Does Your Wave Even Qualify As A Real Surf Spot?

There are
two surf
“zones” in
this world:
“surf spots,”
and the lesser
categorized
“breaks.”
A surf spot
comes with
cultural
trappings–history and legend–
which transcend national borders
and linguistic barriers. It is also,
99.9 percent of the time, a really
good wave. A break is a beach or
a reef or a physical outcropping
of geography, man-made or not,
where waves break and surfers ride,
but without any cultural signifi-
cance, without any distinguishing
facet or global renown. A break is
simply a place where swell meets
shoreline and waves topple over.
A surf spot, however, is a much
grander entity.

Surf spots are easy to rattle off:
Bells, Waimea, Sebastian. How-
ever, like the U.S. Supreme Court’s
wrangle with pornography, a break
is harder to define–you just know
it when you see it. Or when you
hear their names. Oahu’s Monster
Mush for example, or Middles
(between Lowers and Church), or
Indicator (a sign of better things to
come).

It’s quite possible that your
local spot, that place you’ve been
checking since you were a grom, is
not a legitimate surf spot at all, but
rather, just a break.

How do you know? Well, for
starters, if people plan surf trips to
ride waves at your spot, then your
spot is a surf spot. Otherwise it’s
just a break. Surfers go to Hawaii,
for example, to surf Sunset Beach
or Velzyland. Surfers do not plan
trips there to score “epic” Fred-
dyland. Now, I’ve caught some
pretty fun waves at Freddyland,
but it is not a legitimate surf spot.
It is a last resort–a place you’ve
been relegated, either directly or
indirectly, by large Polynesian men
(or, as is more often the case, not
so large men who wish they were
Polynesian).

A couple of other filters for you
to digest: Did Buzzy Trent dive
for lobster where you ride waves?
If yes, it’s a surf spot–globally
agreed upon and culturally ac-
cepted legend, history and/or lore
that propagated from where you
catch waves makes your spot a spot,
regardless of wave quality.

Does your local surf zone have
the word “little” in front of it? Not
a spot. Groms have named non-
performing, eel-grass peaks from
Point Loma to Santa Cruz with
monikers such as “Little Teah-
upoo” or “Little Velzyland.” Um…
no. Sorry. Any break with “little”
in front of it suggests less than–
therefore, not a spot.

And by the way, just because
your break has a parking lot does
not make it a surf spot. There are
plenty of crappy waves in front of
parking lots. North Carlsbad State
Beach, for example: great parking
lot, large restroom, information
kiosk…not a surf spot. Same with
surf cams. Virginia Beach has a
surf cam, but it is not a spot. No
sir, Virginia Beach is a large liquor
store with a zip code.

So, is your spot a spot? Or is it
just a break? And another question:
If you’re surfing a spot that’s not a
spot, can you even call yourself a
surfer? Chances are you don’t need
my criteria to tell you–you prob-
ably already know.