Pic by Bruce Lee

🐦 A surfer got attacked by pelicans (kind of)
A surfer in Huntington Beach was reportedly attacked by a group of pelicans in the lineup.

🗿 Santa Cruz is arguing over a surfer statue
In Santa Cruz, a proposed bronze statue of a female surfer has gotten a little out of hand.

🎟️ Olympic surfing tickets sold out immediately
Because of course they did.

🌊 Wave pools are getting… big
12 football fields size big to be precise.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{PIC OF THE WEEK}

🌅 Malibu days, Malibu nights

This week’s pic of the week is by Carlos Gauna better known to many of us as @themalibuartist.

Carlos usually terrifies surfers with his pristine drone footage of turquoise Pacific waters and following big juicy sharks from Malibu to Santa Monica, back and beyond.

I bet you he’s looking forward to this “sharky summer” we’ve been promised.

^{ALL THINGS SURF DIRECTORY}

✈️ Where will you retreat next?

In our All Things Surf Directory, surf retreats is the most popular category for sure.

The directory features smaller, independent surf retreats that you may not normally find on surf retreat aggregate websites. And we believe its a good thing.

So, where do you want to go next?

El Salvador? Morocco? Nicaragua? Costa Rica? Or maybe Australia, Indonesia or the Phillipines? There’s Portugal, Spain, and Denmark!

I wish I was minted and had spare vacation days. 😜

👉 Check out the directory

^HOUSEKEEPING

🦈 The only shark you’ll want to meet—Jaws ‘JJ’ Junior

We don’t even want you to buy the merch to support The Wipeout Weekly.

We just wanted to introduce our original mascot—Jaws ‘JJ” Junior.

Born to drop in. Waves wait for no one.
That’s Jaws “JJ” Junior.
Bloodlines of legends, mind of her own.
No such thing as a “bigger boat” to tame her.
She’s got no time for lineup politics—and eats locals for breakfast.

Yes, we are shark-obsessed.

👉 See our stuff

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—daily surf stories and weekly* guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

👋 Happy New Order! We’re mixing it up this week—less heavy opinions, more fun stuffs, and newsworthy drama. A poem. What could possibly go wrong? 😜

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• To fly or not to fly with your surfboard ✈️

• Hydrofoilers have all the fun 🤩

• Just go left at Mavericks 👈

• Need room to surf? 🏠

• Even more surf news 🗞️

• Meet Olo 🐓

• From the perfect wave 🔜 the watery grave

^SURFODRAMA

😱 To fly or not to fly with your surfboard ✈️

First of all, if you’re reading this—congratulations! A surf trip is in your future.

To fly or not to fly with your surfboard… it’s not a simple yes or no. There are so many things to consider. But the most important one isn’t whether—it’s why.

Why do you want to fly with your surfboard?

I see surfers falling into two camps: the performers and the pragmatics.

⚖️ Your “to fly or not or not to fly with your surfboard” camp
Some surfers strongly believe that confidence in the surf comes from familiarity and wouldn’t be parted from their boards for fear of missing out on better performance in good waves.

Especially if local rentals are a bit of a shitshow. If time is of the essence, having a board you’re familiar with and comfortable on means you won’t be wasting any of your sessions adapting. And there, of course, is the unquantifiable: if you have a fancy, non-beginner board, the locals may look at you with silent admiration rather than disdain. If you’re driven by performance and have a bit of a regular surfer ego, you will fly with your surfboard.

Other surfers are more pragmatic. They may be primarily concerned with airlines breaking their boards or having to pay extraordinary fees for transport. Is the stress and hassle of it all worth it? Possibly not, and it’s fun trying new boards even if the cost works out higher than bringing your own.

We’re here to make it easier for you to make these decisions. Let’s tackle it one by one. But before we begin, let me say it, and then repeat several times in this story: always check your airline’s surfboard policy.

Do not rely on any information that you read on any website that is not your airline’s official website (i.e. Surfline has a guide from 2024 or Google’s AI overview), because these policies change pretty often. Better still, call customer service so you have proof of their advice on record—I would, but then again I am slightly paranoid and generally over-prepared.

The case in point for never flying with your surfboard

😂 Can you even?
Before we jump into the actual financial consideration of transporting your board across the world versus renting one, consider a simpler question: can you even get your board on the plane?

If you’re a shortboarder, carry on. But if your board exceeds certain parameters, the airline you fly with may not allow it at all. Typically, airlines limit the overall size of a board to 115 linear inches (that’s your length + width + height).

