🏄‍♀️ So you wanna be a local? 😏

👋 Happy Horror Movie (supposedly) Day! We’ve got a feel-good edition for you this week—even though the main topic brushes up against localism.
But if you're still craving a side of surf-adjacent horror, may we recommend The Shallows or The Surfer? Or 🦈, of course!

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• So you wanna be a local? 😏

• Otters attack! 🦦🦦🦦

• The Wedge is not for surfing 🏄🏻‍♀️

• The surfer’s good hair guide 🧑🏼‍🎤

• Lesser-than-otters surf news 🗞️

_SURFODRAMA

😱 So you wanna be a local? 😏

No one wakes up thinking, “Is today the day I become a local?” But if it’s semi-important to you, here’s how to go about it.

Most surfers agree that being a local isn’t about where you live—it’s about showing up. Consistently.

⏰ How much you need to put in

Unsurprisingly, surfing the same spot in all conditions builds a kind of familiarity with others who do the same. You see the same peeps in the parking lot or bobbing up and down in the lineup. Maybe, just maybe, you even strike up a conversation!

Being in the water day after day shows that surfing is important to you. Plus, other surfers get to know what kind of surfer you are. They feel more comfortable around you, and a certain level of trust builds over time.

How long does it take to become a local? That’s when it becomes fuzzy. Some say a year of regular surfing might do it, others suggest several years. But there’s no fixed timeline. It also depends where you surf—if it’s crowded, you’re simply less visible. And as we’ve determined, you gotta be visible to be considered a local.

And if you are not able to surf consistently, can you ever really become a local? Or perhaps, we should be asking—why does it matter?

🤝 What you get out of it

For many surfers, being considered a local is about being seen—being acknowledged as part of something. It’s nice to feel like you belong, for sure. And that’s how it works at most surf spots. You know, you can go into the lineup without having a major panic attack.

Now, if you want to dive into the social psychology of localism at more contested breaks, that's a different kettle of boiled crab. Because it becomes more about social currency and informal hierarchy.

If you have allies in the water, you can get away with more. If not, you're just another body in the lineup. If no one has your back, surfing can become harder, and a lot less pleasant.

Now, there's another school of “surf thought” that values “being born somewhere” above anything else, no matter how good or committed a surfer is.

I want to say it’s a complicated issue, but it’s not. Honestly, if you surf at surf breaks appropriate for your level and you adhere to surf etiquette, local gatekeeping is stupid.

No one owns the ocean the last time I checked. Being nostalgic for an era of surfing that no longer exists doesn’t make it right.

🤔 But is it even worth it?

You may never feel like a local, and that’s ok. There are plenty of surfers who admit they surf alone or quietly because of anxiety or because they’re introverted—even if they’ve surfed a spot for years, they don’t feel like locals because they’re not socially connected.

Also, being a local doesn’t make you a better surfer. Well, it could actually make you a better surfer, because of the consistency bit, but especially when you’re just starting out—or when life gets in the way—you don’t need that kind of pressure.

Here’s where striving to become a local wins out: Having someone in the lineup to talk to, cheer you on, share a wave, and pay attention to whether you’re drowning is very welcome. And that happens more often if you’re usually hanging out around the same people.

As for localism, there’s hope. We’re hearing stories that our hearts may grow three sizes and it’s not even Christmas. Surfers who made friends in the lineup. Surfers who got helped by the locals when they were out of their depth. Surfers who prefer to be seen as regulars rather than locals.

As Turi from Girls Who Can’t Surf Good put it:

“It is such a positive shift when we move to support and encouragement instead of gatekeeping and exclusion.”

There’s something comforting about being a familiar face. Even if no one calls you a local.

^{SURF SCIENCE (AND SKILLS)}

🦦 Otters attack! And what to do when it happens to you.

This story belongs in the surf news section, but we love otters at The Wipeout Weekly so much that we decided it deserved its own segment.

A surfer in Santa Cruz, California experienced an unusual (well, it’s actually more usual than what you’d think) encounter this week when a sea otter bit her foot and climbed onto her surfboard, holding it for nearly twenty minutes before lifeguards intervened.

The surfer, 21-year-old UC Santa Cruz student Isabella Orduna, said that she was paddling back toward shore when she felt what she described as a small nip on her foot. When she turned around, she saw a sea otter perched on her surfboard. Isabella said the otter remained on the board and would not leave, despite her attempts to scare it away.

Nearby surfers assisted in calling for help. According to an incident report, two lifeguards paddled out with a rescue board and helped bring Isabella safely to shore, where medics examined her and found no bite wounds.

The otter, meanwhile, stayed on her board for approximately twenty minutes. After a short effort to reclaim it, lifeguards were able to chase the otter off and return the surfboard undamaged. Poor otter! She just wanted to hold hands!

