{"id":6106,"date":"2022-06-25T08:10:29","date_gmt":"2022-06-25T08:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kisurfschool.com\/the-unwritten-rules-of-surfing-advanced-level-part-4\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T13:11:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T13:11:36","slug":"the-unwritten-rules-of-surfing-advanced-level-part-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kisurfschool.com\/en\/the-unwritten-rules-of-surfing-advanced-level-part-4\/","title":{"rendered":"The unwritten rules of surfing, advanced level : Part 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

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False rules<\/h2>\n
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The article on the Surfsession website<\/a>– entitled “Have you ever knowingly taxed someone’s wave?” – and especially the comments left by its readers, reveal some of these false rules. In billiards, this would characterize the behavior of a bad player, justifying his cheating by evoking spurious exceptions. Here are a few examples that speak for themselves: <\/div>\n
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– I <\/span>tax because the wave is too beautiful:<\/h3>\n
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“To be honest, yes… I sometimes “twister” when a wave is really too good and go for it! Then, on the other hand, I always apologize, and the “I didn’t see you” technique goes down well. But don’t overdo it. And needless to say, I’m not proud of it. Mea Culpa to the victims of my ardor and selfishness”.<\/div>\n
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– I <\/span>tax my buddies because I risk fewer reprisals than with a stranger:<\/h3>\n
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“the case where you can rob a guy: … the case where you’re with your buddies and you have nothing to fear from them”.<\/div>\n
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Other rules that some people invent spontaneously:<\/div>\n
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– There <\/span>are too many people in the water, I don’t respect any rules anymore<\/h3>\n
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Logically, it should be the other way around: impeccable behavior and respect for the rules will always result in better surfing conditions. We didn’t invent these codes of conduct for two people, but to manage the world! <\/div>\n
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However, when a spot is overcrowded and chaos already reigns with four surfers starting on the same wave, leading by example can prove ambitious if no one respects the slightest rule. The limit of a surfer’s irresponsible behavior is reached when he or she hurts someone. <\/div>\n
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Sometimes, there are so many people in the water that the act of surfing becomes almost impossible. At that point, the rules are no longer applicable, and behavior is a matter of survival. <\/div>\n
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– I <\/span>‘m local, I always have priority<\/h3>\n
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In an area like Hossegor, where the number of surfing inhabitants is very high, this rule is going to be difficult to apply. Nine times out of ten, the hot local is going to assert his right as a local to another local, whom he certainly doesn’t know, but who is no less local than himself. As a result, if he’s really stupid, he’ll make a fool of himself by trying to find out whether the person he’s talking to lives 2 km or 5 km from the spot, or even worse, 30 km away, in the next village! <\/div>\n
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In fact, it’s a universal rule that the most virulent surfers are generally not locals, but rather individuals from diverse backgrounds who have settled on the coast many years ago, in search of an identity that they embody in the figure of the localist surfer (the micro-geolocalized equivalent of the nationalist).<\/div>\n
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Any stranger is a stranger they can tax. It’s best not to be too impressed by the local on the sand, who may be just as foreign as you are. After just a few weeks in a country, a surfing tourist may start to have pretensions of being the master of the spot. It’s happened before! <\/div>\n
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