Waves You CAN’T Surf… (Unless You Pay)

[@DanHarmon123]

Let me know your experiences from any of these places!!

[@branden_cruises]

There is localism in the maldives although they can’t do anything to those that surf the waves. Can pull up and surf no worries. You may get some guy screaming at your from the beach but. No you won’t be shot haha 😅. The surf culture in maldives seems to be pretty open and it’s really the local surfers fighting this case against the big resorts but no police authority involved. The waves belong to all people and not one company can own them is the thought. I have had no issue surfing these waves. Yet.. 😅

[@motivatedtravel]

I just surfed Chickens at double overhead with 6 people, and Cokes with just one other person at about 1.5x overhead. Also surfed pumping Tombstones on my own a couple of times. Maldives isn't always crowded. Does suck when a boat rocks up though.

[@steelheadattack]

In the 90s I went to tavi on a sail boat we asked if we could surf namotu they said yes. then on a sunday when no guests were on tavi we radioed jon and he said come ashore I will take you out in our boat but for only a hour. I got a huge barrel at cloudbreak that I will remember till death with 3 people out. that vision I saw could not be repeated ever .Thank you jon roseman!!! you changed my life

[@Localsonly420]

Dan should make a whole video about Roseman, absolute legend

[@bpz89]

Surfed Salina Cruz last year - definitely correct about not being able to surf Canejo without a guide. Even if you could surf it without a guide, I would highly recommend hiring a guide or staying at one of the camps - it is totally worth it. The guides bust their asses!

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

This is true about the surf guides. No knock against the guides, a surfer will benefit greatly from a guide if you have only a short trip to that area. But that's not the same as beach and wave privatization.

[@davidmorefield]

You give out so much valuable info. Congrats for making a book, hopefully it sells well! Looking forward to more of your adventures.

[@DanHarmon123]

Thanks so much David!!

[@surferdjnj]

I took a boat trip to Maldives. The way they work it, or at least they used to. Boat guests wake up and watch for a 2 hour session of the land based resort surfers. After they leave, the boat trip surfers go out. I just surfed with like 5 guys from my boat the whole 10 days.

[@petelake7373]

Head out at lunchtime. The hotel crew and boat crew are surfed out from the morning sesh. Surfed Macaronis with max three guys every day just from doing this

[@reeceofalltrades3968]

Hey Dan, have you considered bringing out an audio version of your book? I suspect it’s more work than meets the eye. Love the content! 🤙🏽

[@DanHarmon123]

Hey Reece! Thanks mate... Will definitely do it at some point, but yeah as you said, will definitely take a while to narrate it and publish as audio... I'll get around to it though:)

[@mikecrawford5332]

The more I watch your videos the more I want to stay put and just surf my local beachie over the road. It might be shite half the time but no crowds. Your videos are great though. Very honest and informative.

[@DanHarmon123]

Thank you!! Yeah too be honest although I travel so much, my most enjoyable surfs are always at home, when it's head high, onshore with no one out, way less stressful hahah!

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

Don't fall for the negativity. For every great privatized spot, there's many dozens of equally great free spots with just a few people out, at most. A surf vacation can be very healing.

[@jacksonhammill6162]

Also, the book barbarian days taks about the early discovery of restaurants. Pretty sick book if you haven't read it yet.

[@chainsawbars]

