🏄‍♀️ Sun protection in the surf is no joke 🤡

👋 Happy Thursday & Friday! Busy, busy, busy edition this week. But the most important story is about smearing sunscreen all over so we all collectively look like Pennywise from It.

You’re probably thinking: I already know everything there is to know about sun protection.

That’s what we thought too. 😜

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Sun protection is no joke 🤡

• The pig that made Malibu famous 🐷

• I came back to surfing, it saved my life 🏄🏻‍♀️

• A wee bit of ugly surfing 🙈

• Inspirational surf news roundup 🗞️

• The Wipeout Weekly FOMO 👀

^SURFODRAMA

😱 Sun protection is no joke 🤡

Uncomfortable truth. Surfers accumulate UV like it’s a loyalty program. We romanticize sun damage in surfing. “Salted.” “Leathered.” But melanoma does not care about aesthetic. There’s no shame in looking like Pennywise, truly!

⚠️ Why smear
The big C. Skin cancer. Australia has one of the highest melanoma rates in the world. The U.S. is not exactly relaxed about it either. About 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer by age 70. sun protection in the surf is no joke. Hours in the water, reflective surfaces, peak UV exposure—we should at least be realistic about the risk.

Skin aging is not pretty either. UV breaks down collagen. Translation: wrinkles, sagging, texture changes, hyperpigmentation. “Weathered” sounds romantic until you realize it’s mostly sun damage.

This one we weren’t even aware of: immune suppression. UV exposure can dampen local skin immunity, which means your skin becomes less efficient at repairing itself. What?! This is bad.

And then there’s the reflection factor. Water reflects up to 30% of UV radiation. Sea foam? Bonus exposure. You are not just getting sun from above. You are getting it from below, sideways, and everywhere in between.

⏱️ When to smear
Even if it’s cloudy. UV penetrates clouds. Especially when it’s windy. Even if it’s “just a quick paddle.”

Sunscreen should go on 15–20 minutes before you paddle out. Most of us apply at the beach while we’re already suited up, but that may be a bit late.

Once and done? Not quite so. Reapply every time you get out and go back in. Reapply after towel-drying your face. Reapply after long sessions if you’re hanging out in the parking lot. “Waterproof” typically means up to 80 minutes under lab conditions—not three hours of duck diving, face rubbing, and salt friction.

👂 Where to smear
Everywhere. All exposed skin. It must be the only time when wearing a wetsuit, booties, gloves, and a hood is a blessing.

Face. Especially cheekbones and the bridge of your nose. They protrude and catch more sun. And under the eyes. That skin is thin and takes a real beating.

Ears. Top and back. Neck. Front and back. Hands. Backs and fingers. Hair part line. Feet if you’re barefoot between sessions. Lest we forget: under your chin. Water glare hits upward.

And if you’re lucky enough to surf the tropics in a bikini, then all over. Plus a little bit more in the spots where it may ride up and expose unprotected skin.

If it sees the sun, smear it. That means your lips too!

🧴 What to smear
This is a question on everyone's mind. The answer depends on your complexion, propensity to burn, where you surf, and what part of your body you’re trying to cover.

At minimum, use broad spectrum SPF 30, but SPF 50+ is preferred in high UV zones. Layering works too. Base sunscreen with mineral (zinc oxide) on top works wonders.

Mineral formulas tend to stay put better in the surf. Tinted zinc helps with white cast and provides additional visible light protection. Creams are better for using on your body. Sticks are useful for reapplication and face protection. Thick zinc on the nose and cheekbones when it’s nuclear out there.

From the community recommendations alone, surfers consistently lean toward zinc-heavy formulas that stay on in the water. The theme is clear: staying power matters.

But it doesn’t end there. Oh no. We all know that we should use reef-safe sunscreens, and most of those targeted at surfers already are. If reef impact matters to you, look for non-nano zinc and avoid certain chemical UV filters.

Zinc percentage also counts. Higher zinc generally equals stronger physical blocking. So does the water resistance rating.

Or whether it stains everything you own. Or if it stings your eyes. You will not know until you try it in most cases.

🛡️ There’s more than smearing to sun protection
The name of the game is cover yourself up. Choose from a selection of wide-brim surf hats. Some surfers wear trucker hats secured at the back. There’s rashies, surf tights, gloves for long sessions.

And continue to smear accordingly.

If you start late and some damage is already done, it can still be improved, but it will be costly, because it involves treatments such as IPL, Fraxel, or fractional lasers.

For now, we have a top 9 list of community-recommended sun protection products here.

