Tofino Surf Etiquette

by Jay Bowers, Tofino

It's Saturday, the line-up is packed out and Long Beach near Tofino is reeling left handers. You jump into your suit and paddle out to the pack. You look over you shoulder and see a wave heading towards you… you start to paddle and as you paddle you look right and see the wave has jacked up and started to break. As the wave breaks, you see another surfer dropping into it (remember, you're looking right) - you can't believe it! With a hint of anger, you stop paddling and back off the wave.

What you did was the right thing. As a wave breaks, you have the peak of the wave (where the wave folds over) and next to it you have the wall of the wave that you ride. Where these two parts meet is what we call the shoulder; this is the take-off spot!! The surfer closest to the shoulder has the right of way for each wave - there are no exceptions!!

So the next time you're out for a session, push yourself closer to the peak - it's a little harder and a little heavier, but you'll find yourself getting longer faster waves, with no one yelling at you! I know each one of us surfing in the water does not want to be known as the 'guy who drops in on everyone'.

We all have to share the water around Tofino, so the safer we surf and the more we learn, the better our surfing sessions will be. Kayakers: that goes for you as well!

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Jayson Bowers is a surf instructor who runs the Pacific Surf School out of Tofino. Contact him at info@pacificsurfschool.com or visit his website at www.pacificsurfschool.cm