It's a good topic to debate. I have just got back 4 days ago from staying 9 nights at Lohi (or Adaaran Hudhuran Fushi which is the name of the resort itself - Lohis is the break). To clarify a few points - there are around a max of 40-50 surfers that stay on the island at any one time. So although the wave is less crowded - you can still have around 20 people on the wave at any one time and for the break itself it would be hard to surf with more people than that. It feels crowded on a small day with 20 out. We got boats to a break opposite a few times (Ninja's a right hand fairly mellow wave) and one day we went to Sultans as the wind was onshore Lohis but slightly offshore at Sultans. Sultans was a circus with people getting run over, snaking, beginners flailing about in the white water, generally poor surf etiquette (around 40-45 surfers in). In fact while there someone got his forearm ripped open (from getting run over - I'm sure that's a rare thing to happen but it happened). Would I go back to the Maldives if I could not stay on a private opened break? No way - anyone can access the waves in the Maldives as you get a boat to the breaks - ie you don't need to be a certain fitness and standard to paddle out back - which adds to the crowds. Lohi's still had issues of people paddling past and snaking but because you get to know the other surfers there they get told not to do it (not by the staff so much but by the other surfers). What happens if a boat pulls up and drops off surfers into the lineup who are not staying? The point is watched all day (more from a safety aspect and to take pics) by the local surf guides so I suspect people would be asked to leave the water. If they didn't I guess it would would escalate to the police being called. But I could not see this happening as the boat owner would be easily identified and either cautioned or fined. Reference freedom to surf and is it right or wrong to privatise a break - there isn't a yes or no answer in my opinion - it depends on the break, the place, the locals, the history, where does the money go and a host of other considerations. Is it fair to have privatised breaks that means a lot of people cannot afford to stay there? How about wave pools - they cost a lot to surf is that fair? Is life fair? After the most waves of any surf trip I have ever had (am now 51) I am 100% in favour of SOME privatised breaks around the world. I'm getting older - my surfing time in the water is less - I've surfed in around 12 countries and often it's the crowds that can ruin many a surf sessions. How many waves in the world are privatised compared to how many waves are not? Personally I'd like to see more waves privatised as I'd rather work hard to earn the $$ so that when I do go away no need to battle the crowds. You end up getting friendly with other surfers as you are not in competion with them. I would not go back to the Maldives to surf unless there were privatised breaks and although not a 'wonderful' thing to have - given how crowded the water can be in some areas it's a practical solution to part of the problem of over crowded breaks.

[@hassanshiruhaan106]

You guys come and stay at the most concentrated area in the Maldives which is by the way 1 atoll among 26. Could you guys please put in to consideration that there are 25 more atolls😅. I even invited Dan to far south where there is 0 crowd. 🙏🙏🙏

[@catalinagomez924]

@@hassanshiruhaan106Maybe the costs can put people off to explore further atolls? I’m not sure, but a trip to the Maldives even on a budget is not cheap and let a lot all the features of the extra features that come along on top of everything that you have paid. I rather surf average waves with no out there!! But that is me! ☺️

[@catalinagomez924]

Great insight! Thank you ☺️ I rather surf by myself or a few average surfers on average waves!! It’s fun and I’m not trying to impress anyone with my poor surfing skills or surf trip list !! 🤪

[@Mr.Steve-O]

I surfed Cloudbreak in 1999 and had to pay USD 300 to go out there from Nadi. An Aussie guy had a boat and took 6 of us out here. It was small 3-4' that day but still fun, some Fijians were coming out from Tavarua on boats to give us grief but there was nothing they could do about it.

[@jerrybow8779]

Surfed tavarua back in 08 while on a boat trip in Fiji, our skipper knew the crew on on the island. Sat morning was guest change over day, it cost us $20us each to cover the cost of the Fijian water man who took us out. They made us sign a legal waver as well saying we couldn’t sue them if we got injured😂😂 3 hours of 4-6ft with 5 of us out!

[@DanHarmon123]

Mental!! Sick you got to surf it back then though!!

[@jeffmilum5858]

Same for me in 08. Guest change over day!

[@petelake7373]

Yeh, just came back from a surf break that was empty, offshore all day and not a single other surfer in sight. Ten to fifteen A frame beachies for a stretch of maybe three k's. Just over head height. Drove there in one day. And that place is... Suddenly I have amnesia.

[@simoncossettini9680]

yes I have a lot of amnesia as well, it seems to arrive when someone asks me where is a good spot and funnily enough I remember clearly when I am on my own ready go surfing or kitesurfing.

[@a1b9c2]

Great channel buddy. You've got some really good, informative videos up. Well done, great work.

[@DanHarmon123]

Thank you so much!!

[@luckyuliveHI]

2 weeks at Lohis, 1.5 wks Kandooma, 3 weeks at Niyama the past few years. Never more than 15+ out, the bigger it got, the less crowded.

