Surfers not so welcoming

By The Malibu Times · Wed May 13 2009

On a recent business trip to Los Angeles I had a chance to visit the ever-popular Malibu Surfrider Beach. I had heard so much about it and was really pumped for the visit.

The first thing on my agenda was surfing. My business partner and I located the nearest surfing shop and found the owner and instructors awesome to deal with. Off we went to the "Training" side of the beach, where the break, as I later found out is not the greatest, this was obvious by the large number of surfers at the other end of the beach. In any case, we had a blast and only got chewed out a couple of times from the locals for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It was on my second trip to Malibu that I saw the true colors of some of the locals. This time my son and I went to the other end of the beach where the break was a lot better, unfortunately we didn't realize the "sharks" were there. We got chewed out for taking somebody's wave and threatened that we could get beaten up. I couldn't believe what I was hearing!

So this is what I would suggest. Place signs along the beach, "No Beginners Welcome." This would prevent any hard feelings between the sharks and the tourists.

Laurie Saindon

Prince George, B.C.