Most surfboards are 20″–23″ wide and 2.5″–3.25″ thick, so it’s the length that will tip you over. If you’re surfing a six footer, it will easily fit under 115 linear inches, but a 7’6” in a bag (oh yes, it’s the board in the bag that counts) may trigger oversized fees or you may not even be able to fly at all. I don’t want to think about you having to make a decision between not flying at all or flying out without your board and leaving it with the agent, who then decides to adopt it. Check the airline policy.

🚗 How will you get it to and fro?
Minor point, and hopefully you have friends who can help, or robust public transport that will allow you to get the board and all your luggage easily to the airport and from the airport to your destination

If you’re not hiring a car and bringing your surf racks, this may complicate things further.

🤷‍♀️ Wouldn’t it be just easier to rent?
If you’re not one of the performance-driven surfers, it may sometimes be cheaper to rent a board than fly your surfboard over. Providing, of course, there are rental places nearby and they offer a selection of boards to your satisfaction at a reasonable cost.

The advantage may be that you get to try out a few new boards. Also—if you’re staying in a hotel that doesn’t provide board storage—it may be less hassle to get a board on an hourly or daily basis.

But make sure you check the opening times if you’re into dawn patrols or nighttime surfing. This may be a make or break whether you fly with your surfboard.

If only your own board will do then…

🤑 Can you handle the cost?
Throughout history, there have been a few surfboard companies that have attempted to make collapsible or foldable surfboards, with a simple pitch: now you can stick it in your suitcase and take it anywhere. Anyone here lucky enough to own a foldable surfboard? Precisely.

There are nice airlines that let you check in your board bag as checked luggage and there are not-so-nice airlines that will charge you oversize fees. The same airline’s niceness may differ depending on the route or whether a flight is direct or has a stopover.

We’re talking about anything from zero dollars (if you get your checked luggage for free) to a hundred-plus dollars. Reminder: always check your airline’s policy and make sure your board bag is within the measurement and weight limits.

Because if you decide to fly with two surfboards (usually the limit), it may tip you over the weight limit, typically 50 lbs. Your board bag can be heavier than the limit, but then it will drift into the oversize territory.

Lest we forget about the cost of a delayed or lost board. You may recoup it down the line, but the risk of getting your vacation ruined still exists. But, but, but…

👩‍🔧 Can you live with dings?
You know how when your suitcase gets badly damaged during air transport you are entitled to compensation? Now try to file a claim for dings or scratches or even a break. Who’s to tell that the board wasn’t broken before you put it in the bag?

Your beloved board is damaged, or you don’t even have a board to surf on and have to rent one anyway. Okay. It doesn’t happen that often.

Based on our research, there are plenty of surfers who traveled with their boards and never experienced any issues. This may also be dependent on what your board is made of. I once had an epoxy board that was simply indestructible and most likely terrible for the environment. Some boards are more delicate. Which brings us to…

🧳 How do I pack this thing?
Volumes have been written about how to pack your board for its flying adventure. I have flown across the Atlantic with both guitars and surfboards, and nothing gives you more peace of mind than a super sturdy bag or case.

And these board bags can get really expensive. Like, surfboard-price expensive in the $300–$600 range. The big plus is the extra space for wetsuits, extra fins, and overflow soft luggage items.

The airlines require that the fins are removed before checking in your bag. Then it’s the issue of wrapping your surfboard into a cocoon to prevent any damage. Inflatable pool noodles are very popular for protecting the rails, as well as foam pipe insulation. Bubble wrap at will: the nose and tail, the top and bottom, and finally encase your board in extra clothes.

🤔 Or you could…
Flying with a surfboard or renting a surfboard are not the only options at your disposal. You could also buy a board at your destination and either sell it after you’re done with it, leave it with a new friend (big karma points), or fly back with it. If you’re certain you will be flying back with a surfboard, plan ahead and bring your board bag with you.

Honestly, only after you’ve flown a few times with a surfboard will you know for sure what works for you. Because the cost/risk analysis will depend on every destination and airline. Our advice to beginners—treat this as your opportunity to try something new. No need to check in your Wavestorm. We know you wouldn’t.

^{SURF STORY OF THE WEEK}

🤩 Hydrofoilers have all the fun

Not fair. Why do hydrofoilers get to have all the fun?

