Surviving Shallow Reef Wipeouts

[Rodrigo]

Hello people, and happy new year to all.

I need some advice on surviving shallow reef wipeouts.

I am getting conflicting info from different sources.

Some say it's best to starfish and try and land flat.

Others tell me it's better to curl into a ball with hands behind the head and chin tucked down into the chest.

Any advice would be appreicated as I hate eating coral.

Many thanks,
Rodrigo

[travelzomg]

it realy depends on the way you wipeout...
if its a halfway controlled way, try to back/belly flop flat onto the water so you wont sink in too deep..
as soon as you are in the water, protect your head with your arms...

i dont curl up, because this only pushes your spine out and its even more unpretected than usual.. and hitting the reef with your spine... well....

if you just get smashed of the board, try to protect your head from the start...

and only take your hands off, when you know where your board ist..

[tonylamont]

Agree with travelzomg. I just spent a week surfing in Hawaii and grappled with this same issue myself. Better to take a little more risk of getting hit by the board than risk full-on contact with the reef. So when in doubt, I would fall flat.

That said, unless you are really good, I would avoid really shallow coral. I did fine surfing several breaks where the coral was 4-6 feet deep, even with some pretty big wipe-outs. But I was pretty careful to watch the locals and ask questions before paddling out. Don't know where you are surfing, but in Hawaii there are a lot of breaks where you can really get into trouble if you ride a wave in the wrong direction, or ride it too far.

[IB_Surfer]

Haven't surfed shallow reefs, but in baja the cobblestone bottoms are very shallow. I try to fall as flat as possible, never head first. I've hit the bottom with my shoulder blade and on my arse a few times but never my head. Also, take some ibuprofin on your trip, you're going need some.