🏄‍♀️ Must we partake in surf culture if culture sucks 🤯

👋 Happy National Donut Day! Did you know that there’s a surf break called Donuts in Southern California? I cannot work out whether it doesn’t appear on Surfline because it’s a secret or because it’s a shitty break, though.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Must we partake in surf culture if culture sucks 🤯

• Paving the way to Pavones 🌊

• Them hordes will be surfing 🏄

• From Panama to surfing when money's no object 🤑

• Pretty normal surf news roundup 🗞️

^SURFODRAMA

 😱 Must we partake in surf culture if culture sucks 🤯

I have a very romantic notion of surfing and surf culture for about 295 days a year. The remainder, I cannot stand it, and I want no part in it. The math may not be mathing, but you get my drift.

So, I'm going to keep this as short as I possibly can.

Last week, The Athletic published a disturbing investigation into sexism and sexual misconduct in professional surfing, prompted by allegations of sexual assault and rape involving a minor following the Tahiti Pro. A criminal investigation is ongoing.

But the article wasn't just about those allegations. Women described decades of harassment, sexualization, intimidation, and pressure to keep quiet. Some were teenagers when it happened.

Meanwhile, in The Guardian, professional surfer Lucy Small examined the industry's culture of silence, including the lack of safeguarding for young athletes and the difficulty of holding powerful people accountable.

And then there's the WSL, whose rules allow athletes to be penalized for damaging the image of surfing. The league says those rules aren't intended to stop people speaking up about serious issues.

I have questions, but these can wait.

Because here's something else that's been bothering me, and the news just brought my already tense feelings about surf culture to a boil.

A few weeks ago, I came across a Reddit thread titled Toxic Women in Surf.

A woman had joined a women's surf club hoping to find friendship, encouragement, and the much-advertised sisterhood. Instead, she described encountering a bullying, condescending leader and other members who apparently looked the other way.

Other women chimed in with their own experiences of cliques, exclusion, and downright unpleasant behaviour in women's surf groups.

And then someone suggested she might be talking about Girls Who Can't Surf Good, the community I've been running for nine years.

Oh, FFS.

Thankfully, the original poster quickly clarified that she wasn't. In fact, she'd made some of her best surfing friends through our group.

But by then, my mood was well and truly ruined.

Throw in a little more news about localism here, an update on the story about a woman who says a paddleboarder held her head underwater during a confrontation there, and I was done.

Surf culture sucks, therefore surfing sucks, I thought. Argh.

I just wanted to go back to when I saw Riding Giants for the very first time, when I was young and surf-culture-naive, and I had no clue. Happy times.

Easier said than done. So, must we partake in surf culture if culture sucks?

The answer is no, but it's not that straightforward.

Because there's a difference between rejecting the parts of surf culture we dislike and giving up on the whole thing.

First, and this is an easy one, we don't have to embrace the industry, worship professional surfers, join clubs, or participate in any of the rituals that supposedly make us real surfers.

Second, and this one is much harder, we can strive to build a small slice of surf heaven for ourselves.

Find breaks where no one screams at us for making the smallest mistake, join fellow surfers who feel the way we do about surfing, or simply go out alone and take the ocean in.

We can just surf.

And remember that the surfers out there challenging misconduct, organizing paddle-outs, welcoming beginners, teaching surfing to veterans and city kids, and creating genuinely supportive communities are part of surf culture, too.

Perhaps that's the culture worth participating in.

The rest can eff off.

^{SURF SPOT SPOTLIGHT}

🌊 Paving the way to Pavones

Ask a group of surfers which wave they’d marry, and Pavones comes up more than any other. It topped our dream honeymoon list. When it’s on, you can ride one left for more than half a mile, until your legs give out before the wave does.

But the road there is getting paved, a dock is going in up the beach, and the town around the wave is changing fast. Here’s what you need to know before you make the trip.

📍 Where it is
At the very bottom of Costa Rica, on the Golfo Dulce near the Panama border. It’s the end of the road in every sense, so bring cash, patience and a car that can handle the last stretch.