A hydrofoil surfer in Hawai’i, Eric Sterman, had one of those moments that is equal parts “this is why I surf” and “I’m never going in the ocean again.”

He was filming himself riding when a massive whale suddenly breached right next to him—close enough that you can hear the sheer disbelief in his voice as he yells, “Are you kidding me?” The whale slaps its tail, sending a huge splash through the water, and then just… disappears back into the ocean like nothing happened.

😬 This happens every day…not
What’s wild is that Eric said seeing whales out there isn’t unusual for him. It’s actually pretty common. What’s not common is catching something like this on camera, especially in choppy conditions where visibility is limited and you’re mostly just trying to stay upright and not eat it.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t that fun. Just a reminder that these animals are enormous and mostly invisible until they’re suddenly not. Whale tail slaps are thought to be used for communication or to stun prey.

Dealer’s choice in this scenario. But the video is positively insane.

^{SURF PIC OF THE WEEK}

👈 Just go left at Mavericks

Pic of the week by Fred Pompermayer

We were today years old when we learned that you can go left at Mavericks thanks to a pic of Will Skudin—a pro surfer from Long Beach, New York—captured by Fred Pompermayer.

It seems that every surfer on earth wants to surf Pipeline, but still, there are very few shouting from the rooftops that they want to surf Mavericks in Northern California.

If you’re into learning more about Mavericks, may we recommend a story featuring yours truly and Gerard Butler.

👉 Read “I loved how you almost died at Mavericks”

^{ALL THINGS SURF DIRECTORY}

🏠 Need room to surf?

Your room to surf in Mexico

All Things Surf Directory is growing—we just added the surf-side lodging listings!

We got upcoming surf retreats and events, recommended surf businesses and community listings. Browsing is free, posting is free.

We’re aiming to make it the number one destination for all things surf. You know, aiming low. 😜

👉 Check out the directory

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Cyclone in Aus. Hawaii goes high school. Maverick’s Zoe. More Waco. Surfing in Gaza.

🌊 Cyclone swell incoming for Australia
Tropical Cyclone Vaianu is sending a long, clean, multi-day swell to Australia’s east coast, with waves building from fun to seriously pumping.

🏄‍♀️ Hawaii makes surfing a high school sport
Hawaiʻi has officially launched its first statewide high school surfing championship, bringing the sport into the formal school system at scale.

🌊 19-year-old charging Maverick’s the right way
Zoe Chait is rising through the big wave ranks with a grounded, earn-your-place approach that’s getting serious respect on the North Coast.

🏠 Wave pool living is now a thing
Waco Surf is building a $1.6M surf community around artificial waves, pushing surfing further into the “live here, not visit” territory.

💔 Surfing in Gaza is barely surviving
War has devastated Gaza’s surf community, leaving only a handful of surfers and boards while some still risk everything to get in the water. The Intertia has a big feature on it.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^HOUSEKEEPING

🏄‍♀️ Ads or stickers? No need to decide now. Just meet Olo.

There are no ads in The Wipeout Weekly. No subscriptions either. Publishing a listing on the All Things Surf Directory is also free.

That’s why we wax lyrical about Da Merch. But you know… whenever you’re ready. And then, use a promo code for 20% off: SURFGOOD

For now, meet our mascot—Olo the Rooster 🐓

Olo—confidence incarnate.
Not your average Hawaiian rooster.
Claims he rode Pipeline once—no photos.
Says he taught Duke the headstand trick.
Doesn’t wear a leash, but a total stickler for lineup rules.

👉 Click here. Be our hero

^{SURF POEM OF THE WEEK}

🌊 The perfect wave 🔜 the watery grave (figuratively, we hope)

This is a fun wee poem by Shel Silverstein—who, it turns out, was evidently obsessed with riding the perfect wave.

It goes like this:

Dave McGunn was a surfin’ bum, half–crazed by the blazin’ sun.
From Waikiki to the Bering Sea, he rode ’em one by one.
Now he hung offshore ’bout a mile or more, out where the dolphins played,
And his wild eyes gleamed as he schemed and dreamed
To ride the perfect wave.

👉 Keep reading—it’s worth it

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—daily surf stories and weekly* guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

👋 Happy post–April Fools! No jokes today—apart from maybe our main story, which does sound a bit like one. Then again, so does surf culture sometimes.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Surfers say the stupidest things 🤡

• Aerialist or a flying squirrel? 🐿️

• Bring a first aid kit to the break ⛑️

• Super stacked news 🗞️

• Be our hero 🦸‍♀️

^SURFODRAMA

😱 Surfers say the stupidest things 🤡

At The Wipeout Weekly, we are gluttons for stupid things surfers say.

