Surf Marks the Spot
How has localism and territorialism evolved over time in San Diego?
By Kush Kakaiya
By Kush Kakaiya
With 33 million tourists in 2013 alone, San Diego is arguably one of the most iconic beach cities on the West Coast—yet in some areas, there is an invisible “not welcome” sign hanging over the waves.
Tourism and surf culture go hand in hand in the cultural “DNA” of San Diego. San Diego is a peak destination spot for tourists to enjoy the beaches and engage in various water sport activities. Many of these tourists come to try surfing for the first time, as it’s somewhat of a “rite of passage” in any visit to San Diego. And many of these tourists (and other inexperienced surfers) are a part of what created the concept of localism in surf culture. This localism and territorialism often give surfing a bad reputation. In essence, localism is a concept in which surfers attempt to restrict certain spots from outsiders and control behavior in their territory. San Diego county currently has around 3.1 million residents! Over time, San Diego has become a fusion of many cultures and as a result of that, it is getting overpopulated. In the 1970’s, San Diego had around 1.5 million residents! Because of this growth, beaches are getting overpopulated and thus creating a problem for local beachgoers and surfers alike. Rather than surfing another one of San Diego’s many surf spots, locals prefer to kick out newer and less experienced surfers and limit the amount of people that surf there. That is their view of regulating the sport and to keep it from being crowded. Each sport has certain rules that people have to abide by. For example, snow resorts such as Mammoth Mountain and Tahoe Lake have certain regulations for more dangerous trails. Generally, rentals are not permitted to go on more treacherous slopes. Rules like these are in place solely to make sure that sport is regulated and to make sure everyone is safe. Waves, unlike mountain slopes, aren't owned by anyone and therefore it causes territoriality. Trestles is a well known beach that is located in between San Onofre State beach and San Clemente. This unique beach is a world renown surf break that is one of the most territorial breaks in Southern California. Because of its fame, it attract several amounts of people. “A 2012 study found that the Trestles surf break at San Onofre State Beach brought in 300,000 visitors and $24 million in visitor spending.” The ASP World Tour (Association of Surfing Professionals) stops at Trestles for part of their competition. Trestles is a beach that is constantly crowded. Because of this, localism is very present yet widely accepted. Locals give off a very stern aura that is a form of “crowd control”. Just like Trestles, Windansea is another acclaimed surf spot that is heavily localized. It has “heavy localism” and the locals there have a very entitled attitude about locals surfing there and no outsiders. "Soon as you paddle out, you can feel the vibes are not good and that you're not wanted," said James Accardi, 27, who owns Bird Rock Surf Shop. He has been surfing Windansea for six years and only recently has begun to get grudging acceptance from the locals.” Localism occurs a lot when the waves haven't been particularly good, and then a swell hits and outsiders come and disrupt the flow and vibes of the surf spot. For my fieldwork, I went to interview a well known surfer from San Diego named Eric “Bird” Huffman. Bird has been living in San Diego since he was a child. He is a business entrepreneur who owns the famous Bird’s Surf Shed. I went to interview Bird and gather his perspective on how localism has impacted San Diego and how it has evolved. He started surfing when he moved from the Midwest and got heavily active in the surfing community when he was 12 working at his local surf shop. While he was working at the surf shop, he hung out with the old “dogs”(experienced surfers) and learned about San Diego’s surf spots. Because he was hanging with these so called “locals”, he was able to venture out into more territorial breaks without getting as much hassle. Granted, he did admit to getting his “pounding” and rocks thrown at him, but he always persisted and as he got older, he began to act less immature and more responsible in the water.
His personal perspective on localism is that he feels that it is pretty much non-existent in today’s San Diego surf culture. Bird stated that the essence that localism is man's primitive need and want of control in their spot. Locals have something and want to keep it all to themselves. This creates a controversy because on one hand a group of locals want to keep a break not crowded but then other bring up the fact that surfing is a public sport that is done on public property. “Nobody owns the waves.” San Diego, just like most other infamous surf spots in the world, has the philosophy. Localism and territorialism has reduced in San Diego’s surf culture. Peter King, a worldwide renown photographer and surfer was answering a few questions on how localism has evolved in San Diego. “Localism was in its heyday when I was growing up. There used to be fights there all the time.” Any break that has been surfed on for a while is bound to have a lot of locals. With a lot of locals bring about a lot of fights and older guys feeling the need to enforce “common sense” laws. Back in the day, Windansea was considered one of the most territorial spot and people who were outsiders had to be extremely cautious or just not go. The Windansea club was created in the 70’s as a group of local guys surfing Windansea. Now, it is not as heavily active club, but they do a lot of charity events and help smaller children how to surf. During the interview, Bird’s phrase, “Nobody owns the waves,” really stuck with me. Throughout my research, I noticed something very interesting. Locals feel that they have a social hierarchy over people in a certain break because they have surfed there the longest, or they have lived in that area since they were a kid. I find this idea flawed. Most locals are in their 40’s and mid-50’s. That would mean that they have been surfing that certain break since the late 1960’s and the early 1970’s. When you think about it, 40 years is not a lot of time. Older surfers feel that since they are older, they have the right to push people out of certain breaks. Think about it from a larger perspective. On the East Coast, there are families that have been their since the first pilgrims. That’s 600 years the family has been living in the same area. In San Diego, the Kumeyaay Indians were here for thousands of years, but are now now living on smaller reservations with little rights. Like I said before, this is flawed. Do these people deserve the right to push people around and restrict others from surfing that break? After all, the beach is public property and the concept of localism is inherently going against the American Dream. The whole appeal of America is to be a free nation where people can do things even if it isn’t as widely accepted. If you think about it, localism is literally restricting people based off of their physical attributes. Who is to say that a first time surfer visiting San Diego cannot surf Trestles? Like I stated before, the beach is a public property so legally speaking, anyone can go and surf there. If this is the case, then why is localism still in place? Why can’t someone paddle out and cut everyone off? It’s because there is a courtesy that people learn over time. Surfing is a relatively new sport especially in San Diego. The ideology of localism is man's primitive need and want to control to protect something that is near and dear to his heart. After all, without taking care of the beach, there would be no surfing; and without surfing, there would be a piece of San Diego’s DNA that would be lost forever. |