Brilliant.

what about the kooks? do we all have to join the club like Keanu in Point Break? I’m afeeered.
Great story, Pontz - surf subculture seems like one of the most varied subs around.

Pontz - does any other culture have such a varied subculture? You touched the tip (of the iceberg). I’d love to hear more about it - I think of motorcycle culture, hip hop, etc - and it seems like the surf subculture is massive and curious. Great read!

I need to go buy something.

Well played.

Well put. I’m craving an equally in depth exploration into the ties that necessarily bind this varied culture. They all are, at some level, out in the water performing the same ritual. But I wonder how deeply married the motivation and culture are? Are the Vato surfer and Bay Area Hipster surfer out there for the same reasons, thinking and feeling the same things out there in the water?

I live in LA, and just finished a trip up to Pismo/Morro Bay, and I gotta agree; surf culture does vary from place to place…like any other culture.
Still it’s cool to see geographic variations on something we all love

great article. completely agree.

I agree with that Juan guy … Let’s shop our way into identity.

Additionally, KLP … solid job my man … One question: where would one go to find the kindest surfers in the world?

Honestly it sounds like a bit of disdain coming from KL P or was that the point, To write intentionally this way to invoke a response.

Yes there are sub cultures that are built within the sub culture, with several fractions that KL started to mention.

Despite the brand identy (which was the only aspect that was mentioned about Southern California (which much more could have been written about as compared to Santa Cruz and the Bay area. The majority of surfers mostly can be categorized in 2 general camps. (I want to stress majority of surfers and I fell the majority do not fall in to some categorized sub culture).

This is in regards to mostly man and can be broken down by age.

Early 30’s on down are still working on performance, and what would be considered performacne surfing per say and are driven by that syle.

Mid 30’s and older are gracefully holding on to that style without the machismo that is sometimes associated to it, again this is very generalized.

This article is exactly the kind of uber-generalized, surf culture swill that the SMURFER reads and memorizes to thrill his non-surfing friends and back his street cred.

The SMURFER is a chameleon who aspires to have been raised a surfer but has either moved to the coast from the inland or never bothered to understand what was going on in his back yard until career age. He embraces only the superficial cache that the surfer label garners.

YOU KNOW THIS GUY!

Not the easily spotted kook or newbie with a soft top, missing a fin.

Not the tourist getting a lesson from the stoner who lives in your apartment.

Not the 60-year-old lawyer trying to recapture that one summer he had no worries.

The SMURFER is the guy at your brake who can actually surf… kind of. He rides a funshape or mini-tanker, has extra wax for anybody to use and talks a lot in the line-up about the latest Stacy Peralta movie or his “all-time trip” up the coast.

He can drive down the line but never looks back to see if he burned you. He is quick to tell a kook what to do, right after breaking elementary etiquette. He shows up at the exact wrong tide and says, “Hey bro, guess the swell died.”

He drinks a lot of Monster Energy…

Shun this usurper of our culture!
He is become death, the debaser of our world.

Rubysatellite:

I feel like you missed the whole point of the article: surf culture is different depending on where you live. No one really knows what surf culture is because we all generally surf in one place. Ultimately, no one can really say, “This is surf culture,” or “That is surf culture,” or even claim that there is only one type of surf culture. As if life were that simple and homogenous.

But, you have made me think. Perhaps I am wrong. Maybe you know better than anyone else what surf culture is all about. Maybe the rest of us should just wait until you write something to clarify just exactly what surfer culture is so we are no longer ignorant.

Maybe the trend of the world isn’t moving towards a more democratic society, but a more totalitarian one in which a small group of people, or one person in your case, tells us how to understand the world.

sms420: The nicest surfers in the world are where rubysatellite doesn’t surf.

Then there’s the other type of subculture of surfer. He is angry in the water, always yelling, wishing he had actually made something out of his surfing, but in reality typically just a burnout who only has his homebreak left. He sees new surfers in the water with less skill, but a lot more going on in their lives, like college, careers, and families. There is nothing left to do but rage on them, and write angry comments on everything on the internet he disagrees with.

It’s hard to find happiness when you see everyone else as a kook or a barney. I pity the rage of the ripper burnout!

Word Up Manda.

California Surf culture is more about what works than brand or image. Let’s face it Northern California is freezing and so when it comes to getting a wetsuit splurging and getting a physco freak is not about supporting Oneill and more about surfing an extra thirty minutes. Southern California often has less powerful waves so a quiver with fishes and longboards isn’t image it is based on functionality.

NY- Dunks, Jordans, RVCA shirts, New Era Fitted.

GOLD COAST (OZ)- Flip Flops, Boardies, Way to brightly colored, eccentric shirts. Maybe a faux hawk if your feeling crazy

SoCal- Break out your vans, your retro twin, aggressively preppy plaid shirt and ride your sector nine or PB cruiser to grab a fish taco.

Norcal- You Rip, I don’t care. I ride for Hotline and Stretch you ride for O’Neill and Arrow. An our Cali Burritos come with potatoes not French Fries.