We just want to hug these poor, misguided sea creatures and hold them in a mothering bear hug long enough for the stupidity to pass. Sometimes, we just have to hug ourselves to keep us honest.

Drama #1️⃣
Like just this week, on a social network that rhymes with “read it”—a beginner surfer complained that an instructor told them they’ll probably never see a shortboard in their life.

Suddenly, no fewer than 150 surfers had a stake in this surfodrama. The conditions must’ve been atrocious.

We had the realists (“shortboards are hard”), the optimists (“you can do anything”), and a few insufferable a-holes doing their best 1990s surf bro impression.

And finally, a small group who actually knew what they were talking about—and explained what’s really going on: you gotta put in the hours. Shortboarding is accessible to most, but not efficient or fun early on for most beginners.

Yet few recognized that the surf coach was either a total douche—or just said something careless without thinking about the impact. And even fewer advised the surfer to just get on with their surfing journey and pay no attention.

Drama #2️⃣
Then, on a social network that rhymes with “anagram”, surf influencer Jonathan Wayne Freeman got himself into trouble for rating women surfers’ bodies—specifically their buttocks—prompting:

Tick all that apply:
a) backlash over his comments
b) support for “speaking the truth”
c) outrage over skimpy clothing
d) jokes not safe to print

Once again, few stopped, narrowed their eyes, pointed their fingers and exclaimed: Rage bait! Because the line between entertainment and respect in surf culture has blurred so much—you need a magnifying glass.

Surf culture was strange to begin with, but social media took its weirdness to the next level. Dare we say it, it made it worse?

Talking about surfing online became no different than talking about politics. Everyone’s an expert—and no one’s actually in the water.

We keep discovering time and time again that surf culture has barely evolved—or perhaps even regressed.

Online, experienced surfers cannot stand kooks, middle-aged men think it’s fine to comment on women’s bodies, and some women feel empowered to tell off other women about their surf fashion—and so on.

It’s almost as if we should just go surfing instead. Whatever the conditions.

And remember: surfers say the stupidest things. 😜

^{WORD OF THE WEEEK}

🐿️ Are you an aerialist or a flying squirrel?

Ever wanted to become an aerialist? It might help to understand what it actually takes—and where it even came from.

Imagine a world where aerials didn’t exist in surfing. It wasn’t that long ago, because an aerial only came onto the scene in the 1970s and came into its own in the 1990s, when it became its own branch of surfing with aerial specialists and aerial-only competitions.

🛹 From skate parks to surf breaks
Now, how did we get here? You may remember that surfing came before skateboarding, but skateboarding airs came first—and influenced surfing airs.

An aerial (or air) happens when a surfer launches herself off the wave crest into, well, air, performs one of the board-and-body-torquing maneuvers, and lands back on the wave face. Aerials tend to be performed in waves under six feet.

Matt Warshaw, the surfing historian, considers the aerial revolution a slow one: “Surfboards couldn’t be gripped and handled in the air as easily as skateboards, and waves, unlike pools, change shape constantly. The ‘chop-hop,’ an early and rightfully maligned aerial variant, was enough to keep most progressive surfers working on deep turns and tuberides,” he said.

💫 The aerial revolution
As slow as it might’ve been, the evolution of aerial surfing was pretty colorful. Early on, the surf media called the aerialists “flying squirrels,” and some surfers didn’t consider it true surfing.

But then, in the 1980s, John Holeman from the East Coast performed a 360-degree aerial rotation, and Christian Fletcher and Matt Archbold of San Clemente, CA, started lifting four or five feet above the crest—and everyone lost their shit about aerials.

The air vocabulary also grew, and we were rewarded with “mute air,” “indy air,” “slob air,” “madonna,” and “stalefish”—it’s all to do with hand placement on the board, you see. Then, Kelly Slater made aerials mainstream, and strapped tow-in pushed the evolution and air height even further.

🚀 How to launch one yourself
What does it take to perform an air? I am definitely not speaking from experience, but it starts with wave selection. Look for a medium-sized, powerful wave with a strong lip to launch off. Then, you need to build speed by pumping. Stay in the pocket or curl of the wave!

As you approach the lip, perform a shallow bottom turn to maintain speed and angle your board to project upward—not straight up. Finally, coil your body like a spring before hitting the lip, then extend your legs and lift your arms to launch off the wave. A slight push with your front foot at the lip can help launch the board.

