Do you think that prone surfers are mellowing toward SUP surfers?

[covesurfer]

Some of the citations to surf etiquette here have been pretty harsh and rigid.  I have been surfing in Hawaii since 1975, so I obviously started as a prone surfer.  Here on Oahu there are some very elite spots and you will be driven away quite quickly on an SUP or otherwise if you are not sufficiently skilled for the break.  On the other hand there are many, many spots with really good surf where beginners (including tourists) will be seen with some regularity, and yet (assuming you are not an asshole) the line-up is generally tolerant of anyone making an effort to be respectful to others.

No doubt, etiquette not only varies by surf break but also tends to get more rigid as conditions escalate.

That's the way it is on Maui as well.

[SUPcheat]

I surfed this morning at 2nd street and everyone was more than cordial. Small surf, and the wind was pretty wicked, but fun. When I got out a longboarder stopped me to look at my board and said "you were ripping it up out there." We talked a little and he told me he thought he was too old to change to SUP. I asked how old he was and he said 55. Needless to say that was a good opportunity for correction.

55?  Geez, what does that make me, the SUP Mummy, standing up surfing for the first time in the second half of 63?

[Area 10]

All of the above, less agro. SUP surfers are getting better, SUP boards are getting smaller, we're no longer new and we are not going away. One thing I do notice now, however, is based on numbers: If there are more prone boards than SUP there can be a little "feeling" of negativity. If numbers are equal at the break, everything is usually cool and everyone has fun. If there are more SUP's, well, the proners usually leave.

In my local area the surf is small and crappy. There are many breaks, and at 95% of them SUPs outnumber surfers. Quite simply, the surfers have had to get used to us. Our local surf club (established 1969) has a SUP division, and even a SUP race team. My friends and I actually feel a bit sorry for the surfers sometimes - on occasion their equipment is simply not as well suited to the conditions as ours is - and so try to be considerate, and although a few surfers are unpleasant and aggressive, and very few are actually friendly, more often it will be another SUPer who is annoying you rather than a surfer. The larger proportion of SUPers come from a windsurf rather than surf background and they are therefore less likely to be mindful of surf etiquette. Some are simply unforgivably selfish. SUPs rule around here, and there are both good and bad aspects to that.

[Bean]

Interesting point A10, it has to be easier to teach groms surf etiquette than a bunch of midlife windsurfers.

[Garmize]

I have had run ins through the years at my local break.  I am typically the only paddle surfer when I go out.  Our breaks are steep shore breaks so they are more set up for prone.  I have to say the vibe I been getting this year has been much better.  I have had life guards and many surfers this year asking me questions and cool with a SUP in the line up.  Just to be clear I always give way to anyone else that is remotely close to me, I will go to a break that is not the beast is it is crowded.  I have also got to the point where I can move around anyone when I am hooked up open a wave.  I have never hit anyone and I always work hard to get out of the surf zone when i am paddling back out.  My goal is to get the energy out and be feeling good not be more aggravated.  The coolest part of is my son has been learning to surf with me and he has developed the same type of etiquette so I am stoked about that.  He will yield to anyone close.  In a lifetime there are many good waves that will be available so why get all worked up over one or 2. 

[PonoBill]

If one of the less capable surfers drops in on me but then pulls out, when I paddle back I tell them not to. I say "I have an unfair advantage getting waves, and I'll just ride behind you or straighten out and take the foam." It surprises them, and they never do it, but it's good for vibe.

I never do that with the good surfers. They get their waves, and saying that would be insulting, like I was "letting them" have a wave.  If they drop in, they mean to. No big deal, I get a lot of waves, and I always have fun.

[Zooport]

All of the above, less agro. SUP surfers are getting better, SUP boards are getting smaller, we're no longer new and we are not going away. One thing I do notice now, however, is based on numbers: If there are more prone boards than SUP there can be a little "feeling" of negativity. If numbers are equal at the break, everything is usually cool and everyone has fun. If there are more SUP's, well, the proners usually leave.

In my local area the surf is small and crappy. There are many breaks, and at 95% of them SUPs outnumber surfers. Quite simply, the surfers have had to get used to us. Our local surf club (established 1969) has a SUP division, and even a SUP race team. My friends and I actually feel a bit sorry for the surfers sometimes - on occasion their equipment is simply not as well suited to the conditions as ours is - and so try to be considerate, and although a few surfers are unpleasant and aggressive, and very few are actually friendly, more often it will be another SUPer who is annoying you rather than a surfer. The larger proportion of SUPers come from a windsurf rather than surf background and they are therefore less likely to be mindful of surf etiquette. Some are simply unforgivably selfish. SUPs rule around here, and there are both good and bad aspects to that.

Area 10: Where are you again?

[Area 10]

Haha! South Coast of the UK.

[Badger]

Surf forums are a good indicator of how the attitude has changed. A few years ago the forums were full of SUP hate. Now it has definitely mellowed.

I just Googled "Surf Forum" and skimmed through the top four. Hardly a negative word to be found. Then for more results, I searched the forums for the word SUP, and on one forum a lot of them were talking about trying it and some had even bought boards. Yes, I think maybe times have changed.

.

[OUTSIDEWAVE]

to all you campers who hate crowds like  me let me introduce you to my other addictions..  Expedition portal   good luck

I surfed this morning at 2nd street and everyone was more than cordial. Small surf, and the wind was pretty wicked, but fun. When I got out a longboarder stopped me to look at my board and said "you were ripping it up out there." We talked a little and he told me he thought he was too old to change to SUP. I asked how old he was and he said 55. Needless to say that was a good opportunity for correction.

I'm in Santa Barbera on a quickie road trip to determine if we should buy a little Bambi Airstream to camp in. Answer--no. Not that a Bambi Airstream isn't just swell, it is. It's that we don't like hanging out in campgrounds with the population density of Hong Kong. Cool, saved me $60K, to be spent slowly at luxury hotels in the same areas. Diane is lusting for the Canary Hotel and their very pleasant rooftop pool.

Back to the topic, people were downright welcoming. And I wasn't on my L41, I was on my Big Foote.

[PonoBill]

Cool stuff. It's what I used to do, and why I'm not amused by "campgrounds". Mostly I camped with a pack on my back, miles and miles from any road, but I did a lot on motorcycles as well. Long before BMW built their first GS I was adventure motorcycling on a modified BMW R50/5. Very rare because on one wanted it. It was so low compression (8.6-1) it could probably run on perfume. Mexican gas was just fine--actually overkill. Not much for horsepower (32) but it could go anywhere on it's trials universal tires and the 21 inch wheel I laced onto the front. I had to build a special fork brace and high-mount fender for it--my first foray into fiberglass construction. Not light, but it sure was ugly.

Then I went crazy and turned it into a cafe racer with R60/5 heads and pistons, fiberglas seat and tank, reasets and clip ons. I have no idea WTF I was thinking. I saved the old parts for years, but now I have no idea where they are, or I'd convert it back just as a way of saying "sorry about that".

[The Kernel]

The last 5 or 6 times I've been out---sometimes in large surf and sometimes with other SUP surfers like SupSurfIsSurf, we have actually gotten compliments from prone surfers...

"You guys are really good....clearly know what you're doing....catching some great waves....rode that last one really well" etc.  This was at Church mostly and Doheny a bit too.

[PonoBill]

I think when most of us stopped caring about the stinkeye it stopped being fun.

[TallDude]

Actually, I haven't noticed any comments or stink eye over the last year. That being said, lately my hearing and vision hasn't been that good.