Surfing is growing worldwide, the new generations & older heads need to learn (or re-learn) the rules of the road or it will be no fun for anyone.
p.s if you can not be bothered to read the rules below, I have added a must watch video at the bottom of this blog post, hopefully you will be able to watch that (all surfers should)
Prevention rather than cure
1) Surf with a buddy
2) The surfer on the wave has priority, so get out of their way
3) If paddling out and a surfer is heading towards you, simply head into the impact zone (or soup), thereby not ruining the surfers ride
4) If surfing a wave like the 'reef' or Crab Island, never cut corners, paddle all the way around so as to stay clear of the surfing zone
5) Do not sit in front of a take off spot, as if someone takes off on the outside they have a really good chance of running you over. Go back to rule number 2 the surfer has priority not you sitting on the inside catching the small waves
6) Ensure that the equipment you are using is 'fit for the purpose' and that you have a leg rope as it is irresponsible to surf a longboard/shortboard/piece of cheese in busy surf breaks without a leg rope and more importantly at busy beaches with swimmers, as if you lose the love of your life it will bounce with speed towards the shore and do a good imitation of a bowling ball taking all the skittles out on its lone trip to the beach
7) If you are hiring a surfboard ensure that you have had a surf lesson from an approved surf school and then only hire softboards which are good enough for 90percent of the surfing population on any given British day anyway.
8) Know the beach/coastline you are going to surf before you jump in, speak to locals, check info on websites such as beachwizard, magicseaweed, surfs up etc and if there is a beach rescue service have a chat with them about potential dangers
9) The list goes on and on for more info check out the RNLI website.
10) Do not stick your head in the sand or in the way of another surfer, get trained and know before you go
Here are some recent articles relating to crowds and behaviour in the surf: