A lawsuit hasn’t stopped surf localism in the city of Palos Verdes Estates. Photo: Screenshot
Even after a 2016 lawsuit cracked down on surf localism at Lunada Bay — with hefty fines up to $90,000 — local surfers are still bullying outsiders. We examined records from the city of Palos Verdes Estates regarding localism incidents and found 34 reports dating back to 2009. They prove litigation is never a surefire deterrent. As recently as February of 2026, there were continued reports of localism.
It’s safe to assume that most incidents go unreported – mostly standard mishaps among surfers in the water that occur at most spots – but the available police records reveal some interesting trends. The average number of reports per year rose from 1.29 before the lawsuit to 2.27 afterward, perhaps suggesting that surfers felt more inclined to contact law enforcement once the legal battle began. Reports peaked at nine in 2016, the year the lawsuit was filed, drawing international media attention, and prompting the city to intervene with increased police patrols.
The alleged details outlined by victims and perpetrators in the reports hilariously (and sometimes disgustingly) validate the hyperbole that was depicted in The Surfer, the 2025 Hollywood flick based on the L.A. County surf spot. The vast majority of reports include typical localism, with verbal abuse and intimidation, but others get increasingly loony: flattened tires, fist fights, beer showers, excessive honking, racist and homophobic slurs, death threats, indecent exposure, and using an e-bike as a projectile launcher.
Here are the seven most egregious incidents that we discovered. (All reports are alleged accounts, and the city redacted names.)
Sexual harassment of a photographer
Just a month before the lawsuit, on February 13, 2016, a woman said she was harassed physically and sexually by a local surfer. The victim was taking surf photos on the “patio” — an illegal stone structure that locals had built on the beach — when a man confronted her. He shook up a beer and sprayed it on her face and the camera.
The suspect told the woman, “I saw you on the front page of the LA Times, now you’re done,” presumably referring to the paper’s coverage of Lunada Bay.
Then, he allegedly began sexually harassing the woman, telling her, “It’s easier to get in my wetsuit because you make me hard.”
Then, as she turned around, he exposed his penis to her. In the police report, the woman described the man’s private parts as “white, approximately three inches in length, and flaccid.”
The suspect was described as a white male in his mid-50s, 5’7’’ to 5’9’’ with short blonde hair and a Rip Curl wetsuit. When the police responded to look for the subject, no one present matched the description.
Pay up and get out
On January 19, 2018, a surfer called the cops because, two days after local surfers drove him into the rocks, another surfer, he says, threw her board in front of him while he was surfing. The two parties didn’t agree on who was in the wrong and whether it was intentional, but he ended up severely damaging the local woman’s board.
A torrent of insults followed from others in the lineup.
“You f%#king kook. ”
“You destroyed her board, get the f%#k out of here.”
“What the f%#k are you doing here? You are dangerous.”
“You don’t know how to surf.”
While the man who ran over the board suspected that she purposefully kicked it into his path, the lineup started demanding that he pay for the damage, even threatening to call the cops if he didn’t.
Ultimately, the two struck a deal. The man would pay $600 for the board valued at $700, and he would keep the damaged board, too. Given that he had already been harassed by a group of five surfers on the shore, he called a police officer to facilitate the transaction.
Surf: the pursuit where people aren’t afraid to get in your face.
Don’t be a “flatlander”
On the morning of November 28, 2023, a man was checking the surf on the bluffs when a local approached, informing him that he was not welcome. The instigator called him a “flatlander” and twice challenged him to a fight. Before departing, the subject faced the rear tire of his e-bike towards the man, pulled the throttle, and sprayed him with dirt and rocks.
“Paddle in, I’ll show you what I got”
In a report from February 15, 2025, a man paddled out at Lunada Bay to find three locals surfing the peak and not letting him into the rotation. As the newly arrived surfer waited his turn in line, the surfers threatened him.
“If you paddle in, I’ll show you what I got,” one local said. “I train at Black House MMA, paddle in and you’ll find out.”
The two other locals started calling him a “kook” and the n-word. Note that the victim of the verbal assault was not African American.
It appears that they were successful in keeping him from surfing any waves. Frustrated, the victim left and filed a police report.
Where are my keys?
One surfer reports that he had been hassled by locals for a few sessions in a row. But he didn’t let it deter him from returning. However, on January 13, 2023, he changed into his wetsuit on the beach and stashed his backpack in a bush. Wary of theft, he removed his car keys from the bag and hid them in another location.
An hour later, when he returned, the backpack and the keys were gone. He confronted a local surfer, a male in his 20s, whom he suspected of taking his items. The local initially denied knowing anything about it, then indicated that he saw the backpack about 50 yards north of where it was originally left. While the backpack was retrieved, the keys were never found. It cost $700 to replace the missing fob.
Yup, people really, really love their local waves. Photo: Screenshot
Buy booze, or leave
On December 5, 2015, a man and his friends were walking on the beach at Lunada Bay when an aggressive woman in her 30s, approximately 5’5’’, confronted them. In a threatening tone, she asked them who they knew there and told them to leave. She appeared to be intoxicated and smelled like marijuana.
When they tried to walk past her, she stepped in their path. She did note that they could stay, however, if they bought her alcohol.
Flat tires
On January 19, 2009, a surfer came back to his Mercedes to find all the tires flat. He called the cops.
When the cops arrived, they inspected the tires, which didn’t appear to have any slashing marks. When the officer removed the valve caps, he found that someone had placed little pebbles in each valve and put the cap back on, completely emptying the car’s tires. While the guy was out of a tow truck fee, at least he didn’t have to buy new tires.
