Surfers Protest Dubai Surfing Ban

Surfers in Dubai have been banned from their favourite beaches, ticketed not just for surfing, but also for having surfboards on the beach or in their cars.

They got together to protest on March 29, 2009 after a swimmer died Friday on Sunset Beach near the world famous Burj Al Arab hotel.

The municipality argues that surfers are a hazard to swimmers, but defenders of the sport claim they actually save lives, and that Friday’s tragedy illustrates their point.

 “There would have been surfers to pull out the person who drowned as we often do, but we were just too afraid to turn up, not knowing what to expect from the police and municipality,” said Danny Van Doreen, of Surf Dubai.

The surfers say the beaches that have been closed to surfers are the only beaches which “benefit from swells generated by winds blowing down the Gulf,” and they have no place else to go.

Fingers crossed they get some access back.