I find it depends on where you surf. There are a few places down my neck of the wood (Illawarra region) where we get scowled at. But other places nearby that are completely SUP friendly and dominated.
Attitude and being friendly goes along way.

Don't know about everyone else, but I'm always treated with respect and admiration as would be expected

The local proners see the look on my face and just know that I'm a serious challenger in the surf that needs his own space.......

dreggy said..
I find it depends on where you surf. There are a few places down my neck of the wood (Illawarra region) where we get scowled at. But other places nearby that are completely SUP friendly and dominated.
Attitude and being friendly goes along way.

And apparently "that guy" is out there regularly as well

Kami, what is it like in France?
Dreggy, I am always scowling at you.
I think choose your break wisely and with consideration. I would never go out at a super busy spot. There are other waves around or grab your surfboard.

bigmc said..
Kami, what is it like in France?

I think that we percentage of assholes is about the same in all countries, but the nice surfing locations are the places where the assholes tend to regroup to specific spots and leave the others cool. Better have a basket of rotten apples than a rotten apple in each basket :-)

I am a tourist at Hossegor, and never had a problem, but it is because I never tried to go to the places the bozos go: Capbreton's "La piste", Boucau, Les Cavaliers, Biarritz "La grande plage" Guethary, Lafitenia, ... I always ask where the locals go and do not go there (unless invited).

I guess the situation was different some decades ago, where the "locals" were frightened that better strangers (Aussies, mostly :-) would come and take all the waves. Now it seems that locals who work like to have a social surf before / after work and like to be together: having a "foreigner" come to the peak would be like having a stranger sit at your table at the bar where you were enjoying a pint with pals after work: it may be pleasant if the guy/gal is friendly/likeable/sexy... but often not.
but of course you always have the risk of having the village idiot at the table that will feel entitled to hassle the foreigner just because he had a bad day at work...

as long as we give them all the waves, they seem happy enough.... like this morning

Actually, we all get along fine. Everyone banters in the lineup as if we were real people.

I checked Google Earth. You are close to Bordeaux so probably quite busy with surfers but that long beach should have lots of options to get away from the crowds.
I hitch hiked thru that area many years ago. Stayed in Pot Grimaud on the Meditteranean coast for a couple of months windsurfing. Love France

do you know what your doing

if you dont, you shouldn't be out there in the line up.

if you do , you will be respected.

lets move on.

In Holland ther are hardly any problems and everythig mixxes up.
Like Colas allready wrote, everybody has is fair share of assholes...but in my experience the number of shortboard assholes is a bigger as any other group. Those types act with a attitude of supremacy over everybody else because of there little toothpick and fancy coloured wetsuit that I never get, especially compared with there (lack of) skills ussually missing 8 of 10 waves they paddle for.

Best I liked the UK-Southcoast and Ireland. Somehow the colder water seem to cool down the high tempred ego,s as well creating a chill atmosphere.
I also love it when boogyboarders, waveskis, kayaks, long andshortboards, mals, fishes and sups are all having a blast in the water, somthing that is more normal over there as well..
Those mixxed spots where a granny is learning here grandson to surf as well have imo the best vibe, regardless the conditions.

SeaKing said..
sometimes it is completely irrelevant as to how good you are . I have surfed for 50 years there are many days when I score the wave of the day at a spot I surf. sometimes it isn't about how good and respectful you are vs how much some people have just poor attitudes. I see lots of beginners making mistakes all the time I usually gout of my way to make them welcome and help them learn better etiquette and technique. it is better for the spot all-around. I was jut curious as to the rest of the worlds treatment of sup.

Cobra said..
do you know what your doing

if you dont, you shouldn't be out there in the line up.

if you do , you will be respected.

lets move on.

So Cobra, where do novices fit into your scheme of things? Or were you a gun surfer right from the start? I think SeaKing has got the right attitude.

SeaKing said..
I am in California san diego area. I have surfed for 50 year total about 3 on a standup board. Sometimes I get a lot of ____ for just being out. I am respectful . don't take all the waves lots of proners get more waves than me. I sit out sets sometimes so everyone can get a shot at a wave and I call out peaks that I can't get to for other surfers. So even stpllsometimes I get __ for just being out. not that I am ever gonna quit but I wonder how is it in Australia?