[@JohnCocozza]

Tavarua's exclusivity was based on Tribal Fishing Rights. The indigenous tribes to those localities. A way to prevent tribes from conflicting with each other over reefs, fishing, and territories. The foreigners that own Tavarua resort do not own the land. They lease it from the local tribe and part of that leasing agreement is to employ the local indigenous people. As well as donate back to the local community setting up schools, scholarships, churches, etc.. Since the breaks of Cloudbreak, Restaurants, and Tavi Rights were part of the reefs under the zone of fishing rights for that tribe, only the guests of that tribe could surf them. Hence the guests at Tavarua and part of the welcoming and partaking in the Kava ceremony with the locals. The locals of that tribe could surf Cloudbreak and many of them did, partake in session while taking breaks from working as Tavi Boatmen or on the island. Other Fijians just needed to ask that tribe for permission first, which was common as in the case of guests of Namuto being able to go surf at Cloudbreak on the Tavi guest transfer days where the island is usually empty. The tribal fishing rights system worked great and prevented over fishing in areas and degradation of the reefs as to not have massive amounts of boat traffic. That changed when Fijians from other parts of the county wanted to start running surf tours to those waves as a source of income. They constantly lobbied the Fijian government to do away with the Tribal Fishing Rights laws and eventually got them removed and the floodgates opened up, the boats started coming in and the lineup got crowded.

[@andrewtechno6860]

What about occys left in Sumba Indonesia?

[@DanHarmon123]

Great shout!! Might do a separate vid on that one!

[@koro287]

Occy my arse,its got a local name.

[@xwhite2020]

@@koro287 Easy tiger.

[@alwhetstone3123]

But you can surf nihis without paying big $$ if you stay at the metabulos up the hill

[@1235jman]

might also consider the Ranch in california as an exclusive spot

[@tspps.sb805]

I was staying on namotu in 1994 way before Tavarua owned it. It was owned by an Aussie and his Dutch wife. They had a young baby. I remember on a hard side/offshores turn over day we got a ride to Nadi and actually went out with a Momi tribe member after getting permission from the Momi chief. It was really big and washing through from the 2nd reef. Hairy to say the least, especially with just two other guys out.

[@jblo76]

Bro you make great videos, well done. 🤙 Several years ago I stayed at Cinnamon Dhonveli Resort which is on a tiny island that’s home to Pasta Point. The ONLY reason I stayed there was for exclusive access to that beautiful left point. There were at most 10-12 guys out at a time. A few days I had it with 5 or less. I forget what the limit was for surfers at the resort then and not sure if it’s any different today. Although generally I’m a believer in democratizing waves, it would have been a complete nightmare had Pasta been open access to all the “boater” surfers. Definitely torn ethically about this one. But it gives you something to work towards if you’re super keen on experiencing a semi-exclusive quality wave. The resort was expensive but it was by no means astronomical. And there are other more economical lodging options besides the $$$$ over-water bungalows. Btw thank you for not mentioning two other epic privatized point break “resorts” in Mexico. 🙏 They shall go unnamed. ;) Their barrier to entry is not so much cost, but rather a waitlist to get a spot during peak season.

[@squishypush6032]

Thundercloud is one of my fav surf docs of all time. I rented it on Amazon the week it came out

[@davidkooyman2359]

Thanks for this great vid, I knew abouts Tavs but not about Maldives and especially at La Jolla, Oaxaca. Mexico localism is spicy in places like Puerto Escondido, don't have to "pay" to surf but the locals will hustle and make you pay (in other ways) if you interfere with them for sure. WIll check out your book!

[@wilburh2m]

Nihiwatu Island. One of the first privatizations, before tavarua. There is an old Surfers Journal article about the discovery of this island by the owners and their deal w the Sumbawa government to operate this resort at a perfect left slab.

[@DanHarmon123]

Yeah a few people have been saying about this one, might do a whole video on it!!

[@markpyne8354]

Well you might want the right island. Its Sumba not Sumbawa.

[@krusher74]

Its a reef break. Stop calling placrs "slab". A slab is a waves breaking over slab rock.

[@arifprasetyo2906]

SUMBA U mean...not SUMBAWA

[@NadiKyle]

What's happening in Southern Oaxaca is awful, it's only one or two families they do not spread the money in their local community and they plan on privatizing all the points to the north of Selena Cruz as well. None of it is sanctioned by the local community are government is just greed going on there. But as long as there are Western surfers paying in dollars in euros those guys are never going anywhere and more spots will continue to be privatized in Oaxaca

[@jeremyjpegan]

Bro you got stoked on the 20$ Salina Cruz fee!