🦦 What to do when an otter flirts with you

In response to the otter incident, the Santa Cruz Fire Department issued a PSA on social media advising surfers on how to handle sea otter encounters:

• Get off the board if an otter jumps on it

• Or stay on the board if an otter is on the approach

• Clap hands

• Splash water toward the otter to encourage it to move away

If the otter does not retreat:

• Pull the board in by the leash

• Paddle toward shore

• Good luck!

Isabella’s encounter is very similar to a series of similar incidents in 2023 involving a sea otter known as Otter 841. That otter became widely recognized after multiple reports of her climbing onto surfboards and interacting with surfers in the same area.

Otter 841 had previously been captured and tagged by wildlife authorities but was released after being identified as healthy. She was last seen in Santa Cruz in May 2024.

At this time, it is not confirmed whether the otter involved in this week’s incident is Otter 841. The tracking device originally placed on Otter 841 is no longer active, and her current location is unknown. I guess we will never know.

Local officials and marine biologists are encouraging everyone to maintain a respectful distance. What is respectful distance again, asking for a friend? 😜

^{WAVE OF THE WEEK (SURFERS BEWARE)}

The Wedge is kinda not for surfing 🏄🏻‍♀️

Did you know that one of the most brutal waves in California was never meant to exist? And once it did, it was never meant to be surfed. And yet… here it is. The Wedge.

The Wedge, at the very end of the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, is a completely man‑made surf break. On big days, it can reach 20 or even 30 feet. It’s short, violent, and absolutely spectacular.

The Wedge was born in the 1930s among some tragic events. In 1926, a Newport teenager, and a son of George Rogers who was the president of Union Rock, tragically died in a boating accident. Following his death, his father launched a campaign to make the harbor safer. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers responded by extending the west jetty out to nearly 2,000 feet.

It made the harbor calmer, but it also turned the ocean beside it into something somewhat inexplicable.

🌪️ How the Wedge works

What happened is the long granite jetty started reflecting waves. Each time a south or southwest swell hits the rocks, the wave bounces back out to sea, where it collides with the next incoming swell. The collision doubles the height and power, sending a new, mutant peak straight toward the beach.

Add the steep, sharply sloped sand, and the backwash from the previous wave, and suddenly you have a freakish “rebound” wave—one that breaks almost on the sand, with nowhere to go but down. Literally.

Sometimes the backwash adds a third wave too. You should watch the videos to see how close to the beach the riders come off the waves. The waves can move at 30 miles an hour before exploding into the sand.

Needless to say, it’s Injury Central.

🏥 It does get bad

According to the Encyclopedia of Surfing, as of 2013, it was estimated that the Wedge had killed eight people and paralyzed another 35. One surfer described it in 1971 as "the closest thing to the great trauma of being born."

It’s not much safer on the beach. In 2024, a cameraman’s housing was knocked into his face, he passed out, and drifted toward the jetty’s rocks.

🤿 It has its own rules

Since its inception, the Wedge primarily attracted bodysurfers, bodyboarders, kneeboarders, skimboarders, and only lately stand‑up surfers.

While the city of Newport Beach never legislated against riding the Wedge, it introduced the Blackball rule: from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., May through October, hardboards are banned. Only bodyboarders and bodysurfers are allowed in the water.

Culturally, the Wedge has been a star for decades. It showed up in Bruce Brown’s The Endless Summer, and surf guitarist Dick Dale wrote a song about it for his 1963 album Checkered Flag.

^{GIRLS’ RECS}

🧑🏼‍🎤 The ultimate guide to surfer’s good hair

Surfing, ocean and sun are amazing for the soul—but this combo can be brutal on your hair.

This guide to good surfer hair is based on insights from more than 40 posts and 240 recommendation comments shared by Girls Who Can’t Surf Good crew.

We’re covering everything from pre-surf rituals to post-surf rehab, product reviews, and reef-safe recs. We also updated it with some curly hair-specific recommendations.

Plus: GWCSG20 for 20% off from Coconut Smuggler (founded by a Girl Who Can’t Surf Good)—and more recs + codes in the full guide.

👉 Check out the guide

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Hawai'i wants Olympic dough. Arizona goes full send. Save the Waves summits. Otters attack.

🌺 Hawai‘i wants Olympic dough
With the 2028 Games heading to LA, Hawaii officials want Olympic surf teams to train in the islands first. The goal? Snag some pre-Games action (and economic perks) by hosting practice camps or exhibitions.

🌊 What saving the waves looks like in 2025
At this year’s Save the Waves Summit in Santa Cruz, surf leaders from around the world met to rethink surf conservation. The big idea: protect more than just waves—think coastlines, economies, and communities.

🏜️ Arizona goes full send
Arizona’s first wave pool, Revel Surf Park, is launching a two-day surf-skate-music fest called Revel Ruckus. GA: $75. Bargain. 😜

🦦 Otter steals surfboard
In Santa Cruz, a sea otter “bit” a surfer’s foot and commandeered her board for 20 minutes before lifeguards intervened. It’s eerily reminiscent of Otter 841, the infamous surf thief of 2023. Same otter? Who knows.

👉 Read the full news roundup

⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
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^HOUSEKEEPING

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