Surf Advice: Respect

Learn to respect the 'line up', an informal line of surfers, particularly at 'point and reef breaks' where each surfer waits their turn with the surfer whose turn it is next sitting deepest. The line up can break down if one or more surfers consistently paddle inside those surfers waiting their turn. Such behaviour will cause the 'line up' to break down turning the session into a free for all.

Beachbreaks tend to feature multiple breaks with several take off areas therefore with more waves for everyone but even at beach breaks the line-up exists at each of the various peaks along the beach.

If you are surfing a peak where you have an option to go right or left you must communicate with other surfers in the line-up your preferred direction to avoid 'drop-ins' and unridden waves. At some breaks you may be able to paddle out into a position that gives immediate access to the inside take-off position, you should not use this artificial inside positioning to jump the queue. Doing this is poor etiquette and will lead to bad feeling among your fellow surfers. Instead, either let the surfers already sitting and waiting to take the waves they want until the line up is clear, or paddle wide to the outside and move into position along with everyone else.