Untitled by Hani Amir
The world is full of not-so-ordinary places. There is one kind of place, created by physical form and refined by human culture, that deserves more attention: the surf spot! The surf spot is an odd location where physical geography, sports, and culture mould together. Somehow these three elements combined overrule existing patterns of culture.
Of course, in order for surfing to be possible, one needs water, and lots of it! Large bodies of water, such seas and oceans, are preferable, although tidal rivers can produce some of the best surfing conditions. The best waves are produced when wind and water combine forces over thousands of nautical miles and drive towards shallow coastlines with tremendous velocity. Coastal features such as reefs, rocks, piers, beaches, and local winds can create waves everywhere.
The biggest waves are usually created through a combination of vast open oceans and hostile coastal conditions. Surfers and sailors have given notorious names to these treacherous spots, such as the shark-infested Dungeons (near Cape Town), Shipsterns Bluff (Tasmania), Mavericks (Northern California), and, of course, the Banzai Pipeline (north of Oahu), which breaks over a razor sharp reef and is the most deadly surfing area in the world, claiming lives of surfers every year. These spots can be difficult to reach, and the surf culture exists only of experienced hardcore surfers. Almost every country with a coastline has surfing spots, though, and some of the more hospitable and accessible (and, to some extent, urban) places have created something special on the natural wonder of the wave.
Urban Surfer Girl by Alan Strakey
Despite living on solid ground, humans have always been somewhat nautical. Especially when populating Polynesia and later Hawaii, it was necessary for humans to study the world’s water flows. Surfing experienced a transition towards a sport when the people of the Pacific Islands started to use it as a performance to show courage and leadership. The first famous surfers were, unsurprisingly, Hawaiian royalty, such as Kamehameha I. During the early part of the twentieth century, surfing became known in the United States, and, from the 1950s onwards, it conquered the world as both a leisure and sport activity.
Surfing has become especially popular amongst travel-hungry youth seeking adventure. Around urban areas, waters have become crowded with people on polymer. Famous for their beaches and surf are Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, and Los Angeles, but also smaller towns such as Biarritz (France), Newquay (England), and, of course, Surfers Paradise (Australia). The large cities mentioned above each have a very strong image, but the prevalence of surf culture is merely a part of that. Where placemaking occurs through surfing is in the smaller towns: these towns explicitly exude an identity laden with the sand and the surf. I will therefore zoom in on three tiny surf towns to show what can happen when the three elements of physical nature, sports, and culture merge.
For many, surfing transcends physical activity to the extent that it is a lifestyle. Surf culture can be described as friendly and open, full of people willing to help and teach each other about their local customs, represented through music, clothing, dance, cuisine, and attractive sun tans. The beach is a place where people change out of their normal clothes for shorts and bikinis, bringing everyone to the same exposed being. Youth involved in the scene have seamlessly integrated surfing culture, 1960s-style hippie values, cultural emancipation, and various (e.g., sexual) freedoms. These values have come to define the surf spot as a geographical place, regardless of cultural difference.
Untitled by Jorge Miente
Just north of the Biarritz, for example, lies the town of Hossegor. It is an unmistakably French town with the prototypical croissant breakfasts and bourgeois culture: simultaneously, though, it breathes a vibrant and passionate surfing culture, complete with the requisite partying, sleeping under the stars on the beach, exhibitionism, and, most crucially, burgers (sadly, this changes in the winter).
Untitled by hdeb89
Another, even more unlikely example is the town of Taghazout in Morocco. Taghazout is the prime surf location of Morocco with multiple breaks (i.e., beach, point, reef) within a short drive. The village only inhabits a few hundred souls, but all of them eat, sleep, and breathe surfing. Shops selling traditional Moroccan tajines are located directly next to the ones selling board shorts and bikinis. In the water, you see a level of female undress that would be suited for Miami Beach. This would, of course, be unthinkable in inland Marrakech, where the majority of local women are wearing long dresses and head scarves. Somehow, Taghazout is able to maintain its own small subculture that is completely unique within Morocco’s borders.
Porth Joke, Newquay by Tony Armstrong
A final example is Newquay in England. Essentially at land’s end, Newquay is a small town blessed by the presence of the wide-open Atlantic, bringing in waves the size of trucks in winter and a perfect summer retreat from bustling London during summer. As the water is fresh, wetsuits are omnipresent, but, despite the frigid water temperatures, the hostels and bed-and-breakfasts are loaded with surfers from all over the UK and Europe. Of course, a proper English breakfast and Cornish pastries are available, but from sun-up to sundown most on people’s minds is the wave.
The geography of surf creates special and unique places on our planet, located adjacent to the ocean and its waves. These places are made and crafted by people, but are refined by their strong interest in fostering a vibrant surf sport. The culture that is created at these locales is distinctly different from the prevailing national identities. In this way, surfer towns in France, England, and Morocco can share a transnational culture that sets them apart from their context and breathes freedom, nature, music, food, and sunshine.
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