SURFSIDE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – A group of local surfers is pushing to get better beach access in Surfside Beach.
“We are here to represent this whole entire community as well as our disabled community and we hope we can get this project going,” said Brock Johnson, President of Coastal Adaptive Sports, at Tuesday night’s Surfside Beach Town Council meeting.
Johnson, who is also the Assistant Director of the Adaptive Surf Project and Founder of Wheel to Surf, learned how to surf in Surfside Beach about 20 years ago and continues to surf even after a diving accident paralyzed him from the chest down.
“There are some things that are at the top of the list that you miss and you lose and [surfing] wasn’t one I was willing to lose,” said Johnson. “I feel free out there. It’s one of the few places I can be out of my chair and in control of how I’m moving.”
Johnson participates in surf competitions, including the Guy Daniels Memorial Surfoff which is held every year at 13th Avenue South in Surfside Beach.
However, he said many participants in the adaptive division are not able to get to the sand because the beach access point is not wheelchair accessible.
“We have to be carried down the beach in our chairs,” said Johnson. “I get lifted up by some guys and they carry my chair. It kind of digs at your pride a little bit.”
He’s working with Lead Chair of Grand Strand Surfrider Foundation, Joey Skipper, to spread the word and fix the problem.
“They deserve the opportunity to be able to surf anywhere they would like to without any resistance or obstacles,” said Skipper.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Director of Public Works, John Adair, said they would look into the problem but have to follow Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) regulations.
“Probably taking one of those staircases on the beach side and turning it into a ramp system, that’s probably the simplest way to approach it,” said Adair.
The surfers are focusing on 13th Avenue South because they say it’s the best places to surf in the town but hope other avenues see change as well.
“The grand vision would be that every person should be included on every avenue,” added Skipper.
Johnson also holds adaptive surfing clinics with his organization, Wheel to Surf, but said he’s always had to hold them in Garden City and North Myrtle Beach because they have better beach access.
“We’re going to the ends of the Grand Strand to do what we love to do and we want to bring that a little closer to home,” he explained.
Johnson said getting to the sand should be a right and not a privilege and believes senior citizens and families with strollers will benefit as well.
Surfside Beach Town Council should vote on changing the access ramp at its next meeting on November 14.
