SURFERMAG ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
The Dirt:
The town of Malibu is kept small by the lack of a sewage system but all those leeching septic systems run straight to Malibu Creek, which runs straight into the ocean which makes the ocean along the point at Malibu one of the most consistently polluted stretches of beach in all of California.
Malibu surfers regularly get sick from surfing at Malibu. Glowing sore throats are common and it is thought that in the 90s, a visiting surfer from Huntington Beach contracted a heart muscle virus from Malibu and died of myocarditis.
Misconceptions:
When outsiders think of Malibu they think of swimming pools and movie stars, wealth and glitz. Some of that is true, but for the most part, Malibu has done a very good job of maintaining its low-profile, small-town flavor while sitting within 20 miles of the huddled millions of the Los Angeles basin. Malibu is perhaps the best preserved coastal town in all of southern California. Some of that has to do with the extremely high cost of land and housing – what one surfer calls “economic cleansing” – but mostly it has to do with Malibu’s lack of a sewage system. All homes and businesses in Malibu are on septic systems, which limits the number of homes and businesses that can be built, and keeps Malibu a small town.
Nostradamus:
As much or more than any surf spot in California or the world, Malibu has been victimized by the 21st Century. Now that surf predictors can forecast a swell just after the leopard seal farts in Antarctica – and with at least two video cameras teletransporting crowds directly into the lineup – surfing Malibu is a metaphor for life in general in Los Angeles County: Crowded, tense, frustrating.
The population of Los Angeles County increases by 100,000 a people a year, which does not bode well for the crowds at Malibu. On crowded weekends, the place is a feeding frenzy of surfers of every stripe scratching for any energy they can get.
Surfing etiquette is almost non-existent as surfers who have been surfing for a couple of hours drop in on surfers who have been surfing the place for 30 years.
Malibu has set the pace for the surfing world in other ways: shorter boards, style, hot dogging. But if Malibu is the shape of things to come for the rest of the surfing world, then the rest of the surfing world is about to have problems.
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READER COMMENTS
Tue Jun23, 2009, 12:45 AM
I started surfing Malibu in 1966. I pretty much stopped getting in the water there around 1978. The problem? Assholes: Very young, very rude, very entitled. They made sure the vibe changed to match their conceit, and that same attitude has insured that Malibu surfrider outshines all southern California surf spots in ugly intensity. Mickey Dora? I remember him well. He hardly surfed. He was a drug addled little thief,(though he could still surf like a bastard when he felt the urge)and it was because of his confused state of mind and a clear personal frustration that he fucked with other surfers, not because he was some cool surf pioneer that was robbed of "his" waves. As to surfing etiquette at the points being non-existent, I say, good. The assholes out there started the trend 40 years ago. they're all just surfing in the Kharma of their own shitty medicine.
Sat Jul11, 2009, 8:17 PM
Why is it that degradation of 3rd and 2nd point is never mentioned.Two of the finest hollowest swell south spots on the coast.If you can find old footage you will see it is NOTHING like it used to be .There is more than a water quality problem.The wave is disappearing more each year .Check out the coastal records project of surfrider beach from 1972 to 2009 the beach is gone and so are the perfect waves.Those 2 points were machine like winding quality .This year the bottom of 2nd you might catch a couple of shoulders. pat conway
Fri Jul24, 2009, 8:51 PM
If there is one spot in So Cal that I would have loved to grow up at in the 30's/40's, it's Malibu. I've been surfing there since I was 8 and even though I live 20 minutes away in Venice, I'd rather surf the pier. The vibe there sucks now, a bunch of straight legged old men, "Soul'd Out" groms about 10 years behind in thier fashion statements, and even the girls who can't surf to save thier lives seem to be snakes these days...
Mon Aug 3, 2009, 10:30 PM
TomR sizzles! His steaks are the best. Decker Creek still drums the vibe.
Wed Sep30, 2009, 6:01 PM
Malibu has a few things going for it that ruin it. Easy access, and an easy tame paddle out and soft friendly surf. there are so many better surf experiences to be had around the world, but not many where you can surf in the morning, chillax in your house and grab some grub, and then be a sell-out in a suit by noon. Selling real estate, or an image to movies and print. Sarlo? come on that moron snakes everybody with his over-amped gorilla squat barking all the way down the line. Wow that sounds like fun, snake three guys then yell at people the rest of the wave cause you think they are going to snake you. Total Combat. As for Matt Rapf, he might be a decent realtor and decent guy, but surfer? ah no-- he pretty much sucks. No where is it written that this thing they call the united states will live in perpetuity. Malibu was majic before that dumb bitch so called "owned it" in the early 1900's.
Sun Oct 4, 2009, 11:49 AM
So it is true, bodyboarding isn't allowed? What a piece of &@#§. I've never seen this. Pipeline allows it, but not 3 feet Malibu? Oh well, they can keep their over rated, over crowded, over cool attitude and snake themselves in "peace".