Crowds.

[steve shearer]

Just read a whole lot of seppo hand wringing on crowds on Surfer Mag online.

And it got me thinking.

Yesterday I went on a little surf mission with my daughter. Wind was SE and I would have been happy to surf onshore bitz and pieces at the Point, which is probably my main bread and butter go-out during summer. Looks junk, surfs fun.

Anyhow, I was on the hunt for clean babyfood for her so reluctantly headed into peak Holiday crowd at Byron bay. Maybe running a tight line off the shoulder of a hard charging surf school, using them as a blocking mechanism or something like that.

I've been scoping a series of triangle V banks running down from the Wreck but figured they would be zooed out with favourable wind, tide and a swell rise on the books. From the carpark it was a sea of heads. But bizarrely, not fifty yards past the crew the next V bank was peeling off machine like lefts and rights with only a lone flailing backpacker on a soft board out.
We surfed perfect peelers for a half hour before some butch lesbians from Germany paddled over. They were harmless and didn't even paddle for a wave. Not fifty yards away was a frothing sea of Hypto Krytpos and DHD's etc etc. wtf?

This morning I surfed cross/on Point surf with a half dozen blokes. Nothing that would make a surf mag but overhead, punchy, warm blue water etc etc. Took me less than a half hour heat to catch a half dozen.

It seems pretty easy from this vantage to dodge crowds. Do crowds affect you? Whats the deal?

[Natho]

Yeh Steve crowds are often a bit of an issue. Not so much from the point of view of catching waves though. Most times at least at my local a knowledge of knowing where to sit takes care of that while the crowd just follows itself. There are also often fun waves just out of the main crowd anyway.

The issue is when you do get a wave the number of goons completely in the way of your line who do nothing to get out of the way, or worse they throw their boards. The other thing that seems to be on the rise is people sticking the nose of their board into the wave down the line, totally ruining the exact part of the wave you want to hit.
The other thing in small surf is idiots on mals who can't surf insisting on paddling out with no leggie only to let their board go and clean up half the lineup.
Crowds though are here to stay and will only get worse. We just have to learn to deal with it.

[Lucky Al]

crowds don't bother me now that i only surf two weeks of the year in shitty vietnamese beachbreaks. in fact i love surfing more than ever now that i hardly ever do it. i don't care how many people do it, the more the better i say!

[daryl]

Can't, must be agrophobic.

[crabmeat thompson]

I've been telling you forever SS ... it's easy to find a bank or a little honey pot in among a summer crowd.

I surfed a pretty packed out beachie with Japs, longboarders and frothing groms. They all sat deep off the back hightide bank and waited for the sets which were straighthanders.

I sat in a fair bit and got lefts and rights and came in bloated on the stoke. Every time I paddled back out there was another wave for me. Never sat on my board once. 45 minutes of solid surfing.

Meanwhile, everyone else was sitting there shivering, not moving, 3-ppl at once paddling for a closeout.

I find the older I get, the better I can read the beach and score in what looks really crowded waves.

In saying that, I won't paddle out at any of the points unless it's dark. Any muppet can score waves out there, there's no science in it. And I find I hardly surf over 4-foot around here b'cos the beachies are shutting down, and the points aren't worth it.

I'll take a long drive at that point, or if I can't I won't surf.

[Yuke Hunt]

But bizarrely, not fifty yards past the crew the next V bank was peeling off machine like lefts and rights with only a lone flailing backpacker on a soft board out.
We surfed perfect peelers for a half hour before some butch lesbians from Germany paddled over. They were harmless and didn't even paddle for a wave. Not fifty yards away was a frothing sea of Hypto Krytpos and DHD's etc etc.

It seems pretty easy from this vantage to dodge crowds. Do crowds affect you? Whats the deal?

I've experienced this phenomenon on a regular basis over many many years.

I often score solo or semi-solo go outs in fairly good conditions. Some really goods surf too ... either on my own or with minimum company. Time and tide play a big part in this game.

Like the young reamer ... sorry ... dreamer Braithy said ... its there for the taking.

I mean fcuk ... if you managed to achieve this feat in the land of broken dream ... its highly plausible that it can be replicated almost anywhere.

[steve shearer]

That sounds like a pretty big quality hit though Braithy: not surfing the beachies over four feet and not surfing the Points.
what do you do when the surf is pumping?



