The Beach cafe in Downend, north Devon, braces for a rush of customers during Atlantic swells. Colette Brooks, the proprietor, remarked, “No matter the weather, everybody comes in.”
Brooks can watch low-tide waves crash on Croyde Beach from the cafe, which serves Sri Lankan curries on weekends. “I love to watch the surfers out there,” she said. It’s an excellent location.
Croyde and adjacent beaches may become busier after next weekend, when 18 miles of coastline are officially designated as a world surfing reserve, joining 11 other stretches of coastline, including Malibu and Santa Cruz in California, Punta de Lobos in Chile, and Noosa in Australia.
The project’s supporters hope it will help conserve the waves for future generations. Brooks remarked, “Who would have thought it for little old North Devon?”
The quality and variety of the waves make this shoreline unique, according to reserve co-founder Ben Hewitt.
“There’s a unique set of features that create very good and varied breaks,” he said. This is where we are comparable to the world’s best surfing locations.
At Saunton, for example, the gently sloping beach creates waves that are ideal for novices, whereas, at Downend Point, surfers risk broken fins and scraped shins by entering the waves through the Keyhole, a rocky opening.
Finally, there is Croyde. “At low tide, it can produce world-class waves,” said Hewitt. “It’s a magical location, so swift and potent. It’s a crown jewel and trains world-class surfers.”
The purpose of the reserve is to bring together all parties with an interest in the waves, such as surfers, schools, local authorities, landowners, and conservation groups, to safeguard the waters from overdevelopment, erosion, dredging, and pollution. “Everyone is seated at the table for the first time,” Hewitt said.
On the weekend of May 12 at Woolacombe Esplanade, representatives of the California-based Save the Waves coalition. Which has bestowed the designation on north Devon, will pay a visit. There will be film and music events, as well as abundant surfing.
Even before the inauguration, a great deal was accomplished. Working with the University of Plymouth, a “bathymetry” exercise – a mapping of the seabed – has been conducted, and builders of the White Cross windfarm, which will be constructed 30 miles off the coast, have been consulted to ensure that it will not damage the waves.
There is still much to do. Claire Moodie, the leader of Plastic Free North Devon, which has a seat on the reserve’s local stewardship council, stated that affluent and microplastics plagued the beaches here, as they do throughout the United Kingdom.
“This location’s international designation demonstrates its significance,” she said. “It gives us more weight.”
The designation should also encourage more individuals to surf. Wave Wahines, a surf club for women and girls, and the Wave Project, which provides surf therapy and has established an adaptive surfing hub at Croyde for persons with disabilities, are both involved.
The reserve also aims to promote the region’s surfing heritage, which is often overshadowed by its boisterous neighbor, Cornwall. During the second world war, when American and Australian personnel arrived, surfing took off. And in the 1960s and 1970s, surf shops such as Tiki opened in the village of Braunton, inland from Saunton.
Kevin “Cookie” Cook, the chair of the trustees at the Museum of British Surfing in Braunton, stated that North Devon should be proud of its position on the world stage. “We stand with you anywhere in the globe, be it Malibu or Noosa. “North Devon is our little slice of heaven, and we must do everything in our power to ensure that what we’ve been so fortunate to enjoy is preserved for future generations – waves for all, forever.”
