The local surfing community preaches an exemplary environmental code. This is hardly surprising as their sport takes place in some of the most beautiful places where natural forces of wind and waves play a major role.

The main season for surfing in Malta is now over, except for some light surf in warmer waters minus the wetsuits. The local surfing community, registered in 2007 as the Malta Surfing Association (Surf Malta), provides information to anyone interested in learning how to surf and enjoy nature. In fact, the surfer community can sound downright mystical at times:

According to Surf Malta (www.wavesexpress.com): "There's a million surfers you'll never know or even hear about, pockets of them everywhere, sub-subcultures where daily 'heroics' and communication with the wild plumbs the depths of natural relationships and begs the question of man's purpose on the planet."

Malta Surf was formed after a few local and foreign surfers had been living abroad and travelling extensively around the globe to surf returned back to the island.

Travellers and holidaymakers would not normally associate sunny Malta and Gozo with surfing or body-boarding. But as Jay Chapelle, president of Surf Malta, points out, "although we don't have tide-generated swells, we do get plenty of wind-generated swells. Most of this happens during the winter months, mainly October until April."

"We started looking at and studying weather charts, which led to exploring the Maltese and Gozitan coastlines in detail, until we found several different 'breaks' (surfer jargon) that work very well in the right conditions."

A 'breakline' is the point where waves begin to break, generally when they reach water depths of 1.3 times the wave face height.

"If you are mobile and weather report savvy (see www.windfinder. com), you are likely to find waves most days, generally between one to six feet high. Storm waves have been known to get up to 10 feet."

The prevailing winds are the north, northwest, northeast, and east winds. It takes a northwesterly to create good surf at Għajn Tuffieħa, Golden Bay and Ramla il-Ħamra in Gozo.

"These beaches are great for all level of surfers, from beginners to experts. Easterly and northeasterly winds fire up the reefs along the east coast, allowing the surf to build.

The south of Malta has reef breaks which are clean and more suitable for the experienced or travelling surfer."

While Malta can provide waves to suit all tastes, the beaches are not always up to surfer standard. The sand at Għajn Tuffieħa is full of plastic nodules which gives the beach a speckled tone.

"We don't have the answers to many of the environmental problems afflicting our surf beaches, although it seems human greed for money is often behind the worst environmental outrages." The group recognises that even surfers "contribute to the destruction of our planet with our chemical cocktail surfboards".

Surfers also sometimes go on 'surfaris', burning up excessive amounts of fuel in their search for the perfect wave.

This leads to an awareness that every surfer has to carefully consider how to minimise any adverse impact on the surroundings.

The original Surfrider Foundation was started up by a handful of surfers in Malibu, California, in 1984. Dedicated to "the protection and enjoyment of our world's oceans, waves and beaches" the foundation boasts 50,000 members and 90 chapters worldwide.

The European wing is known as 'Initiatives Oceanes', and lists Malta as a member on its website.

Surfers know that the biodiversity and ecological integrity of coastlines are irreplaceable and are committed to preserving integrity of the coastal environment. Surfriders promotes 'low-impact, free and open access to the world's waves and beaches for all people'.

Surfrider acts to preserve this right of access. In its own words, the foundation is dedicated to enhancing wave-riding opportunities in ways which will not adversely impact near-shore ecosystems.

Recently, surfers in the US (the Malta branch is yet to become a chapter of the US foundation) called on President Barack Obama to restore an offshore drilling moratorium following the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill led to state and federal moratoriums on offshore oil drilling.

The Malta Surfing Association holds regular beach clean-ups organised together with That's Rubbish, a group promoting these activities on Facebook. The association, which recently merged with the clean-up group, is also concerned about water quality at surfing spots.

Clean-up organiser Michelle Bartolo, born in Malta of Maltese parents, has lived in Toronto, Canada, and Ireland, and spent a few months in Costa Rica's lush organic jungle, which further fed her love for nature. Now in Malta for four years, she works for a company called Yogatraveller in Gozo.

During beach clean-ups, masses of plastic is collected. All rubbish is separated for recycling. "On average, we collect between 20 to 30 bags of rubbish in each clean-up throughout the winter.

"We just all hope that some day, people will start realising that it is up to them to clean up after themselves," said Bartolo, who hopes people will take personal responsibility for their actions.

Boat owners also contribute to sea pollution. "The massive amounts of rope and gas cylinders we find is unbelievable. Our sea life is slowly suffocating due to the amount of plastic in the seas. Save our seas and keep your rubbish on board," she said.