Etiquette Lost!

October 4th, 2009

Etiquette Lost! - Etiquette within surfing has been a losing battle for many a year now! Etiquette in ABay seems almost completely lost! It’s always been competitive to say the least during the main season but not October! The local boys had overcome their exuberant desire to catch every wave and realised that everyone was entitled to snag a wave or two. Alas, there is a new breed of surfer in town, a breed that are not only hungry for waves but appear to have no soul for surfing! It’s a zoo out there, a similiar zoo that hit Hikkaduwa many a year ago! The atmosphere has changed, the smiles are lost. The crowds are now three fold from even a year ago. The civil war is over, the benefits are obvious. Unfortunately, there appears to be a new war, a war for waves. Regular fracas between local and traveling surfer, or traveling and traveling surfer! The harmony and friendly banter replaced by scowls, snaking and drop ins! It would be different if these individuals could actually surf but it seems their forte is that which does not resemble any form of surfing etiquette or ability what-so-ever. Such disharmony has cast a shadow over the once blissful laid back line-up of ABay. It has been compared to a swarm of locusts descending and destroying the crop! Some may say its a sign of the times, that we must expect and accept the inevitable! Yet is complacency acceptable? Surely for those that have done the years of civil war and tsunami destruction we should stand tall for the right to continue enjoying this surfing heaven along with the local crew, and not give it up to a group of soul-less individuals that have jumped on the ever increasing surfing circus! Lets hope the smiles and friendly banter return soon before this beautiful break is swallowed up by the package tour masses and lost in a wave of financial gain!

Entry Filed under: Sri Lanka 2009, Tim's Diary, Tim's Travels