[@UziMusic]

I reckon in some cases a pay to play situation might make things better..

[@DanHarmon123]

Can definitely work if you've got the cash...

[@UziMusic]

@@DanHarmon123 Only in some situations, I remember in one of your vids about bingin and you were saying its such a tight take off and so crowded its super frustrating, in that situation I'd for sure chuck some standover man some $$ for a solid paddle with 10 others for a few hours..

[@robpolashinski6609]

What happened at Tavernua was total crap because it was sooooo expensive. Cloudbreak is already a long boat ride as it is. However, the situation in Salina Cruz is great due of exclusivity. Keeps the crowds reasonable and the price isn't too bad. Everyone in the lineup is happy and even low level surfers can get the best waves of their life.

[@Fatelvis2]

I am a little surprised they dont offer up a day of week where they are open to the public

[@GistOfItMedia]

I can say that there's a 3rd category of waves that only some people can surf: waves on military bases. The best waves where I grew up were behind the military checkpoint. You learn to make military friends real quick. The alternative is paddling long distances and rolling the dice on sketchy breaks, or surfing consistent breaks that are crowded as fuck. Still worth it but yeah you always gotta pay the toll

[@darylboggs6504]

I’m just gonna say, there’s better waves in the Maldives than the privatised rubbish. Still expensive, but you get to surf many, many different waves using a boat and some local knowledge. Pay for a boat trip. Louis Harris has the best act going in the Maldives. Oh, and we even surfed Jails uncrowded before we set sail. Like somebody else said, the crowds are sheep and all seem to follow each other. Went from like 50 guys in the water to nobody in the space of 15 minutes. Oh, and yeah, Occy’s left aka Nihiwatu in Sumba is possibly the most exclusive and expensive “private” wave on the planet. One of my mates forked out for his honeymoon there, and once it got over 4ft, there was only him and the local surf guide in the water because all the other guests were total kooks on a world class wave. Sigh…

[@williamhanley7031]

Sounds Right. When it's pumping we usually see the ones we see when it's pumping. Funny.

[@stevemcleod7761]

Good content mate i really like your videos keep up the good work. Everything today is about money you pay to do most things it sucks but that's life

[@velianlodestone1249]

There's too many surfers, if you weren't paying thousands of dollars for surfing those waves you'd be battling the crowds at those spots as well.

[@schuchtim]

Sumba got a private wave too in front of Nihiwatu resort

[@wesleychaney9095]

Dan, my new girlfriend says I need to learn how to read. Is your book available yet?

[@wesleychaney9095]

Never mind just watched till the end of the video, definitely grabbing a copy

[@DanHarmon123]

Hahaha! Wicked, hope you enjoy it Wesley :)

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

What happened with the "old" girlfriend, you couldn't read the love letters to the other guy?

[@schreds]

first trip to fiji was the 80s camped at Sea Shell Cove for 3 weeks surfed Tavarua plenty Sea Shell was the closest and the only boats going to Tav's . actually camped on Namotu for 3 days just got dropped off with some water and a bit of food 3prong nothing but flies hermit crabs and a few coconut trees . these daze i stay way clear that side for me the Coral Coast and Waidroka are way better choice some big world class surf if u no where to look . at 62 i can afford to play the game but sure happy i got it early on ..

[@dncrht]

1:08 your spanish improved so much that you instinctively said "cabañas" instead of "cabannas", well done! enhorabuena!

[@DanHarmon123]

Hahaha, Gracias ;)

[@arfriedman4577]

I dont surf. This is interesting there are exclusive waves you pay for. Have fun. In usa we have paid beahes.

[@whatsnextreisen]

Nihi in Sumba is also private I think

[@GiuseppeGaribaldi46664]

Was waiting for that. Maybe Dan will cover it in a later vid. I don’t quite know if the rules remain but I have an inkling that nihiwatu privatisation has changed

[@killerdude1342]

the battle at nihi has started

[@DanHarmon123]

Ahhh Yep!! I wasn't sure if that one was still private! might be worth a separate video though!

[@arashbagheri1437]

If privatisation is done responsibly and for the betterment of local communities in undeveloped nations, I think we should support it.

