If you've been surfing for over a couple of years, your brain has probably already collected and stored most of the smells and scents that populate a surf break.
Researchers are not unanimous when it comes to which gender better identifies odors, but they all agree that this ability decreases with age.
Also, although humans are not the animals with the best and most advanced olfactory system, they are not too bad either.
Actually, we can process around one trillion different aromas.
Variables like odor habituation, concentration, and intensity also play an important role in the identification and categorization of our library of smells.
The beach and the shoreline are particularly interesting and rich in scents and fragrances.
Those who grew up near the sea or spent their summer holiday by the seaside will surely relate to many smells they recall from those days.
And then, if you're a surfer, those memories are even more intense and nostalgic, resurfacing times of joy, perfect waves, and unforgettable sessions at dawn and dusk.
Over the years and with the passing of seasons, wave-riding enthusiasts build and manage a database of scents around the surf.
Here are eight distinctive scents a surfer will always perceive.
Early Spring Mornings
Dawn patrols may be punishing for a surfer's body.
But they're certainly rewarding the moment you get outside and feel the unique fresh air generated by those early spring mornings.
The subtle floral scent of spring is always reinvigorating and gives sense to the sacrifice of waking up early and chasing uncrowded waves.
In the iconic movie "Apocalypse Now," surfer and Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall) assured his 1st Battalion, 9th Air Cavalry Regiment: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning."
Maybe. Nevertheless, we still stick to the first smell of spring blessed by a light offshore breeze.
Sea Breeze
If there is one odor that is usually constant all year round, it is the sea breeze.
It's one of those scents you can easily identify at a distance, which will always take you to the ocean.
And if there are waves breaking and the wind helps, the intensity of the marine fragrance could be even stronger.
No wonder it's one of the most replicated scents in the perfume and chemical industries.
Surf Wax
There was a time when surf wax's scent was almost as important as its actual use.
Surfers could choose the paraffin-based blocks for different water temperatures and, on top of that, many smells: coconut, spearmint, pineapple, lemon, grape, strawberry, banana, etc.
These aromas would accompany the surfer while waxing up, paddling out, taking off on a wave, and driving with the board inside the car.
Times are changing.
Today, scents are less intense and have been replaced by oil fragrances to reduce the environmental impact of the (good old) chemicals.
But those who retained the original scents of surf wax will forever remember them.
Neoprene
Neoprene is the most long-lasting core wetsuit material to date.
Until recently, with the birth of Yulex, no other component was able to replace the petrol-based, synthetic rubber product.
Consequently, since the 1950s, all surfing generations embraced the neoprene wetsuit as their second skin, particularly in cool-to-cold waters.
If you've surfed once a week for ten years, you've got in and out of a wetsuit 520 times. It's virtually impossible that your brain won't perceive that peculiar odor in a split second.
Sunscreen
Sunscreen is a fundamental product in any surfer's life.
Surfers are several times more exposed to the sun's harmful UV rays than any average person.
Most of us have learned since childhood that we must apply suncream or any photoprotective sunblock before getting under the sun.
Therefore, some of us stuck to a few brands our parents bought and used.
But whatever sun cream we have applied in the past or right now has a very characteristic scent.
The smell of sunscreen is everywhere on a beach and in the lineup, and surfers should keep it like that forever.
Warm Sand
It's quite difficult to put into words what beach sand smells like after being hit for hours by cloudless sun exposure.
It's a mix of heated minerals, salt water, warm temperatures, and microscopic organic materials.
Whatever you call it, it does smell of something very sui generis. If you're a surfer, it's inevitable, and you can't miss it.
And if there's something we will miss in the other life, it is the feeling of walking barefoot on a clean sandy beach on a warm summer day.
Algae
The presence of algae in the oceans and by the seashore is normally a sign of a balanced and healthy ecosystem.
If the waters are polluted, there's barely life.
So, the growth of kelp beds and seaweed, for instance, during summer and fall, and their drying and decomposition on the beach could be positive because they will return nutrients to marine life.
The smell of algae - in or out of the water - always takes us back to the beach where, many times, we all surf.
Salty Sun-Kissed Skin
One of the best feelings we can get is the undescribable smell of our sun-kissed skin covered with white micro samples of seawater.
It's easy to get it. We only need a great surfing session or a day by the beach, punctuated by the right dose of sun exposure.
Words by Luís MP | Founder of SurferToday.com
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