Editorial: Surf tourism in a post-pandemic world: governance, wellbeing, and cultural shifts

The profound physical and psychological benefits of surfing, often linked to sensory immersion in "blue spaces," are well-documented in the literature (Anderson, 2022, Britton & Foley, 2021;Falaix et al., 2021;lisahunter & Stoodley, 2021;Wheaton & Olive, 2024). COVID-19 amplified these benefits for many surfers (Usher, 2024) and the paper by Elmahdy et al. (2024) investigates the positive experiences of cold-water surfers in Jaeren, Norway before and during the pandemic. Their research demonstrates that surfing provides deep personal benefits, including flow states (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990), connection to nature, and vital social integration. Interestingly, pandemic-era travel restrictions and the shift to remote work reinforced local surfing habits there. With international surf travel constrained, local breaks became places for safe socialization and mental health maintenance, proving the resilience of local surf communities during global crises. However, it is important to bear in mind that the wellbeing derived from surfing is not geographically universal, as it is inextricably linked to specific cultural frameworks and ecosystems.The pandemic was also a moment where scholars reassessed the dual threats of climate change and hyper-commercialization of surf breaks. Past literature has frequently examined the way localism serves as a complex form of community territoriality and sustainability (Mach & Ponting, 2021;Towner & Lemarié, 2020;Usher, 2017) and Ruttenberg and Brosius (2025) provide an interesting theoretical intervention within these debates. In line with their previous work, they argue that critical surf scholarship has too often flattened surf destination management into a standard critique of neoliberal governmentality (Ruttenberg & Brosius, 2017). By applying a "diverse ecologies" framework, the authors introduce the concept of communal governmentality. Using the indigenous community of Barra de la Cruz, Mexico as a case study, they demonstrate how local communities can successfully resist neocolonial and neoliberal encroachment. Through communal assemblies, cooperative enterprises, and locally enforced regulations on land ownership and coastal development, Barra de la Cruz exemplifies a way in which surf tourism can be governed through self-determined, emancipatory models rather than top-down capitalist extraction.Another related contribution in this special issue is by Mach, Rothrock, Stark, and Nahmias (2025), who foreground the place-based and ecological foundations of surf tourism governance. In their article, the authors show that place attachment in Bocas del Toro is strongly linked to surf-related wellbeing, while also demonstrating that these positive experiences are under threat from sea level rise, coastal development, declining reef health, and overcrowding. This paper is especially important because it pushes surf tourism research beyond narrow direct-expenditure frameworks and toward a fuller recognition of "surfing ecosystems" as vulnerable socioecological assemblages that produce both economic and non-market value (Manero, 2023). In doing so, it aligns with wider calls for local sustainability governance in surf destinations and for a more holistic understanding of the unique characteristics being preserved when communities seek to protect surf breaks (Machado et al., 2018).Surf tourism not only impacts ecosystems, it also deeply impacts social and cultural landscapes. Culturally appropriated from a Hawaiian tradition by male-dominated elites and forced into Western concepts of commodified sports (Lemarié, 2024;Moser, 2020;Walker, 2008), surfing is increasingly becoming a site of demographic diversity, as marginalized and underrepresented groups challenge entrenched patronizing surfing experiences (Comer, 2010). Wengel (2026) provides a compelling study of female surfers in Hainan, China. While the other authors in this special issue are well-known in surf tourism studies, Wengel has recently investigated the field from a different angle in Hainan, China (Guibert & Taunay, 2013). Hainan is a developing surf destination that experienced domestic tourism growth when international borders closed during the pandemic. There, women surfers explain the extent to which surfing acts as a powerful catalyst for personal transformation, empowerment, and rebellion against traditional societal gender norms. Wengel also notes the friction caused by rapid post-pandemic commercialization, highlighting the tension between the democratizing aspects of expanding surf culture and the superficial commodification of the sport. This contribution broadens ongoing debates by demonstrating that sustainable surf tourism should continue to consider social and cultural transformation, alongside environmental and political changes. More inclusive and diverse futures also depend on who gets to belong, whose experiences are valued, and the way rapidly expanding surf destinations negotiate social change.