At the risk of being a bubble burster, myth debunker, anti-Endless Summer campaigner, and monkey wrench tosser into the spokes of the wheel that spins the surf fantasy, I’m here to tell you that things are not always what they seem, that these idyllic surf trips you see in the magazines often involve smoke and mirrors, a little cutting and pasting in the editorial department. Let me put it another way. What appears to be a week, a month, or even a season of epic conditions can in actual fact have been only a few hours, or in the case of our story, about forty-five minutes.
The Hard Truth About Surf Trips
madpie
1 year ago
1 year ago
This guy is the Upton Sinclair of shred. His hard-hitting expose lays bare the shocking truth about surf trips. Nobody would have ever guessed the gritty reality that is revealed.
Kooktastic
1 year ago
1 year ago
I know that surf can be variable at any break anywhere in the world, but there's one thing I'll never get tired of even if the surf is crap: warm water.
sharkturd
1 year ago
1 year ago
A well written attempt at an expose'...and the only reason I say "attempt" is because I'm shockingly unsurprised. The tale he tells is circa 1988 when surfing was just about to enter adulthood, back when it was still getting it's mega-billion-dollar-global-industrialization sea legs, so to speak. I would imagine the pressure to produce something from nothing is even worse today, since I've heard a couple of variations on this theme before....still, a good read.
Dingo
1 year ago
1 year ago
It still reads as poetically resonant, heroic, 80's, bull crap!
Enjoyed it nevertheless!!
King of Kooks
1 year ago
1 year ago
To paraphrase Bowie: We can be heroes just for one half a second. I always figured at least half of tube shots had to be close outs. This article confirms that sense.
KB
1 year ago
1 year ago
I'm in Spain and went down south near El Palmar looking for surf. When I arrived it was DOH and competely blown out! Shit I said to myself. I decide to sit and wait it out to see if it would clean up and become more managable. I sat around for two days and the conditions were not getting better. On the third day I woke up to perfect 6 foot a-frames and was completely stoked for about 3 hours. 3 days and 3 hours of surf, but the water was nice and toasty!!
mi123
1 year ago
1 year ago
What Jamie and Beck did was just "bidness." Fun to read the behind thee scenes truth. And good for you Beck...as a professional news photographer, I know how frustrating it is when "the shot" is not there (although if I fabricated a story like Surfer and Beck did, I would be run out of the business and my news client would have lost ALL credibility). Now for those of you who expect to get quality waves because you spent dollars....don't be fools (and I know there are plenty of us that do get it....this is not aimed at you). Unless you can drop everything and fly "on the spot" to a place which is getting a perfect swell with perfect conditions and a one or two week projection of the same situation, you will generally be disappointed on surf trips. Expect nothing and enjoy your vacation. Swim in the warm clean water, surf some marginal waves, have great dinners, get some sleep and have the time of your life. And then if your ship comes in, you are lucky you already scored a great trip and now will just add to it. I am so bored of mono-dimensional surfers walking around with a hang dog look in a beautiful spot in the world, because the surf is not good. Everyone else is happy and enjoying themselves, while the surfers walk around anxious and unhappy. What losers !!!










