Surf ban's up: Stay clear of pier

When your timing's right, you can catch good waves and good fish on the same day at Folly Beach. You just can't legally surf within 200 feet of Charleston County's Edwin S. Taylor Fishing Pier. If you do, you could face a fine of up to $200 and the loss of your surfboard.

That's evidently a difficult lesson for some surfers to learn for at least two reasons: No. 1, the waves are generally better near the pier. No. 2, the ordinance is often unenforced, and lots of the surfers and anglers appear able to share the facility without conflict.

But as recently reported in The Post and Courier, Folly Beach police lately have been enforcing that ordinance, which was written not to punish surfers, but to protect them from being tangled in lines, hit by weights and even snagged by hooks. It was also written, of course, to facilitate fishing from what is, after all, a fishing pier. Similar restrictions are in effect near a privately owned fishing pier at the Isle of Palms.

In the last two months at Folly, police have arrested two surfers, in separate incidents, on the charges of surfing within that 200-foot limit and disorderly conduct. The officers said the surfers became "belligerent" after they were confronted about their violations.

That shouldn't come as a shock to anyone who's ever made the mistake of getting between an ardent surfer and the best available waves. While surfers' frustrations over the ban and its apparently random enforcement are understandable, so is the common-sense priority given to the anglers who are paying customers on the pier.

So whether you're surfing, fishing or engaging in some other form of beach recreation at Folly, enjoy yourself.

But do so safely - and legally. Because if you're catching waves in violation of the law, the police might be catching you, too.