[@thomastuohy7688]

Please tell me one instance of when privatisation has helped an underdeveloped economy

[@giaktilli]

Hello Dan

[@mauricehayes8997]

We got chased off Cloudbreak in 1988 by heavy Tavarua boatmen who threatened to beat us up! We were staying in the village on Malolo Lailai Island and our local boat driver got so spooked he took us to Namotu instead which we surfed alone. Namotu Island was just a sand atoll then, and the chief of Malolo Lailai village told us that he could arrange for us to get a 99-year lease on the place to develop a surf resort. Still being teenagers, we didn't have the money then. But that's one opportunity I regret not following through with...

[@DanHarmon123]

Wow Maurice! I can imagine that being scary haha...

[@nouse3771]

I got the money - but lost the skills 😂 Edit: for the heavy stuff

[@TheDAVE858]

100s!? 1000s & 10s of 1000s!

[@OspreyVision]

Love ❤️ your videos 📹 Thank you! 🤙

[@DanHarmon123]

Thank you so much :)

[@benclarke8861]

Surfed Kandooma as a guest, still had 20-30 guys out…

[@DanHarmon123]

That's Crazy!!

[@corydrew625]

Me and my brother surfed punta conejo in 2022 without paying a guide. We parked right before the point and walked but it wasn’t for the faint of hearts. The sand was hotter than the seething fires of hell

[@DanHarmon123]

Sick! Yeah I burned my feet bad that day hahah!!

[@corydrew625]

@@DanHarmon123 ya it’s serious.. lol we had a not so great strategy of using one towel to run real quick & stand on but that didn’t last long haha

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

Next time wear your sandals.

[@corydrew625]

@@Tom-and-Jerry-again oh definitely lol

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

@@corydrew625 stuff them in your vest for high tide spots

[@leonardberverena1030]

Good video information 🤙🌊🏄

[@DanHarmon123]

Thank you!!

[@kingck101]

The problem i have is these massive private investment firm ruin local surf culture, their money would be better suited to making artificial surf pools or lake surf platforms with resorts in land locked cities allowing surf culture to grow in places it normally wouldnt

[@taffiejosh]

Nihi Sumba owns Occys Left

[@chefjasonbrown]

I tuly think the property ends at the beach and Oceans belong to us. However being from Santa Cruz area i know how crowded things can get.

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

Drive 20 miles away and nobody is out. The solution to crowds isn't raising prices or even charging at all, it's about options for tourists beyond just a one-stop, all-inclusive at the hotel, single purpose vacation.

[@lyolkinurusov656]

If these resorts are going g to privatize the beaches they need to pay for environmental conservation and protection for these areas

[@peacepuffz]

what about the left at the end of the drifter movie? I think that's private you need to stay at the hotel.

[@PabloGomezveza]

I’ve surfed Lohi’s for 10 minutes(2waves) swimming from a diver’s boat 💪🏾 then the surf guards told me to leave….😂😂😂

[@Flyinghawaiianadventures]

I would love to see it tried in Hawaii 😂😂😂

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

They have a second amendment, even the rich aren't that stupid.

[@garrettbenson943]

Hey Dan love the videos, traveling to Popoyo soon, would you consider the area safe? Cheers!

[@benny2203]

Been there 3 years ago, pretty save 🤷

[@DanHarmon123]

Thanks Garrett! Yeah pretty safe down there :)

[@corydrew625]

It’s safe. I just went last year. It’s crowded tho.. might wanna look up ‘the boom’ hotel chancletas is where you stay. Wayyy less people but wayyy up north. 4 hour drive from Managua

[@tspps.sb805]

Yeah it's safe lol but the crowds at the beachie when it's not big enough for the slabs are hazardous 😂

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

He does a disservice to Mexico surfing. There's only a bout 8 which have some kind of fee to get in or surf, out of the 53 points and several hundred reefs and beach breaks. Of those 7 or 8, about half of them only charge a 5 dollar fee, which doesn't even cover the road maintenance. If they're charging more than that, then don't support them and surf one of the other 45 points, which are wide open, more consistent, and a great vibe, when and if there's actually somebody out.

[@GBLahLah]

Theyll cut your tyres in salina cruz. But ive surfed playa azul point solo

[@DanHarmon123]

Yeah it can be done, but it's sketchy!!

[@Locobeware]

How do the resorts enforce exclusive waves?

[@DanHarmon123]

Not sure too be honest!! But from what I've heard someone paddles out and tells you to go in or something...

