Surf Revolt

New York’s Congestion Toll and California’s Highway Pricing Experiments Raise the Cost of Getting to Public Beaches for the Commuters Who Can Least Afford the Premium Bohiney.com | The London Prat LOS ANGELES / NEW YORK – The California Department of Transportation has been studying value-pricing approaches for major highway corridors as a congesti

From Localism to Environmental Activism to Resistance to Corporate Capture, Surfers Have Always Known That the Best Government Is the One That Gets Out of the Water Bohiney.com | The London Prat SAN CLEMENTE / MALIBU, Calif. – There is a moment in every dawn patrol session when the sun has not yet risen, the […]

The California Environmental Quality Act, Designed to Protect the Environment, Is Being Deployed Against Surf Camps, Coastal Retreats, and Low-Impact Recreational Development Bohiney.com | The London Prat BIG SUR / SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The California Environmental Quality Act, enacted in 1970 as one of the foundational environmental protection stat

California’s Legal Framework Offers White Sharks Full Protection While Offering Surfers Bureaucratic Process: The Political Economy of Marine Predator Policy Bohiney.com | The London Prat HUNTINGTON BEACH / SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA – The great white shark that closed the Vans Jack’s Surfboards Pro in Huntington Beach in April 2026 was doing what great w

The Recurring Crisis of Bacterial Contamination at Southern California Surf Breaks Reflects a Infrastructure Investment Deficit That Government Has Systematically Failed to Address Bohiney.com | The London Prat LOS ANGELES / SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The water quality problems at Southern California surf breaks are among the most thoroughly documented an

Business Licenses, Liability Insurance Mandates, and Permit Requirements for Surf Schools Create Barriers That Protect Established Operators at the Expense of New Entrants Bohiney.com | The London Prat SANTA MONICA / VENICE BEACH, Calif. – The simplest proposition in surfing is this: someone who knows how to surf teaches someone who does not. The e

Parking Fees, Day-Use Charges, and Access Restrictions at California’s Coastal State Parks Convert a Public Resource Into a Revenue Source at the Expense of Regular Surfers Bohiney.com | The London Prat SAN ONOFRE / MALIBU, Calif. – Lower Trestles, one of the best and most celebrated surf breaks in the continental United States, is accessible [&hel

The Cost of Entry Into Surfing Is Rising as Import Duties on Foam Blanks, Resins, and Finished Boards From Asia Hit Working-Class Surfers Hardest Bohiney.com | The London Prat SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. – Surfing has always presented itself as a democratic sport – one wave, one board, open ocean, no ticket required. That self-image is […]

Decades of Regulation Have Created an Agency That Controls Coastal Development, Beach Access, and Surf Culture While Answering to Nobody Who Actually Paddles Out Bohiney.com | The London Prat SAN FRANCISCO / MALIBU, Calif. – The California Coastal Commission was established in 1972 with a genuinely important mission: to preserve public access to Ca

The Corporatization of Surf Culture From Quiksilver to Lexus Has Obscured the Anti-Establishment Ethos That Made the Sport What It Is Bohiney.com | The London Prat HUNTINGTON BEACH / TRESTLES, Calif. – Surfing was born as an act of defiance against the structures of conventional society. The original California surf culture that emerged from Malibu

Manhattan Beach Pier Has Been A Surf Spot Since The 1930s, And Should Stay One Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The decades-long debate over where Californians can legally surf, particularly the periodic state and local efforts to […]

Lucas And Nollan Both Apply; The Coastal Commission Will Eventually Have To Pay Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — The 2026 California Coastal Commission’s continuing struggle to balance climate-driven coastal retreat policy with property-rights jurispru

Unanimous California Supreme Court Ruling Limits Manufactured Jurisdiction Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The April 23, 2026 unanimous decision of the California Supreme Court in Shear Development Co., LLC v. California Coastal Commission, which sharply

3,500 Access Points, 4,600 Acres, And Several Decades Of Authority Creep Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — The California Coastal Commission’s 50th anniversary in 2026, formally honoured by a January resolution from Senator John Laird and Assemblymem

Income Tax Plus $15 Per Day Is The Definition Of A Regressive User Fee Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. SAN ONOFRE, Calif. — The State Parks system’s continued imposition of paid parking fees at popular surf breaks including Trestles, Doheny, and […]

Mean High Tide Line Is Public Per The Coastal Act; Some Owners Have Other Ideas Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. MALIBU, Calif. — The decades-long pattern in which Malibu beachfront property owners have used a variety of tactics to deter, obstruct, […]

Outcomes, Not Regulatory Layers, Are What California’s Failing Beaches Need Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Surfrider Foundation’s annual Beach Report Card, which assigns letter grades to California beaches based on water quality testing, regularly id

$4,000-$8,000 Per Year In Compliance Costs Before A Single Lesson Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration’s recent enforcement push against unlicensed surf instructors operating informally on California bea

0.001% Of State Emissions, 100% Of The Mavericks Tow-In Safety Stack Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. VENTURA, Calif. — The California Air Resources Board’s continuing aggressive expansion of its regulatory authority over small marine engines, two-stroke watercraft, and now,

Department Of Insurance Did Not Mandate Exclusions; Insurers Added Them Anyway Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. OCEANSIDE, Calif. — The California Department of Insurance’s quiet pressure on private property insurers to deny or limit coverage for surf-related water entry from

The Prior Appropriation Doctrine That Governs California Water Rights Was Not Designed for Ocean Swell Management Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat California Water Law and the Ocean: The Prior Appropriation Doctrine’s Coastal Limit CALIFORNIA — California’s water rights system is built around the prior appropriation doctrine — “first in time, fir

When a Governing Body Controls Who Can Compete, Where, and for How Much, It Is Not Serving the Sport Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat The WSL’s Corporate Control of Professional Surfing: A Libertarian Assessment LOS ANGELES — The World Surf League controls the professional surfing ecosystem in ways that would be recognized in any […]

Federal Immunity From Environmental Accountability Has Made Some of California’s Best Surf Zones Toxic Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat What the Military Did to San Diego’s Surf: Federal Environmental Immunity and Its Costs SAN DIEGO — The United States military operates extensive installations along the Southern California coast, and the legacy

The Coastal Environmental Framework That Prevents Some Development Enables Other Development Through Permitting Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat California’s Environmental Regulations: Inconsistent Protection for Surf Breaks CALIFORNIA — California’s environmental regulatory framework — the California Environmental Quality Act, the Coastal Act, t

The Unmanned Aircraft That Films Surfers Without Their Knowledge or Consent Is a Property Rights and Privacy Question Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Drones Over Surf Breaks: The Airspace That Nobody Has Ruled CALIFORNIA — Commercial drones, film production drones, real estate photography drones, and recreational drones now routinely fly over Ca

When Government Subsidizes Artificial Waves for the Wealthy While Neglecting Coastal Access, Something Has Gone Wrong Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Surf Parks and Public Money: Why Government Should Protect Natural Access, Not Build Artificial Alternatives CALIFORNIA — The proliferation of commercial surf parks — artificial wave pools that cha

The Democratization of Swell Information Has Crowded the Lineup — and It Is a Warning About What Surveillance Does to Commons Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Surfline’s Cameras and the Tragedy of the Surveilled Commons MALIBU, CA — The economist Garrett Hardin described the tragedy of the commons: when a shared resource is open […]

The Research on Marine Protected Areas Shows That Defined Exclusive Zones Restore Fish Populations Better Than Open Regulation Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Marine Protected Areas: The Ocean Conservation That Works Through Property Rights Logic CALIFORNIA — Marine Protected Areas — designated ocean zones where fishing, development, and certain