Surfing Waves

No need to reveal specific spots, but in the current age of surf travel... have you been to any destinations that exceeded your expectations and really impressed you that continues to this day, vs places that you have been disappointed in that have just bummed you out?

Surf tourism seems to be very exploitative everywhere, often showcasing unsustainable development, corrupt capitalism and greedy privatization. Places I had read about and researched methodically and get an image in my head of what to expect, then going there to be met with insane crowds, sprawling shoreline development, limited access, unmanaged garbage/waste and excessive costs... is everywhere just getting worse in this regards or are there places that surf tourism is truly well managed and sustainable?

Absolutely correct every publisher name of a good spot becomes a bucket list item. Third world second world spot realise the incoming $ and try to accommodate more, the money in the country alo see the $ and will often coerce the original land owner to sell up or forcibly acquire the desired lot. Surfing is not really green Lifestyle, every thing from boards right through to where you stay.
I could rant on this having seen very early Aussie exspansion and early Bali Indonesian Days, .I can tell but even surfers‘ attitudes have changed…..

In Taiwan the local gangs have taken up the surf spots. All surf shops that operates in one of the busiest spot has to pay a fee to operate. This includes the spots allocated on the public beach for people to put out chairs and parasol. It's been like this for over 15 years. It's also pretty well known that the surf shop that is closest to the public transport right at beginning of the surf street has close ties to the gang.

My expectations may have been a bit too romanticized when I started surfing consistently in 2010 on Vancouver Island. Didn't realize how popular, overdone and exploited it was in so many publicized destinations.

Kind of moved on from surfing on the island. It's mostly just chaotic beach break and you have to be lucky to score decent surf, and weather... I didn't mind that but the crowds have grown exponentially, camping is over $200 a night in the summer and the seasonal point breaks get very competitive and aggro now.

I've been to a handful of other countries but I got the sense "prolly should have been here twenty years ago".

Very true dat!!!!