[@KulchaShokMuzik]

it happens in the USA as well during summer hours in many beaches

[@thomasrebotier1741]

Not very different from heavy localism I reckon. Surfing is too awesome and becomes a victim of that.

[@ichorousmedia]

With how crowded barra looks I'm extremely surprised to hear this news. I would be pist as hell if I paid $200 just to get snaked by a bunch of pros trying to get clips

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

It's a 5 dollar entrance fee for the road maintenance and the free showers and the bathrooms which have a person cleaning them everyday and are practically the nicest, cleanest, well stocked and maintained restrooms in all of Mexico. The restroom is really big and has it's own building. The community restaurant at the beach, yes, it is fully owned by the community as a collective, is great, has great prices and the portions are double what you would normally get for the price. Where did you come up with $200 ?? .... at barra it's $5.

[@ichorousmedia]

@@Tom-and-Jerry-again watch the video , guess he was talking about conejo, not all points

[@NadiKyle]

Commodification of nature. Imagine if you weren't earning a dollars or Euros there would be no way you could ever afford to serve these waves. Classism

[@DanHarmon123]

Yeah good point! Would be impossible with weaker currency!

[@rboz4637]

haha - google founder own majority interest in Tavarua!

[@adlene5961]

Should we pay for breathing the air ? I guess one day we will !!!!

[@calvinnoonan]

I worked in the Maldives on a charter yacht and tried surfing Pasta Point and anchoring my dinghy on the shallows but got shouted at and told to go by a few of the staff. On the waves like cokes, honkis and chickens that are free to Surf, if you're staying at one of the resorts with the private waves and then they drive you to one of those free to surf waves the locals will tell you to get out. They're not very bad to the tourists but understandably they're angry some of their best waves are taken by these resorts.

[@anthonyoneill5099]

How ridiculous that’s these private companies can hold money over these natural resources. As a clause you should be able to get a full refund if you have paid a lot of money to stay at these resorts and get no waves due to conditions. Imagine paying thousands of $$ and it’s onshore 2 foot and shit for your whole stay. Definitely don’t agree with this as no one should be allowed to own a wave for financial gain.

[@SabrinaDacosta]

Yeah well that’s not how it works

[@Disturbentz]

I like the idea of private. If you can’t afford it, just save up your money and it becomes that much more special. If it’s not private than every kook in the world wants to go there on their foamie dropping in on you.

[@corydrew625]

Btw me & my brother are Italian so might be why nobody bothered us @ conejo. We can pass for Latinos lol

[@DanHarmon123]

Hahaha fair enough ;)

[@supdawgie]

Looking bronze dude nice tan

[@MeYouMusic]

I would be pissed off if I was a local surfer and my spot got privatized. Also who decides on the legality of this??

[@carlosaramosss8166]

Obviously each country' s government...

[@MeYouMusic]

@@carlosaramosss8166 okay?

[@DanHarmon123]

Yeah I think it's done by government of the respective country, but not always by the book from the sounds of it...

[@MeYouMusic]

@@DanHarmon123 how often are things done by the book with politicians 😂

[@carlosaramosss8166]

@@MeYouMusic yeah, they bend and twist everything at their convenience

[@francoisrossouw1656]

Pay to play

[@martincallaghan6563]

Tav Island doesn’t have to close just charge people a reasonable price instead of three times what They should be charging I am very lucky to have travelled to all these places before this bullshit started

[@felix-antoinegodin8269]

G-land is also a pretty text-book case privatisation

[@DanHarmon123]

Hey mate!! I didn't know that was privatised actually!!

[@krusher74]

It's not ,this guy obviously doesn't understand the words meanings of in "textbooks privatisation". It's not exclusive you don't have to stay at the camps to surf there. you can walk in motorbike in or boat in and freely surf gland

[@DHsharks]

If no one pays then perhaps they go out of business and becomes free again 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

Plenty of stupid rich people support them. Let them have their temporary time. I surf alone.

[@dreammaker9642]

Locals keeping their break private I can get behind but some places where Colonizers keep locals from their breaks is kind of disgusting to me especially when you consider the views of these colonizing countries on immigration. You just can’t have the cake and eat it too, never ends well but hey things resolve themselves eventually.