🏄‍♀️ The wave
It’s often ranked the second-longest left in the world, after Chicama. But it’s fickle. It needs a long-period south swell to wake up, and you can sit through weeks of the April to October season without a head-high wave.

🙋‍♀️ Is it for us?
Not when it’s pumping. The top of the point gets crowded and competitive. On smaller days, though, the long inside and a longboard go a long way. Even Matt Warshaw, former pro surfer and author of the Encyclopedia of Surfing, told me he was a bit nervous about Pavones!

🐊 The wildlife
On September 13, a 6-foot crocodile was filmed cruising an empty lineup. And earlier this year, a needlefish pierced a surfer’s heart. Both are extremely rare, but worth knowing before you sit on the inside at the rivermouth.

🚧 What’s happening now
A drug smuggler developer, squatter wars, a tuna farm fight, bulldozers and now a dock going in up the beach, with a court challenge still pending. The wave is public by law. The bigger question is what happens to the town around it.

^{PIC OF THE WEEK}

🏄 Them hordes will be surfing

This fabulous photograph, titled La Horde, was taken by Brigitte Bourger near Paea, Tahiti, where the waves are short but wide enough for several surfers to ride together.

And I have to say, it gives me hope. That even a really good wave can be a party wave. That sharing a wave can actually be part of the fun, rather than grounds for a full-blown territorial dispute. Let’s just call it what it is: I’m high on hopium.

Perhaps there's hope for surf culture after all.

If you want to read about Teahupo’o proper, the waves that shouldn’t be surfed, we got you.

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

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🌊 How do I ease back into surfing at 40 without a hardcore surf camp Community top picks: Morocco won. Swell House in Tamraght is relaxed and booze-free, and you only join the group classes on the days you feel like it. Travel Surf Morocco in Imsouane has a 30-plus crowd and gentle waves that are good for getting back into it. Surf With Amigas has video coaching, guests from 24 to 72 and “not a big party time,” though it’s a bit pricey. Members also recommended Surf Sistas in Portugal, Single Fin Travel in northern Spain and Riptide Surfhouse in Sri Lanka, where a 50-year-old member says she always feels well looked after. If you’re looking at the Canaries, one member says they’re mostly reef breaks, but Fuerteventura has some mellow spots.

🇵🇦 Is Santa Catalina in Panama good for an advanced beginner in December? Community top picks: Opinions were mixed. The famous point isn’t really for advanced beginners, so most people head to the beach breaks nearby, and staying near the El Estero beach area helps if you don’t have a car. Santa Catalina is about 5.5 hours from Panama City, or you can take a shuttle. Two members recommended the coaching at Waluaa, and one called Hotel Santa Catalina’s owners wonderful. December is peak season.

🏆 Where would you go for a surf retreat if money were no object Community top picks: Nicaragua won the vote, with shout-outs for Chica Brava and Sardina Surf Camp in Popoyo. A local hotel owner’s timing tip: go to Nicaragua in November and December, and El Salvador from January to April. Not everyone stuck to the poll. One member would pick the Mentawais “if skill also wasn’t a barrier,” and another said to skip all of them and go to Indonesia.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ River waves, a court ruling that stings and a midnight surf in Scotland

🏜️ Surfing the Virgin River
After a storm in southern Utah, three friends tied a rope to a tree and surfed the Virgin River for hours.

⚖️ Morro Bay paddleboarder may avoid trial
The man accused of holding a surfer underwater has been approved for two years of mental health diversion instead. The DA called his treatment plan “inadequate.”

📣 Holly Beck speaks out
The former pro shared her experiences of sexual harassment and abuse in the surf industry, starting when she was 17.

🏡 Wave pools are the new golf course
Developers in Texas, Utah and Arizona are selling homes with surf lagoons, and steep monthly fees to match.

🌊 Bay Area on high-surf alert
Sneaker waves, rip currents and waves of 13 to 17 feet are forecast from Thursday through Sunday.

🎆 A midnight surf for Hogmanay
Lost Shore in Edinburgh will send a small group of (sober) surfers out to ride the first waves of 2027.

👉 Read the full news roundup

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⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
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With stoke,

Zuz & The Wipeout Weekly