How to find waves in August (when half the country is standing on your beach)

Every August the same thing happens: the water hits its warmest, the swell goes small and friendly, and roughly half of Britain arrives to enjoy it with you. You can fight this, or you can plan around it. We recommend planning.

Surf the edges of the day. Between 10am and 5pm the beach belongs to the holidaymakers, and honestly, fair enough — it's their week. Before 8am the lineup is mostly club hoodies and gulls. After 6pm the day-trippers drain away and the evening glass-off is frequently the best hour of the entire day. Set the alarm or eat dinner late. Pick one.

Walk further than the first peak. Ninety percent of any summer crowd is within two hundred metres of the car park steps. A ten-minute walk up the beach routinely buys you a peak with a quarter of the people on it. