"So, what do we do? Do we throw our arms up, sigh in defeat, and let the guests dictate the state of our home?"
Frustration has been brewing for months, now, between those who have been surfing for, like, two years and those who took up the Pastime of Kings during the Covid-19 pandemic. Real negative feelings etc. and war now seems inevitable but who would have guessed, could have guessed, that our Fort Sumter would be Malibu’s famed wall and a general looking to take up arms would be a professor from The Surf Institute?
Strange days, indeed, but let us read from Carla Zamora’s Instagram and learn more.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPI3sN-nXbc/
Imagine your home became an amusement park. New faces flocking daily to claim their E-ticket pass, except instead of getting in line, a free-for-all of bodies bob & weave, twist and tangle in hopes of getting a thrill. They don’t even acknowledge your existence, much less recognize your local status.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but just two decades ago being “from Malibu” carried an air of prestige. We were masters of our spot, encouraged, even pressured, to surf at the highest caliber possible and given no leeway or forgiveness when we faltered. It was chaotic then, too, but there was a method to the madness; control to the chaos. Rules were not just established, they were enforced. If you publicly cried about it, you felt it even harder.
When new faces would show who were keen on making the Bu their home, they were usually met with cold shoulders, glaring stares, and difficulty getting waves. Not to mention a usually not-so-becoming nickname like PSD (Porn Star’s Daughter) or Jazz Hands or D2. While we most definitely were threading a thin line of inappropriate exclusivity, the LordoftheRing-esque vibe is what kept order. Those who wore a tough enough skin and weren’t jaded by the hazing, were eventually accepted. While I do not necessarily condone all that went down, I can absolutely appreciate the discernment.
Fast forward 20 years. A pandemic singlehandedly changes people’s lives and increases the surfing population by astronomical proportions. As an outdoor activity relatively safe from exposure, 2020 saw nearly every other Joe take up surfing and every other Schmoe become a surf coach. Young adults already versed in the sport, begin flocking in droves to park, no, camp, in our lot for days on end. (Note: this has been a problem prior to COVID). Photographers and videographers arrive with their own talent to rape and pillage the waves, shunning the existing talent who have paid their dues.
So, what do we do? Do we throw our arms up, sigh in defeat, and let the guests dictate the state of our home?
I will not. I cannot.
Please join me Tuesday 5/25 4p at The Wall to discuss, create, and implement a strategy to take back our home!
Will you attend?
Provide more if the story develops?
I’m counting on you for that and to take my home back too.
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Carla Rowland Zamora, here’s a much needed reality check for you: The reason photographers bring their own talent to the beach is because they need to find it somewhere, and you have absolutely none. Zero. Why would anyone in their right mind waste their time filming or shooting you?? I forced myself to sit through a video of you surfing. You’re clunky and barely average…and that’s being generous. Now that I’ve seen the videos of you surfing, your shitty post is actually even more laughable. Seems like you should spend more time working on your own surfing than trying to exclude others from enjoying this sport that we’re all blessed to be part of. So please, get a clue kook. 🤡🤡
Surfrider is a public beach, all taxpayers help support its status as a ‘surfing reserve’ or whatever. Paying dues, being a local, etc. seems mostly just old man yells at cloud type stuff. Obviously anyone paddling out needs to know the basic rules regarding safety/courtesy/priority. But given the population of LA I’m surprised Surfrider isn’t actually more crowded.
The general behavior at First Point isn’t that bad, until a certain critical mass is reached and then it’s a total shit show by everyone not just beginners.
Its a shame that Carla Zamora feels the need to stand on her soap box and declare Malibu beach as her tribes own. As a surf instructor she should encourage the Aloha way and welcome everyone to the ocean. Instead, she is social media warrior who has determined it is her calling to calls dibs on a public beach, in a city of 3 million, and shun anyone that wants to enjoy it on their own. Carla is a prime example of an entitled brat and part of the cancel culture. She does not want to here other opinions, only those that pad her ego and support her. As an avid surfer and someone very involved in the community, I will NEVER ever allow any of my friends or family to be associated with her as a surf ambassador. The ocean is for everyone to enjoy, not just the lucky few who grew up next to it with surfer parents. Travel anywhere in the world and ask yourself, what if the locals treated me the way Carla treats those that come to Malibu. Its disgusting. Carla also runs an illegal surf camp and I cannot wait until the city of LA shuts her down.
