Localism in its best form is a group of people who have surfed a given spot for some time and have been accepted by each other for displaying a good attitude, awareness of the codes of conduct of surfing and thus displaying a relative competence to the conditions and nature of a break.

Localism in its worst form is this same group of people reacting violently to a new larger incoming group of people surfing the break, taking over the break and generally not having any respect for the local surfers. They will generally not understand or respect the surfers codes of conduct and competence and this can lead to a dangerous confrontational situation.

Most locals will accept travelling surfers if they display a respect for their local break and display knowledge of the surfer's codes of conduct and other surfers in the water.

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