[@Jason-TheChad-Muska_circa1995]

You cant own the water. Only access to the water.

[@greaseball2425]

Man it's like you want to be mad about the privatization of these amazing spots but, it seems it does help the communities around the spots with the kick backs. I don't know, the whole thing is crazy to me. The mega Rich 🤑 always getting pampered. I just can't stand the entitled pricks out there who call the cops on you for doing nothing but trying to live and have fun.

[@justinsmith4562]

You talk as if Fijian locals actually surf hahaha

[@MrJeanelgato]

I think the idea that all waves should be accessible is a very naive western ideal and indicative of selfish surf mentality. Surf tourism is by nature exploitative and self serving. Surfers do not add that much to local infrastructure when staying at cheap surf camps or drive in by boat or car for “strike missions” add very little to the locals living in the immediate area. Making waves for paying customers only not only limits crowds and unwanted foreign investors taking away from local communities but allows the resorts to plow money back into the local infrastructure. Tavarua provided nearly 2 million dollars in fresh water, study loans and infrastructure cash which is now lost virtually over night. In Fiji as a case study the rights were not shady as you suggest but based on villages have exclusive access to reefs for resource management and the resort was party to this. Mexico also an only allows local guides to surf so thus giving locals access to cash that visiting surfers would otherwise not spend in the community.

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

Not even close - all rationalizations. A pick your poison strategy. Tell that to surfers who spent lots to get there and will spend every dime they have left at the local eateries - maybe you don't surf, so you don't know, but it builds up a large appetite.

[@georgelamb8074]

If I had that it would be a flip of the coin (heads you’re in tails you’re out) The first 12 get to flip the coin, the rest of them sit and watch 👍🤡👍

[@DanHarmon123]

Hahahah!

[@bonitoludi]

And if you pay, you can't surf either, because other 20 also pay

[@DanHarmon123]

Yeah I think they cap it in the Maldives, but the point I surfed in Mexico had around 20 people out...

[@jamesdryden8454]

I think it's great to privatize a few spots here and there. For someone like me who is past the age of being able to travel around without any worries beyond food, shelter and maybe some beer. I only have a week out of the year to take a surf trip and i work my ass off to do so, the last thing i want to do is stress and paddle battle a bunch of young dorks on my vacation. I'd gladly pay a little extra to avoid that situation. Also there are environmental benefits to not letting everyone have access to certain spots. Im sure these private spots are well taken care of.... Not saying all surfers are disrespectful, but there are definitely people who will trash a place and not think twice.

[@jamesdryden8454]

Also I forgot to mention I appreciate all the videos you make and I can't wait to read the book.

[@jamesdryden8454]

Oh and one more thing. I think that locals should have access during the best swells and or at least have a cut of the profits to improve the area

[@DanHarmon123]

Hey James!! Thanks for your perspective... Can totally understand that! And yeah the environmental aspect is a really good point also!! Hope you enjoy the book :)

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

A vacation does have to be at the pay spots. You can surf with just you and a few others at many places. Great waves, nobody out, great locals, great food, great accommodations - you just need to know where. This guy uses google. If you go there and talk to the locals, they know more than google does when it comes to a surfing vacation.

[@johnjacobson6707]

Waves should be privatised, that way the quality of the experience can be controlled and you won’t get excessive crowds. Just look at snapper rocks or most other breaks. It just ends up being the most aggressive locals bullying other people out of waves…

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

Control freak? Let them surf together at snappers then. I surf alone and when I don't I refuse to use their money to buy my freedom.

[@johnjacobson6707]

@@Tom-and-Jerry-again I think the term control freak is unfair. When you think about it, how many waves do you think you can catch during a session at a decent break if you aren’t at the top of a hierarchy at a local break? South Australia and north shore Hawaii are great examples of this. If the numbers are limited everybody who surfs will have a better experience and there will be less agro. Not to mention that money can be used to be put back into the local community. I would say it’s actually unethical that people just use a local resource and not give back. It’s pretty selfish when you think about it.

