Vogue warns readers to beware of “grumpy locals” at Malibu’s Surfrider Beach

"Be sure to follow surf etiquette and go when the water is less busy."

It was very many moons ago, now, that the Florida-bred billionaire Dirk Ziff “bought” the Association of Surfing Professionals and turned it into our World Surf League. Oh those early days were particularly heady. The first CEO, Paul Speaker, promised this Sport of Kings would soon be bigger than the National Football League. A gorgeous headquarters was established in Santa Monica, California, top Hollywood executive Erik Logan was poached from the mighty Oprah Winfrey to head the WSL’s studio division. The future as bright as brand-new veneers.

Though it is almost impossible to think there were any rifts, back then, what with the glowing success of the League today, but there were small factions, in the surfing community, who were grouchy.

Ziff, taking the microphone eight years ago after winning his first Waterman of the Year award declared:

Some of you are here in this canyon. Journalists, and other influential voices who unload on social media. I wonder if some of you get up every day and stir the milk into your coffee, thinking about what you can write that day that might humiliate the WSL. It goes way beyond constructive criticism, which we all need and which the WSL frequently deserves, and into the realm of foul spirited attack, which I think we can all agree we have enough of right now in this country.

I have a message to the haters, and it is simple. Be tough. Call us out. Keep us honest. Tell us what we need to improve.

But don’t pretend you don’t know that when you go beyond constructive criticism and cynically try to rally negative sentiment towards the WSL, when you try to take us down, you are not just going after us. You are going after Kelly Slater. You are trying to take down Lakey Peterson. You are going after the dreams of Caroline Marks and Griffin Colapinto. You are undermining the hopes of every kid who lives with salt in their hair, dreaming of being a world champion one day.

And I ask you: Why? It seems pretty obvious that if the WSL keeps growing in popularity, and surfing takes its rightful place among the great and elite competitive sports, everyone connected with our sport, and certainly all the members of SIMA, will prosper, except maybe a few grumpy locals who have to deal with some new faces in the lineup. So…why not work together?

And there it was. “Grumpy locals.” A blight on surfing’s otherwise welcoming and wonderful shining path. It was, of course, assumed that the grumpy local would become extinct once surfing took its rightful place among the great and elite competitive sports but Vogue Magazine is warning its readers that a few still lurk.

In its highly-anticipated The Best Off-the-Beaten Path Airbnbs for Surfing, from New Zealand to Portugal, Vogue shared hot tips on both where to stay but, more importantly, how to navigate various iconic lineups. For a trip to Ucluelet, in beautiful British Columbia, for example, “the water is cold year-round and a thick wetsuit is required.” In Punta Banco, Costa Rica, “If you plan to take surf lessons, the owners of this eco lodge suggest bringing cash.” And in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, “Many surf spots have rocky or reefy bottoms, so consider wearing booties.”

If wanting to Airbnb a mid-century modern gem in Malibu? “Locals are known to be somewhat territorial at Surfrider Beach, so be sure to follow surf etiquette and go when the water is less busy.”

Aye.

I guess the grumpy local survives in some pockets. Hopefully by LA28 he or she will be officially eradicated.

Fingers crossed, anyhow.