Florida- I drive my ford F-150 to the beach with a case a PBR and a shotgun in the back. When its flat, I fish.

I have lived in all these places and love each of them for all of the different things they bring to the table.

Now Im living back in NY and all the kids are wearing vans, Socal Plaid shirts,and Drinking PBR cause its a bang for the buck. You can keep the faux hawk.

KL-
I dig your writing but I think you missed MY point.

You spent 2/3 of your article defining your very accurate “deviations” only to say, hey we’re not all like this.

My point is: WHY DISCUSS THE DEVIATIONS AT ALL?

The world IS more complicated. But your detailed analysis of surf semiotics kind of disproves your thesis, doesn’t it? If surf culture is so much more than boards and stickers then why are these symbols so easily identified at the specific surf venues you analyzed?

The problem is you proved, with excellent examples, the wrong point. Surfers, even well traveled, non-blindered ones, are clearly easy to pick out.

ps. are you in grad school or something? Nobody uses words like vapid, derivation or deviations unless they have to. BUT hey, I love surfers who can write well and counter the “Bro” stereotype.

love spicoli!! fast times is a classic

I’ve stumbled upon this interesting article by way of surfer friends, though unfortunately, I know nothing about surfing! So what the hell am I doing here? Well, I just wanted to comment on the subculture aspect of things, because by reading this article, I saw a reflection of a sub-culture I am more familiar with: martial arts.

If anyone is familiar at all, the martial arts world is quite often marked by elements of very fierce loyalty and pride. As a martial artist, you put in countless hours of training and discipline, sometimes with an entire class or a training partner, but usually solo. Quite understandably, people can become very defensive(no pun intended) about how they’ve been training/living a significant portion of their lives. Within the martial arts realm, some people literally fight to prove a point. It’s like a joke in itself. THink: old school kung-fu flicks where it’s one school vs the other- “My Red-baboon’s-ass style is superior to your Donkey-testicle style! Now DIE!”

There are, of course, regional characteristics in martial arts subcultures, but even within the same region, you will find each martial art studio/school a microcosm of its own subculture. (Remember The Karate Kid?? Kobra Kai vs Wax on-off? Did you know Ralph Macchio was freakin’ 25 in that movie??) Sometimes it’s no longer a style-vs-style debate, but a “my-teacher/training-style is superior to yours” debate And it goes on and ON.. pretty tiresome if you ask me.

Martial arts also exhibits diffenent gear and product “fashion” styles. Adidas vs. Mooto vs. Latest-marketing-WMD.. Even HOW you wear your particular martial arts style’s uniform is a way to brand/identify yoursef: wearing super long, baggy gi’s/doboks and belts vs standard vs rolled up vs taped-up-like-a-mummy.

And that’s what it comes down to: the human need to identify yourself and the need to belong. Everyone wants to assert that their existence is unique and worthwhile, yet no one wants to be some social outcast. This is where subcultures perfectly fit this need. As part of a subculture, you BELONG to a smaller, more exclusive group, and at the same time declare yourself “different” from everyone else.

Now I am not saying I’m above all this. I too was once one of those fiercely loyal idiots that I now poke fun of(and hence, poke fun of myself). And for all I know, I may be part of another subculture that claims to be above all subcultures! But a little bit of time and experience has helped me wisen up to what’s truly important: my own relationship to the martial arts. I don’t particularly care for style-vs-style debates or the differences between styles and subcultures, because ultimately, everyone’s on a different skill level, at their own particular stage in development in the martial arts and life in general. And in terms of subcultures, sure, we’re not going to agree with everyone’s motives and intents whether we’re talking about martial arts or surfing.

We all know from history and experience that there always has been and will be those who taint and distort the purity of that which we love. Ironically, they will turn around and point back at us, accusing us of the same thing. So who’s right? Who’s wrong? Who cares?

As long as I don’t let others get into my head and I continue enjoying what I LOVE, isn’t that what truly matters?

Maybe it’s just me, but including vato and redneck in the description of the same thing screams oxyMORON. Where I’m from there might be surf gangs, but I am able to differentiate between a bunch of thug-dressed white kids and actual Latino gangsters. As far as the article goes on about surf cultures, so what? How is this any different from nonsurfers in SD, OC, Ventura, Central CA, and NorCal? Or east coast/west coast? Who comes up with topics like this? Has anyone ever called someone or something ignorant without being angry inside? Why am I replying to something I care nothing about? Oh yeah, a Firewire.

Culture and geography of surfing pretty much goes hand to hand and you can tell where you are by your surroundings.

Having never been to California, I feel extremely qualified to comment on deviations in the surf culture there because I read about it in my subscriptions to the surf mags.

Why is surf writing so prosaic? Why does it try to elevate itself to sounding like something that the larger culture will eventually observe? Why does it try to explain itself? Surfing is fun, its exciting, and you can insert blah blah jah jah as necessary. Waves are blue, sky is light blue, things are moving, people have characteristics. Oh wait, I am trying to sell clothing. Don’t explain yourself in some sort of faux-hip jazz cd-cover language. But, beyond that, good writing.