Surfing England and WSF say ‘Do not Surf’

The National Trust has now closed all beach car parks and blocked access, as have numerous local councils around the coastline. Police are checking cars in Penzance for ‘non-essential’ travel, Swansea council has shut Langland, Port Eynon and Bracelet Bay. Bantham car park is shut, as is Putsborough. It is the same right around the coast with more stricter rules coming.

According to Carve, Surfing England and Surfing Wales have both revised their advice to ‘Do not surf’.

This isn’t isolated to the UK. The same happened all over Europe: France, Spain, Portugal, Italy.

Aside from the obvious reasons – following rules on non-essential travel, and 2m social distancing – plus the less obvious (putting strain on local community hospitals if something were to go wrong), Carve has also looked at in water virus transmission.

“There is no data at the moment so we can only go off the research of similar coronavirus,” the magazine states.

“Advice at the moment is that coronavirus transmission through salt water is low. Although other coronas have been shown to survive in raw sewage.

“Most sewage these days is treated to secondary and UV standard which would kill the virus, however if you suspect a CSO has been discharging, please be aware. Water companies should turn on their notifications really so we can all stay informed in strange times.”

Surfing England Advice

The message is clear. Don’t go surfing.

None of us should be travelling other than for the essential reasons listed in the government’s advice. There may be a lucky few who can walk out their door and jump into the sea, but for the vast majority of us who need to travel to the beach, it should now be considered off limits.

This is a tough call to make, but one we should all respect as we collectively fight the spread of COVID-19.

Welsh Surfing Federation

In light of the pandemic that is globally affecting us all, our coastal communities are asking for a simple favour.

Do not come down to surf our beaches no matter how good the surf is. Residents of areas all over Wales are fearful that you are coming into the communities, possibly spreading the virus without realising, all for the sake of you definitely falling off your first wave.

The government has implemented only necessary travel, closed beach car parks and stressed social distancing for a reason. It’s not just to be awkward when the weather is banging, it’s because the hospitals are full and people are dying.

So, let’s put this simply: If you can’t walk there, don’t surf there.