I got three set waves this day. I'm still stoked from them. They were worth a million beachbreak waves. Couldn't imagine not surfing the Point.

I deal with the crowds at the Point by riding a bigger board. Everyone is out there on there 6'2"s. I rode my 6'9" and sat twenty yards further out.

[el rancho]

I paddled into a nice walling set wave from behind the rock at snapper this morning only to have a brazilian tourist take a late drop and take me out. we tangle underwater and he pops up cheerfully and says sorry!

sorry doesn't cut it you capoeira cunt. actually that was the last I saw him so I think he drifted in.
like it was a really bad burn.

[steve shearer]

P.s note anyone in byron.....great uncrowded waves just north the wreak....get into it tomorrow

it is the wreck Fong. Right in front of more tourists that u could imagine.

So how do crowds affect you at Sunrise/Sunshine these days?

[Karlos]

Living at Manly means I generally jump in the car & drive north, & usually find somewhere reasonably empty. It amazes me as I drive along the Manly strip seeing the parking spots full. You've got transport so why would you drive TO Manly? It misses most south swell, is full of mals, SUPs, clueless backpackers, & is just a shitty place to surf whenever conditions are ordinary. And that'd be most of the time.

[Beanpole]

....um, because it picks up east and north swell and its offshore in a southerly?

Had a great surf at the Pass a couple of years ago on my fish. Really crowded, little, hassly. Paddled out thinking the worst then after a frustrating start noticed a few boogers taking off on the outside rock and pulling out before it bent around the corner into the crowd. I thought I could hook into a couple. Went out and found if I gave it a couple of planing pumps I could ride the first section then slide around the corner on the surge into the crowd.Brilliant. No one could take off inside me and the wave was always the largest which meant I was right through and halfway to Clarkes on each wave. This went on for half an hour before anyone else apart from my son sussed it out. Just a fun hassle free surf in the midst of all the madness.

Basically surfing the gold coast, byron, newcastle and sydney for most of my surfing life I'm used to crowds.

[alakaboo]

For the last 2.5 years I've surfed on the Goldy and Tweed twice a week and I've shared a beachbreak peak precisely 7 times.
5 of those were with people I arranged to surf with, 3 on weekends.

I'd rather punch myself in the balls for 2 hours than surf small Pass or Snapper.

[Beanpole]

I was in Bali a year ago and got plenty of okay waves at Serangan. Even a few small ones at Keramas. Plus some chunky ones at Hyatt Reef...probably a bit too chunky actually. Serangan the two of us had a peak to ourselves for quite a while. I'm not talking epic death pits here just fun waves that most competent surfers would have fun on. I'm sure if you are trying to claim the take off at Padang it would be a different story.

[el rancho]

For the last 2.5 years I've surfed on the Goldy and Tweed twice a week and I've shared a beachbreak peak precisely 7 times.
5 of those were with people I arranged to surf with, 3 on weekends.

I'd rather punch myself in the balls for 2 hours than surf small Pass or Snapper.

surfing crowded points is a state of mind.

[Karlos]

....um, because it picks up east and north swell and its offshore in a southerly?

Not offshore in a southerly. Protected by Fairy Bower in the corner at Manly maybe, but also often a couple of feet smaller than elsewhere anyway.

Plenty of other, less crowded options on the (less frequent) east & north swells.

But shit, you're comparing it to Bondi so relatively speaking it ain't all that bad. I'm still driving away though.

[Animal_Chin]

Braithy is onto it.

Surf the shorey.

[8]

I reckon Manly draws crowds because;
- Ample parking on the beach
- Plenty of places to grab a freakin latte before/after surf
- Consistent flow of fit young specimens in lycra along the promenade
- Gathering area under the pines and immediately adjacent to luxury SUV's for portly saturday mal riders to spend more time discussing their surf than actually surfing.......with aforementioned latte in hand of course

[Hatchnam]

Beachies - favour swell direction over wind protection. Example, at my regular- Onshore winds but east swell ??? Fk I'm out there !!

Points - don't sit the deepest but sit in where u catch the smaller double ups or ones that slip thru

Reefs - be out at first light, or find a hard to scope or access one, or one that's a little sketchy

Weather - surf when it's overhead, or ugly, or pissing rain. I have had countless great surfs in aesthetically displeasing conditions.

Crowds - if it's unavoidably crowded, then sit amongst proficient surfers, not beginners, as they mostly get in the way