Surf localism in Costa Rica: exploring territoriality among Costa Rican and foreign resident surfers

“Foreign Locals”: Transnationalism, Expatriates, and Surfer Identity in Costa Rica

“…A similar description of the study site can be found in Usher and Gómez (2016). Pavones, Costa Rica, is located in the Southern Zone of Costa Rica on the Pacific coast, near the Panama border.…”

“…Several male participants apologized for cursing, and I do not know whether they would have done that had I been male, although it could have been a response to me being a researcher recording an interview and them not wanting to be too informal or crass. Some participants made sexist comments to me (such as women not being as strong as men or the beauty of an attractive woman riding a wave) or discussed a “rule” about giving girls and women priority in the surf break (described in another paper [Usher & Gómez, 2016]). Much like Olive and Thorpe (2011), this led me to question if they remembered I was female and if I should speak up about the offending statements.…”

“…It is important to note that localism is not found everywhere, nor does it manifest in the same way in every place (Kaffine, 2009; Usher & Kerstetter, 2015a). Several researchers have highlighted surf breaks with mild localism, and note that localism varies depending on waves size, crowd size, and other factors (Beaumont & Brown, 2014; Deats, Martinez, Shearer, & Shearer, 2016; Kaffine, 2009; Usher & Gómez, 2016). The variety of behavior associated with localism can range from locals “dropping in” (i.e., when a surfer takes off on a wave in front of another surfer) on visiting surfers to express dominance and locals regulating the break through the enforcement of surf etiquette, to dirty looks, verbal aggression, and sometimes physical violence (Beaumont & Brown, 2014; Nazer, 2004; Preston-Whyte, 2002; Stranger, 2011; Usher & Kerstetter, 2015a).…”

“…Each community has its own history which makes it unique, and Pavones is no exception. Costa Rican migration, foreign involvement, labor unions, violent armed conflict, and a remote location have shaped Pavones into a unique community with a different trajectory than surf destinations in other parts of the country (Evans, 2015; Usher & Gómez, 2016).…”

“…If foreigners consider themselves to be local surfers, this may carry certain implications based on previous studies. Previous work found resident foreigners enacted more aggressive localism at Pavones, but their perceptions of local surfer identity were not explored (Usher & Gómez, 2016). In other surf destinations in Central America, researchers found foreign resident surfers were more aggressive and enacted heavier localism than indigenous surfers because resident foreigners thought of themselves as local surfers (Krause, 2013; Usher & Kerstetter, 2015b).…”