Lobitos: A Surfer's Paradise
A short text about Lobitos, a popular beach for surfing in Peru with a topologic perspective.
The Law of the Breakers
Tucked up in the far north of Peru you'll find Lobitos, a quiet coastal town known as one of the country's best places to surf. Its seven wave breaks crash and glide onto sandy beaches and rocky outcrops, and its sunsets are legendary. But the waves that draw crowds of surfers each year aren't just revered by those who ride them – their protection is enshrined in law. In 2014, the ground-breaking Ley de Rompientes, or "law of the breakers", came into effect, making Peru the first country in the world to give its waves legal protection. Under the law, the development of infrastructure, oil and gas exploration and fishing activities that could harm top-quality surf spots were restricted. More than once it has halted activity in Lobitos that risked disturbing the waves.
Surfonomics
The idea of using economics to assess the value of surfing resources, branded "surfonomics", has been around for a little over a decade. An early study in the field centred on Mavericks in California, a famous break that throws up waves of 10-30ft (3-9m), and draws in huge crowds of spectators. The net economic value of Mavericks was finally estimated at about $24m (£17m) a year filtering through its local tourism industry.