Right away

[Tony]

Hey guys, been surfin on the Gold Coast Oz for a year now. got my first shortie for xmas. Just wonderin if someone can explain to me the rules of 'giving way' while catching a wave??? cheers.

[drowningbitbybit]

hi Tony

Just wonderin if someone can explain to me the rules of 'giving way' while catching a wave??? cheers.

In a nutshell - the guy closest to the peak has right of way. Full stop. End of story.

Or to go into it a little bit more - the guy closest to the breaking section has right of way over everyone else further along the line. Even if they're on a longboard and are standing up way before you can even think about it on a shortboard, if you're closest to the peak then you have right of way (but obvisouly a bit of common sense is needed. There's no point in being in the right if you get a 12' longboard in the head).

And second to the right of way - if someone's riding that wave, its your responsibility to get out of their way, even if it means taking a beating under the whitewater

And the right of way thing - sometimes it means you'll miss what ought to be 'your' wave, but thats life. Being in the right place is everything

Although personally I find being in the wrong place is the norm

[surf patrol]

Hi Tony, welcome to Surfing Waves.
Take a look on the main site which explains wave priority in detail.

[Phil]

the problem these days is ALOT of people never follow the rules and will drop in regardless of who has priority

[surferdude_scarborough]

when it comes to right of way if im paddling for a wave i always check if anyone is closer to the break just before i start paddling and again just before im ready to pop up makes sure i dnt drop in on anyone on purpose. but mistakes can happen so stay cool unless someone keeps doin it.

[farmersurfer]

some guy kept dropping in on everyone at widemouth, but no1 cared because he was really really good, all the groms there were licking his berries if i see you again, im gona kick you in the nuts! sorry, been wanting to get that off my chest