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

​@@johnjacobson6707 Yes, back into the local community is what surfers do and have done. I have surfed places in reomote areas 3o or 40 years ago where not a single kid in the beach town wore shoes - many of them near naked because they didn't even have clothes, roads all dirt, no stores, no eateries, no electricity, no constructed houses, just huts. No nothing really. Today some of these places have paved streets, hotels, stores, electricity, constructed houses, everyone with shoes, the list goes on.... I want to be clear, it wasn't the gov't or the resources from the town, or generous people from afar - it was the traveling surfers who brought up that from so far down, pulling those towns up from the absolute bottom. I remember, during this 3 decade process at one of these beach villages, there was a time when the traveling surfers and town's people ran into a big problem. Everyone used the bathroom back behind the town in the forest and the smells had gotten beyond tolerable all around and even up to the beach and waves themselves. The place had already made great strides and progress by them but there was no concept of public bathrooms and only some of the newer construction houses had them. The town did not understand community organization. It was the surfers who gathered the townspeople together, to begin the public restroom project. 2 yrs later, everyone had a place to go. So there is your example, - it is not money paid to fancy hotel owners, who don't surf, aren't from the local community and don't care about anything but their own profit. The foreigners own those privatized beaches, it's not money for the town or the local communites. Sure, they hire the locals to work in their hotels, now that those local people sold out their lands long ago and have no other options. Some communities prevented the privatization and refused to let the foreigners come in and buy them out - those are where it's worked out and both poor and rich surfers are able to surf in those places, with a great vibe and friendly crowds. The big money surf camps are the opposite and just bring in crime and snobby attitudes. You think the money in those places goes to the local community, but it does not. You asked how many waves I can catch? Just a month ago, I surfed just 30 min. outside of Salina Cruz (where the video mentioned), at a spot with at most 5 surfers out at anytime during the day. I surfed dawn patrol, nobody out. I surfed in the very late afternoon, nobody out. I surfed midday, 5 out. That day I got 25 waves and that doesn't include the 3 or 4 I wiped out on. I'm talking point break with tubes and so long, you MUST walk back to be able to get that many waves, they are so long. Go there and live there and travel around, don't just sit in your fancy hotel, travel and find out. It's not what they tell you at the tourist info booth or what the surf guides say. It's not what the internet says, it never is. I've seen the videos on the internet, for the best surf spots in the world, there are no videos and when there is, it looks like junk. The internet is the foreigners, they don't want to the truth to be known, because they want to get in there and buy the land up before the local communities and traveling surfers take back what's always been theirs.

[@doublestrokeroll]

While I don't agree with it, I have more respect for locations which do that than I do for any kind of localism. Simple fact is, it's their wave so if they want to privatize it's up to them. I would just hope that it's something the majority agreed to and not just corruption based where the money ends up in only a few hands at the top of the government. If the benefits are reaching the broader community and that community feels those benefits are better for the people than if the waves were to be open to all then, I don't have a problem.

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

Rich foreigners who don't even surf run the privatization of breaches and waves in almost all cases. Sure, they employ a few locals, locals who would have owned their own hostels and eateries, if their parents and gov'ts hadn't sold out to the rich foreigners.

[@doublestrokeroll]

@@Tom-and-Jerry-again Possibly. Ultimately it's their choice though.

[@Michael-nq3vn]

Add punta minta to this list, owned by bill gates and Saudi Arabia prince

[@BigPoppieSeed]

The very best wave in my hometown is on a 6,000 acre cape, completey restricted access because of a military base. They will not even let you access by boat... even if your feet never hit the beach. I know this. I got arrested for it, AT GUN POINT, and my boat was confiscated... never got it back. Total bullsh*t

[@DanHarmon123]

Wow mate, that's insane! So no one can ever surf it?

[@BigPoppieSeed]

@@DanHarmon123 Correct.

[@marco_s3025]

​@@DanHarmon123not allowed. zero tolerance

[@marknasca4315]

No money no funny

[@Tom-and-Jerry-again]

I surf alone, no charge, just some gas or a bike ride to get there.

[@eatonderidder2489]

whos gonna tell you you cant paddle out?

[@UziMusic]

Park some buoys in the takeoff zone, chains, nets, have a guy on a jetski harpooning boards..

[@DanHarmon123]

Scary locals hahah ;)

[@eatonderidder2489]

@@DanHarmon123 you should’ve mentioned Mauritius in your gnarly local video 😅

[@whosagooddog5369]

Just Google pronunciation man.

[@tylernathan7985]

Folks who cancel their 50,000 trip because they will not be alone on a break don’t deserve to use said break