I tend to surf at Mermaid Beach most of the time.  The waves are certainly not the best the Gold Coast has to offer, by a long shot.  The main reason I surf here though is to avoid the crowds.  Its a funny thing, surfing and crowds.  There is not a surfer in the world who professes to enjoying surfing in an overly packed line up.  Yet as an observation, we often needlessly exacerbate crowding through sheepish behaviour (Ie. Following the pack). 

On any given day at Mermaid, there will be at least 3 or 4 peaks.  Typically only 1 is being surfed, and by many surfers.  I’ll always have a look before jumping in, and pick a different one to surf on.  The quality of wave and the number of people on each peak will all play into my calculations.  I’ll typically trade some degree of quality for a smaller crowd, but thats just me.  I’ll also often walk up to a kilometer in either direction to find the wave I’d like to surf.  As soon as I catch a wave though, someone from the pack surfing the other wave will invariably paddle over to join me.  Heaven knows why they were not there already, the wave had been breaking there all day.  Obviously they just didn’t have the imagination or intelligence to realise the wave was there, before I caught one.

I’m contantly amazed also by the number of surfers who arrive at the beach and do not look for a wave. Rather they just paddle out to the closest group of surfers assuming that will be where the best waves are.  I’ve had days when I was the only person in the water, with peaks forming all up and down the beach, yet an additional surfer will come and sit on my shoulder.  On these occasions, I just paddle to the next wave and continued my session there, wondering at the other person’s intelligence all the way.

But witnessing this kind of behaviour day in day out begs the question;  What happened to the spirit of exploration in surfing?  Where did it go?  When was it replaced by such sheepish behaviour where we just follow the crowd?  Perhaps I am just a little different to most surfers and enjoy an uninterrupted surf.  Perhaps most of us actually enjoy the hussle of a crowd.  I don’t know.  I do think this pattern of behaviour is weird though.

Here is a thought too, for a 2009 New Years Resolution.  Everytime you go to the beach for a surf, spend some time on the beach observing the waves before you paddle out.  You may find a better wave if you look, you’ll definitely catch more waves if you find a less crowded one.