Invented in Hawaii, surfing gained popularity in the United States and Australia from the 1950s to become a global phenomenon. Practiced in more than 150 countries, it is spread throughout the world through the media and tourism. Surf tourism involves traveling from one’s primary residence to a destination where the tourist expects to catch waves, with or without a board (this is referred to as body surfing or body boarding in particular). People who engage in this form of adventure tourism may be avid surfers, more occasional surfers or beginners who intend to learn to surf during their stay.
A Californian imagination
For the general public, surf tourism is associated with exotic symbols and images that have been manufactured by Californian production houses. Columbia Pictures in 1959 and Paramount Pictures in 1961 popularized surfing among the middle class through films promoting travel and escape for a summer. However, the film The Endless Summer directed and produced by Bruce Brown in 1966 achieved the greatest success in cinemas. Spectators discover two Californians who travel the world in search of the perfect wave: a wave they find in South Africa. Beyond the apparently innocent nature of this “surf safari” or “surfari”, the film is imbued with ancient colonial ambitions.
Californians explain to people on the African continent that waves are untapped resources that can be named and tamed. This cultural domination of the West over populations from less economically wealthy countries permeates surf tourism throughout the decades to come. For example, since the 1970s and 1980s, French people have traveled to Morocco to slide on long-distance crashing waves, while Australians have traveled to Indonesia, and Californians have visited the Mexican coast. This proliferation of Western surfing towards Africa, Asia and Latin America was made possible in particular by easier access to international travel and by the wealth gaps between visitors and hosts.
Strong local pressure
Indonesia, for example, became a surfing mecca after Australians began exploring the waves of Bali and the Mentawai Islands, two territories with very modest standards of living in the 1970s and 1980s. Local tourism infrastructure improved. are developing to meet this demand, transforming previously isolated regions into tourist hubs. Today, spots like Uluwatu in Bali, or Padang Padang in Sumatra, are renowned worldwide, attracting surfers of all levels.
Morocco is another example of an economically more modest country, having seen strong growth in surf tourism. With spots like Taghazout, this country has attracted a European clientele looking for affordable sun and waves. This phenomenon has stimulated the local economy, but has also raised questions related to environmental impact and tourist pressure in formerly unspoiled areas.
The problems of overtourism in the coastal environment
If surfing is often seen as an activity in harmony with nature, the rise of mass tourism has led to problems of cohabitation between local surfers and vacationers. Overtourism refers to the negative impact caused by excessive tourist influx, affecting both the natural environment and local communities.
One of the main reactions to surf overtourism is localism, a dissuasive practice where local surfers appropriate waves in response to the arrival of visitors. This phenomenon is particularly exacerbated in places where surfing has become an economic engine. For example, in the 1970s and 1980s, incidents of violent localism were common in Hawaii as locals protested against the proliferation of surfing competitions and the arrival of professional athletes from Australia. Localism is present in many countries today. It is found in very specific places, such as Maroubra near Sydney, or Vieux-Boucau in New Aquitaine. These places are not systematically prohibited for beginners, but there can be significant conflicts during periods of tourist overcrowding.
These conflicts of use are sometimes exacerbated by surf schools. Although they play an essential role in the initiation of beginners, they also pose cohabitation challenges. The proliferation of schools has led to the saturation of surf spots during the high tourist season. The Côte des Basques beach in Biarritz is a striking example, because it becomes overcrowded in the summer season, which leads to difficult cohabitation between experienced surfers, surf instructors and novices who produce repeated errors. Confrontations are often marked by a feeling of frustration among experienced surfers, who see waves taken over by groups of beginners who are unaware of safety rules.
What can public authorities do?
Faced with these issues, public initiatives have been put in place to guide the management of surf tourism towards sustainability. For example, on the island of San Jose, the Costa Rican government has established marine protected areas and regulated tourist activity to preserve the coastal environment. In a context where learning to surf is a lucrative commercial activity, local authorities have gradually put in place regulatory systems aimed at limiting the number of surf schools and making access to the practice more difficult.
Most municipalities in the southwest of France use management tools such as the Public Service Delegation (DSP) or the Temporary Occupation Authorization (AOT) to grant surf schools the right to teach for remuneration on the beaches. Environmental awareness programs have also been launched to educate tourists and encourage responsible behavior towards beaches and the ocean.
Too rare devices
Despite these still rare initiatives, most coastal regions suffer from relative inaction from public authorities in the face of increasing environmental and social problems linked to surf tourism. In Fiji, for example, the government deregulated the tourism industry by decree in July 2010. This decree liberalized access to surf spots and ended the practice of granting exclusive access through licenses, which was previously based on traditional indigenous rights to coastal areas and adjacent reefs.
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Since then, tourist infrastructures have been built without any real consideration for their long-term ecological impact – just as in Morocco, regulations on surf tourism remain insufficient. Through deregulation, or lack of regulation, these countries allow foreign investors to appropriate coastal land to develop hotel complexes, often to the detriment of local populations who receive little economic benefit.
However, there are places, such as Santa Cruz in California, where citizen and association initiatives are taking action to protect beaches and their coastal environments. One such initiative is the Save Our Shores association, which encourages residents and tourists to respect beaches, with communication campaigns against plastic pollution and regular beach cleaning efforts.
In sum, the development of surf tourism has brought considerable economic benefits to many coastal regions, but it has also generated environmental and social challenges. Between localism, conflicts of use and ecological pressure, the management of this phenomenon requires an integrated and sustainable approach, where public authorities, local actors and tourists must collaborate to preserve the very essence of this sport so connected to nature .
This article is published as part of the Science Festival (which takes place from October 4 to 14, 2024), and of which The Conversation France is a partner. This new edition focuses on the theme “ocean of knowledge”. Find all the events in your region on the site Fetedelascience.fr.
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