Once you get great at it, you can head to the Stab High competition sponsored by Monster Energy (you’ve just missed it—it was last week in Sydney).

Alas, Red Bull Airborne hasn’t taken place for a few years now. Shame, because I heard it gives you wiiiiings.

^{SURF SKILLS}

⛑️ Bring a first aid kit to the break

Surfing ain’t easy. Ever. It’s hard when you start. It’s hard when you progress. It’s hard when you’re good. And it gets harder as time passes by. You’re either on the bus or you’re off the bus, but we are leaving!

The last thing we want to hear is that we should bring a first aid kit when we’re going out. Because surfing is supposed to be a delightful pastime—not some dangerous endeavor that leaves you scarred for life.

But recently—more often than ever—we’re hearing about surfers becoming lifeguards themselves, rescuing swimmers caught in rip currents or fellow surfers stuck on rocks.

We don’t assume everyone is trained to perform open ocean rescue, but we want you to be prepared if your surf buddy gets into trouble.

🦸‍♀️ No lifeguard around
Here’s what to do when your buddy gets smacked by a board in the surf and there’s no one else to help:

• Ask them if they’re okay, if they can paddle, where it hurts

• Help them out of the water

• Check for bleeding, disorientation, or any signs of head or spinal injury

• If it’s minor, make sure they rest, hydrate, and monitor for signs of shock (paleness, dizziness, shallow breathing)

• Rinse the injury with fresh water

• If it’s bleeding heavily, apply pressure with a towel or shirt

• If it looks serious, don’t move them—get help

You might’ve heard about BWRAG, the Big Wave Risk Assessment Group, and the courses they offer in ocean safety. They’re available to surfers at any level and teach lifesaving skills that apply to waves of all sizes—from 2-foot rollers to Mavericks monsters.

It’s not a cheap affair—$500+ for a two-day course (we don’t think lunch is even included)—but we hear it’s absolutely worth it.

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Girls win big. Kelly’s new pool. New book on surfing in Florida.

🌊 Surf tour returns with Moore, Gilmore, Medina back
The 2026 WSL Championship Tour kicks off with the return of Carissa Moore, Stephanie Gilmore, and Gabriel Medina, mixing veteran power with a new generation across 12 global stops.

🇬🇧 Alys Barton becomes first uk surfer to qualify for challenger series
Alys Barton makes history as the first UK surfer to qualify for the Challenger Series, highlighting both progress and the financial realities of competing globally.

🚗 Lexus adds Caroline Marks to its surf ambassador roster
Lexus signs Olympic gold medalist Caroline Marks as it deepens its investment in pro surfing and athlete-driven brand partnerships.

🌊 Kelly Slater’s 2,000-foot wave pool is coming to Texas
A massive surf park in Austin will feature a ~2,000-foot wave basin, luxury amenities, and big name investors, blending surfing with real estate and lifestyle development.

📚 Cocoa Beach writer spotlights Florida surf culture in new book
A new book explores the history and impact of Florida’s Space Coast surf scene, showing how it shaped East Coast surfing beyond the usual hotspots.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^HOUSEKEEPING

🏄‍♀️ Keep us ad-free. Get yourself something cool, cute—or both 😏

We don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are no ads in The Wipeout Weekly. No subscriptions either. And no promos in the Girls Who Can’t Surf Good group.

But just like Jamie Lee Curtis said in Trading Places: “Taxis cost money, food costs money, and rent costs money.”

Running this also costs money.

If you’d like to support The Wipeout Weekly, we’ve got our own range of Da Merch. Every purchase goes directly toward keeping this newsletter and site going.

Plus our merch stuff is really fun. We won’t embarrass you!

And since everyone likes a promo code, here’s one for 20% off: SURFGOOD

👉 Click here, be a hero

^{ALL THINGS THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY}

_{The Wipeout Weekly—our home and digital magazine.
The Wee Surf Shoppe—explore useful, cute, and sometimes simply outrageous surf “stuffs”.
The Wipeout Weekly podcast—daily surf stories and weekly* guests.
All Things Surf Directory—surf retreats, learn to surf, classifieds, surf-side lodging, you name it.
Girls Who Can’t Surf Good—an 86k-member-strong private group on Facebook.}
Feedback—we do want to hear from you! Whatever is on your mind, drop us a line.

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