Puerto Rico boasts some of the best, most picturesque waves in the Caribbean, and local surfers will do whatever it takes to keep it that way.
Most days the caramel-colored shores of El Mix are like a postcard in motion, with a backdrop of azure A-frame peaks being groomed by offshore winds, framed by palm and almond trees swaying gently along the sand’s edge. In the pristine grasslands of Playuela that front El Mix, you typically don’t see much besides the tropical flora and fauna that reside there.
But today was different. A warm stickiness hung in the afternoon air as throngs of protestors gathered in the dirt parking lot of El Mix. Spanish proclamations blared through megaphones while surfers and local community members waved Puerto Rican flags and signs scrawled with messages saying “Nuestras playas no se venden!” which translates to, Our beaches are not for sale!
At the front of the group, three people banged on tambourines and led a chant as the crowd followed along, shouting and clapping in unison:
“Playuela, sí! Columbus, no!”
Behind the protestors, acres of verdant land sat still and beautiful. Sunlight was trying to poke through the low nimbostratus clouds hanging moodily in the sky above. As I made my way through the masses, looking for local Puerto Rican surfer Dylan Graves, an enormous, charcoal-gray billow rumbled just a few miles away, prompting those with signs to open umbrellas to prevent their messages from bleeding.
When I found Graves, he was echoing the chorus and rhythmically thrusting a Haydenshapes surfboard above his head. On the nose, he’d written “NO COLUMBUS LANDING” in big, bold letters. Behind him in the distance sat a patch of cleared land and a small fleet of yellow bulldozers.
This story is from the February 2017 edition of Surfer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February 2017 edition of Surfer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
60 Years Ahead
We had a whole plan for this year. Funny, right? Surfer's 60 year anniversary volume was going to be filled with stories nodding to SURFER’s past, with cover concepts paying homage to the magazine’s most iconic imagery. Our new Page One depicts something that’s never happened in surfing before, let alone on a prior SURFER cover. And our table of contents was completely scrapped and replaced as we reacted to the fizzing, sparking, roiling world around us. In other words, 2020 happened to SURFER, just like it happened to you.
A Few Things We Got Horribly Wrong
You don’t make 60 years of magazines without dropping some balls. Here are a few
THE LGBTQ+ WAVE
Surf culture has a long history of marginalizing the LGBTQ+ community, but a new generation of queer surfers is working to change that
For Generations to Come
Rockaway’s Lou Harris is spreading the stoke to Black youth and leading surfers in paddling out for racial justice
Christina Koch, 41
Texas surfer, NASA astronaut, record holder for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman
END TIMES FOR PRO SURFING
By the time the pandemic is done reshaping the world, will the World Tour still have a place in it?
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
After decades of exclusive access to Hollister Ranch, the most coveted stretch of California coast is finally going public
What They Don't Tell You
How does becoming a mother affect your surfing life?
Four Things to Make You Feel A Little Less Shitty About Everything
Helpful reminders for the quarantine era
The Art of Being Seen
How a group of black women are finding creative ways to make diversity in surfing more visible