^{SURFBOARD SAFARI}

🐷 The pig that made Malibu famous

The very first time I heard about “Velzy’s Pig,” I had this image of a Malibu surfer walking a little fat pig on a leash. But that was not the pig that made Malibu famous.

Because a Pig is actually just a surfboard. Okay, not just a surfboard. One of the most important longboard designs ever made. It was created by Dale Velzy in the late 1950s.

🩳 The Malibu crew
Dale Velzy was one of four surfers who built the legend of Malibu—the other three being Dewey Weber, Terry Tracy, and Miki Dora. None of them were Malibu residents, but all of them became First Point regulars.

Dale started surfing when he was ten. The Encyclopedia of Surfing describes him as “wiry and athletic, graceful at times, but more interested in pushing limits: he was likely the first surfer to hang ten, and unquestionably the first to decorate a surfboard with a pair of resined-on black lace panties.” He later became “a grinning, tattooed former Merchant Marine and part-time pool shark from Hermosa Beach who loved hot rods and horses nearly as much as he loved to ride waves.” Everyone wanted to be friends with him.

🐽 Shaping of the pig
Woodworking was Dale’s family tradition, and by the time he was 22 he owned surfing’s first licensed boardmaking shop, producing as many as ten boards a week and selling them for $55 each. In 1954, Dale closed his Malibu shop and opened one in Venice. Tired of shaping Quigg-style boards—a sleeker type of longboard—he shaped something different. He shaped a Pig.

It was a longboard with a narrow nose, a continuous rail curve, the wide point shifted back toward the tail, and a round tail. The Pig was described as “funny looking, kinda homely with a bulbous rear end.” A real pig. It was usually 9’6”–10’+ and could weigh just over 20 pounds in its lighter versions.

🐖 The Pig changed surfing
Because of its reduced nose area, it cut through the water with fewer catches and turned faster than earlier longboards. The Pig had a wide tail, so to keep it stable on the wave face it used a large, raked fin—big and powerful, sometimes extending slightly past the tail. This setup helped the board hold steady in the pocket, the steep, powerful part of the wave just beneath the curl.

Before the Pig, speed was mostly understood as a matter of planing across the surface. The Pig showed that speed also came from control—how well a board could maneuver high in the pocket, where the wave is steep and constantly changing. Ride up there, angle back down, shift forward—and it felt like being launched.

Basically, the Pig changed how surfers moved on longboards. Instead of just trimming straight down the line, you could step back, sink the tail, and pivot hard. As cumbersome as the Pig may sound, it proved that board design can radically influence style.

^{GIRL WHO GOT SAVED BY SURFING}

🏄🏻‍♀️ I came back to surfing at 47—and it saved my life

If I had a penny for every time someone says, “surfing changed my life,” I’d have many pennies. But how often do you hear someone say, “surfing saved me”?

That’s what happened in Corina’s case. Surfing really did save her life when she returned to it at 47.

Depression, osteoarthritis, the Bay Area commute to the surf—and yet she persevered. 🥰

👉 Read the full story

^{SURFING THRU HISTORY}

🙈 A wee bit of ugly surfing

The actual headline for this story is: Nazis, I hate these guys. You know, from Indiana Jones.

But I didn’t want to scare you off. It’s a surprisingly complicated topic to write (and learn) about—Nazi symbolism in surfing. You’re never quite sure how to strike the balance between something that’s objectively awful and the occasional stupidity of surfing youth.

I’m glad I tried though. This is a story for those who appreciate the range in our stories. 😜

👉 Read the full story. Thankfully, it’s pretty short.

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Surf redemption, recovery, and 3,500-year-old wave tradition

🏄‍♂️ Hawaiʻi man tackles gambling addiction by offering free surf lessons
After losing nearly everything to sports gambling, a Honolulu man now offers free surf lessons to strangers at Waikīkī through his First Wave Project.

🩺 Paralyzed surfer now walking five months after Oceanside accident
Orange County surfer Scott Muir is walking and driving again just five months after a devastating surfing accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down.

🛶 Can surf tourism help save Peru’s 3,500-year-old reed boat tradition?
In Huanchaco, Peru, surfers and tourism may help sustain the ancient caballitos de totora reed boats as local fishers struggle with declining catches and environmental pressures.

👉 Read the full news roundup

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY FOMO}

👀 A few things you might’ve missed…

All the top, community-recommended sunscreens can be found in The Wee Surf Shoppe.

All Things Surf Directory launched last week. It now features more than 20 upcoming surf retreats and local meetups.

The latest Hey Zuz, I’m Confused tackles surf-related rashes.

You will find over 45 surf spots in our Surf Spot Spotlight.

^{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!
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