🏄‍♀️ Equal dibs in surfing: are we dreaming? 🤔

👋 Happy (OMG, it’s already) September! If you’re partaking in the SurfAid Make A Wave challenge, you’ve only got 26 days to go!

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Equal dibs in surfing? 😘

• Taghazout is hard to pronounce 🌊

• Rocker matters 🤘

• A girl board that changed surfing 👧

• Good time to be a great white shark 🦈

• Malibu ain’t worth it 🏄🏻‍♀️

^SURFODRAMA

 😱 Equal dibs in surfing: are we dreaming? 🤔

It’s not the most common phrase to hear in the surf lingo, but we all instinctively know what it means.

It’s the idea that everyone in the lineup—regardless of experience, gender, age, or what board you ride—has an equal right to catch waves, following the surf etiquette rules.

Sure. Makes sense. But then you hear: “Equal dibs? Where do you surf, a wave pool in Texas?!”

Apparently, this equal dibs—give a wave, get a wave—concept is not as popular as we thought. For two reasons. You either don’t give equal dibs or you’re not taking equal dibs. It’s a tough topic to cover without sounding preachy, so please bear with me. 😊

Emoji key:
🫶 = give dibs
🐍 = take dibs

🫶 You don’t get to own the spot
You went out, found a perfect spot. This is going to be an awesome sesh, you think. And suddenly, you feel like everyone’s following you wherever you paddle to. They are on top of you. But it was mine! My precious. Alas, you don’t get to own a spot in the ocean. If a lineup somehow apparates around you, the lineup rules should be followed—however upsetting this may be to you. This is literally a pep talk I wrote for myself.

🐍 Become local
This is not a secret. At most beaches, being local beats your position. Because being local means that everyone else local in the lineup is acutely aware of your surfing ability. That’s why you sometimes get to see two surfers on a single wave not trying to kill each other. If there’s a break you surf often, try to make friends. Easier said than done, I know. And keep in mind that different spots may follow different rules as far as where you should end up after paddling back into the lineup after taking a wave to wait your turn. It’s good just to sit and study for a bit.

🫶 Let them
No, it’s not about following Mel Robbins’ new mindset system. It just means: don’t be a wave hog. If you’re lucky enough to be on a longboard and catch every ripple while everyone’s struggling, let them have a couple. Be more “British-like” (queuing politely): take a wave, paddle back, scoot over, sit deep enough, and let waves go by. Your turn will come. Also, I think we can all agree that paddle boarders do not belong in the lineup. 😜

🫶 Understand the lineup dynamics
There is surf etiquette we all know: whoever is closest to the peak/breaking wave has the right of way. Not clear enough? Then—whomever is first on their feet. Someone already riding a wave? Don’t be a shoulder hopper! Someone on the wave as you’re paddling back to the lineup? Avoid at all costs.

But no one ever talks about ! Because it’s no longer about the rules at most surf spots—it’s all about manners. There’s an argument floating around that expert surfers’ instincts supersede good manners because they can tell if a lesser surfer will make a wave. Hey, look at all these kooks just sitting there, not catching waves. Let me paddle back to the peak. Better take a wave and not waste it than remain polite. Which is why the next piece of advice is crucial:

🐍 Assert, assert, assert
Competent surfer, but you don’t look it? Maybe sporting a foamie at a beach you’re visiting? Or perhaps you’re a slightly older surfer lady like Layne Beachley (Aussie surfing legend) in crowded Noosa? Assert your level of experience. Catch waves, take up space, demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that you belong in that lineup. Someone drops in on you—on purpose—more than once? Holler.

🐍 Kill them with kindness
There comes a time for every beginner to get into the lineup and stay there. It can be a gut-wrenching experience, because you may never feel like you’re fully ready, doubting yourself—and surfers can spot the weak. We found this quote and found it very apt:

“Once I started trying to paddle battle people, fight them when they tried to backpaddle me, calling what waves I was going on (“going left”), making my takeoffs consistently, smiling and being respectful (“your turn, you going?”), paying note if any locals that are getting dibs so I don’t take their wave, complimenting the guys’ rides, “hey that was a sick wave you just got”, charging the biggest set waves and not bitching out—when I started doing these things, I started getting actually respected in the lineup vs. walked all over.”

🫶🐍 Try colder water
If everything fails and you can’t catch a break—or you just don't want to give one—try colder, less busy climates.

^{SURF SPOT SPOTLIGHT}

How do you pronounce Taghazout, again?

You know when you see a name of a place so many times, but you have no idea how to pronounce it. So yeah, this week’s surf spot spotlight is on Taghazout. Or "Tarazoot" according to the Wall Street Journal. Or "ta-gha-ZOOT" according to everyone else.

Taghazout means "In the face of the wind" and it’s North Africa’s laid-back surf village turned global beginner hotspot. They all start as these laid-back fishing villages, don't they?

Taghazout is a great mix of beginner-friendly waves and Moroccan culture. Think: slow rights, goats on cliffs, and surf guides who call you “my friend”, like non stop. It’s a rite of passage for Euro winter escapees, digital nomads, and foamie fanatics alike.

🌊 Waves
Taghazout Bay (just south of Anchor Point) has mellow beach breaks like Panoramas and Crocodiles—perfect for newbies. Plenty of whitewater and small green waves, especially at high tide. You’ll find your feet here before heading to more iconic spots like Hash Point or Devil’s Rock.