Australia is a big place, I find the culture of surfing varies quite a bit between breaks.

Locally, I surf and live on the midcoast in Adelaide where the waves vary from excellent (rarely) to fat small mush but consistently fat small mush. My local and closest break, 500 meters from where I am typing this is the Macdonalds drive through type break, when its early in the morning the twenty or thirty surfers/sup'ers that get out there get along just fine. As the sun comes up and the swell.net report goes out if the waves are good it gets busy. Then surfing my sup becomes more and more slaloming through the prone surfers. Eventually critical mass is reached and there is no path through them, sometimes you end up in a bad spot on the wave where its not possible for my skill level to dismount over the back of the wave because I have been pushed into a place I dont want to be by my slalom session and I have a raft up of 50 prone surfers 20 feet in front of me. Then I do the flop off the back dismount but grab my leg rope as i do it to shorten it and not hit the prone guys with my board. So far, so good, after years of doing it this way I haven't hit anyone or been hit. There has also been no agro in the surf directed at me but I do see the passive aggressive stuff where a prone surfer will paddle into your path as you take off, then I just move on to another break.

An unusual aspect off my local spot is the cliffs where the car park is located are about 80 feet higher then the water and provide a natural arena with an often large amount of spectators. Unfortunately here is the where the agro comes in, some of the alcohol fueled spectators will see one of the sup's cut off a prone guy on the water and if you happen to be coming up the ramp carrying a sup then you are going to cop a blast. You have to be mature enough to handle that without it turning into a fist fight.

My most successful technique for avoiding the off water critics is always run while carrying the board on land, I have done this since I was a little kid 40 years ago, its very hard for anyone to engage you if your loping past at 10kmh. Have a fast loading technique for your board and don't hang around in the carpark.

Plenty of waves for everyone and I'm never stopping surfing so dealing with attitude from others without it bothering me is an absolute necessity.

I would like to try some of those breaks in California, your in a good spot there SeaKing, milk those waves for all they are worth,
DK

I have a 8'10 SUP in my quiver & think they're great for small summer swells without much push. What annoys me is when the waves are over head & 4 or 5 guys or more head out on there 10'0 x 32 boats & paddle for every wave. Even if I'm clearly perfectly positioned for the wave. Often they paddle, see me & abandon ship. Kicking their board out in front of me blocking the way, I have to straighten out & I can't get round them back onto the face. Happens a lot.

I have friends who have bad backs or shoulders that SUP has given them a new lease on life. That I understand. But healthy young blokes under 55 taking these boats out into good waves that can be easily surfed on a shortboard. Wobbling poo men catching more than their share due to their boards ability to take off very early really annoys me & I often take off behind them as they pass coz they're so far out on the shoulder going straight.

Point is I think if you discover how awesome surfing is through SUP. Great! How about expanding your boards to encompass boards other than SUP if your not suffering some kind of disability & make the most of the conditions of the day. Rather than dictating what set waves your going to let by for the prone guys simply coz you have the advantage to spot & paddle into waves early.

Do this & people aren't going to give you much grief. I've SUP'ed a lot over the last 2 summers & never had a problem other than a bit of ribbing from my non SUP mates.

yh

SeaKing said..
I am in California san diego area. I have surfed for 50 year total about 3 on a standup board. Sometimes I get a lot of ____ for just being out. I am respectful . don't take all the waves lots of proners get more waves than me. I sit out sets sometimes so everyone can get a shot at a wave and I call out peaks that I can't get to for other surfers. So even stpllsometimes I get __ for just being out. not that I am ever gonna quit but I wonder how is it in Australia?

Ha ha, you get a lot of the same abusive rhetoric just for posting on this forum. Like in the water, best thing is to sort your detractors out in the surf by showing them you have got what it takes!!!!!!!

vee8 said..
most people who complain are kooks or just floaters

as some poor fark is hit the head from some expert bailing their board in two foot sh1t.....vee8 you need to get some cylinders checked genius