Funny thing is, I believe she grew up in Decker Canyon, which is in Ventura County and now lives in the valley? I don’t know that she has ever actually lived in Malibu. And for a surf instructor to complain that the surf is too crowded is just….
Merci Monsieur Mi Ho .
Mid to late 90s and I had just won back to back French University Titles and was living above a mate’s surf shop which he was in the process of expanding and the level in France , at least of the best guys , was nowhere near where it is today , so for once , found myself in the right place at the right time …..So basically anything offered to my mate shop for free was happily passed on to me , wetsuits , clothes , boards etc
Turns out that my French mate’s timing was even better than mine when he sold his two shop empire for 1.5 million Euros in early 2007 and as soon as the non concurrence clause ran out , opened a new shop next door which is still going strong till this day
I had just won back to back French University Titles and I was living above my mates surf shop …. so it was more right place right time and anything my mate got for free he passed on to me , and got some nice boards at the time from Bruce Smith a talented OZ shaper who had the Hot Butte
though not as good as my mate’s timing who shelved off his two surf shops for 1.5 million Euros in early 2007
There is a similar hell going on at spots on both U.S. coastlines for sure (perhaps none of it as ridiculous as Malibu… all respect due to Malibuy locals dealing with this)… New Jersey, with snow on the beach and water close to sub-40 this winter was overrun at some spots. But we need to step back and really think about this as angry locals watching these frauds “take our waves”.. In some places, complaining loud enough (or even better going to Instagram) gets the attention of the state. Do we really want a municipality-level or higher getting seeing this and getting involved here with regulations?… Be careful what you wish for Carla… One other note, she loses me with the claim Malibu is her “home”. Isn’t Malibu part of a state park system?
Surf Karens Must Die
I went into this wanting to root for the professor but fuck after this line…
“They don’t even acknowledge your existence, much less recognize your local status. Correct me if I’m wrong, but just two decades ago being “from Malibu” carried an air of prestige”
I am telling every backwards fin/wetsuit idiot at my usual spot an hour south of Malibu that 1st point is the perfect learners wave.
Land logging is a personal favorite.
My friends in Santa Cruz say they have never, ever seen Santa Cruz more overrun with surfers than it is now. Hundreds from Pooper Peak to Insides.
The real culprit here is surf cams. If you had pointed a surf camera at a Santa Cruz surf spots in the 70s and 80s they would have burned your house down with you in it.
Surf cams and surf reports. That’s the real crowd-creator.
Carla teaches surf classes to kids on foam boards so…..
But Malibu is doomed by being a quality wave within range of millions of people who wake up, get coffee, and tune into Surfline or the cameras.
No more thinking for yourself. Surf reports predict a swell the moment a leopard seal farts in the Antarctic, and give people two weeks to quit their jobs, get divorced, sell their house, buy a Wavestorm and flop out to Malibu and cause heaps of trouble.
sounds like 1st pt has been discovered. theres a nice spot in p.v. called the bay. check it out.
Defacing my face. Gold.
Doesn’t he surf better than you could imagine surfing? Wouldn’t he break all your limbs if you said this to his face? Doesn’t he catch waves from the top all the way through and no one but his friends or his son try to drop in?
You have an interesting view. Always!
Highest caliber? Long boarding? Pffffft
The description of Malibu as “LordoftheRing-esque” struck me as odd.
LOTR? At Malibu?? Was Mikey C surfing that day or something?
Upon deeper reflection, though, I realized she wasn’t actually talking about hobbits. In fact, everything objectionable here can be explained by the fact that she’s referring to the wrong book. Very, very wrongly.
It’s LORD OF THE FLIES, you absolute walnut.
The advent of……SURF KAREN!!!!!!!
Valibu.
Locals only kook