🚰 Water quality
Mostly clean, but can get murky after storms or near river mouths. It’s the Atlantic—so a bit chilly in winter, but refreshing year-round.

👙 Wardrobe
3/2mm full suit from November to April, shorty or even bikini/boardies in summer. Water temps range from 17°C (63°F) in winter to 21°C (70°F) in late summer.

☀️ Best time to surf
October to March is prime time—smaller, clean swell for beginners and less crowd than Euro summer. December–February sees bigger swells but still manageable for newbies at protected spots.

⚠️ Hazards
Rocky bottoms at some breaks (e.g. Hash Point), urchins near reefy spots, and the occasional rogue donkey. Most beaches are beginner-friendly, but always ask your local surf guide where to paddle out.

🏄🏻‍♀️ Surfboard rental
Everywhere. Taghazout is packed with surf camps and rental shops. Foamies, soft-tops, longboards, shortboards—it’s a Moroccan surf buffet.

🍉 What else to do in Taghazout
Lounge in a rooftop café with mint tea and a view, wander the beach at sunset, take a yoga class, or head to Paradise Valley for a freshwater swim in a desert oasis. Don’t skip the couscous or the grilled sardines.

🧳 Solo traveling: Very doable. Taghazout is welcoming, with tons of surf camps, co-living hostels, and group dinners that make it easy to meet fellow travelers. Just remember, this is still a traditional Muslim town—dress respectfully off the beach, and ask before snapping pics of locals.

^{WORD OF THE WEEK}

🤘 Rocker matters. Not “rockers matter”.

It’s not you. It’s the board. Just a piece of foam, and yet every curve, every edge, and every contour affects how it rides.

There isn’t just one “most important” feature of a surfboard universally—the answer depends on your surfing level, the waves you ride, and what you want the board to do.

If you had to pick one factor that influences nearly everything about how a surfboard feels, it would be: rocker. (Not the Red Hot Chili Peppers kind. The surfboard kind.)

🤨 Why, oh why?
Because rocker dictates how easily your board catches waves, how fast it goes, and how responsive it feels. Also, it’s the first thing shapers decide on before dialing in outlines, rails, or tails.

If you look at how shapers describe “the feel” of a board, rocker comes up again and again as the foundation that everything else builds on.

❓ What exactly is rocker?
The rocker is the curve of the board from nose to tail when viewed from the side. You get a few different types of rockers:

Nose rocker: The upward curve at the front.

• More nose rocker helps prevent pearling (nosedives) on steep drops.

• Less nose rocker makes paddling easier and faster on flatter waves.

Tail rocker: The lift at the back.

• More tail rocker increases maneuverability and helps fit the board into the curve of the wave, especially in steeper sections.

• Less tail rocker improves speed down the line but makes it harder to pivot quickly.

Overall rocker: The total arc running nose to tail.

• Flat rocker = speed and glide. Great for small, mushy waves.

• Curvier rocker = control and responsiveness. Ideal for steep, hollow waves.

Most longboards and foamies have flat rocker. Most shortboards? Curved.

Think of rocker as the board’s suspension system—more curve helps you handle steep drops, while flatter rocker is like cruise control on a slow rolling wave.

Depending on where you surf, one or the other might work better for you.

And if you're getting a custom board made and your shaper doesn't ask where you surf—or explain which rocker makes sense for your local waves? 🚩 Red flag.

^{SURFING THRU HISTORY}

🏄🏻‍♀️ How a girl board changed surfing forever

This is a story we heard from Matt Warshaw, author of The History of Surfing and the Encyclopedia of Surfing, when he was on our pod—propped up with some additional research.

It’s the story of 16-year-old Vicki Flaxman, her very unique surfboard, and a group of friends from Hollywood hanging out on the beach at Malibu—and how it changed the way we ride waves, forever.

👉 Read the full story

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ It’s good time to be an Aussie. Or a great white shark.

🇦🇺 Molly Picklum is world champ
22-year-old Aussie Molly Picklum sealed her first world title with a comeback win over Caroline Marks (USA) at the WSL Finals at Cloudbreak, Fiji.

🦈 Fake Jaws on screen, real Jaws in Malibu
“Jaws” turns 50, and just as Spielberg’s shark returns to theaters in 4K, a real great white was spotted near Malibu Pier.

⛷️ Skiers want surfing? Cue the turf war
U.S. Ski & Snowboard wants to run Olympic surfing at LA28. USA Surfing, the grassroots crew that helped get surfing into the Games, is fighting back.

🎧 Forecasting surf with…sound waves?
UC Santa Barbara researchers are using infrasound to study surf. Turns out, breaking waves whisper seismic secrets below human hearing.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY PODCAST}

🏄🏻‍♀️ Malibu ain’t worth it with Laura Day of The Surf Société

The original title of this episode was “Ain’t no dick that good—cross-stepping into surf sisterhood.” But unless you know the TV reference, you might just think we’re rude. 😇

We talked to Laura Day—San Diego-based noserider and founder of The Surf Société—about learning to nose ride, building a women’s surf community and podcast, and why she’d rather skip the Malibu bro scene altogether. Plus, we commiserate over our mutual frustration with GoPro.

🎧 Listen to The Wipeout Weekly on your fav pod platform or right here.

⬆️ 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! 🌊

^HOUSEKEEPING

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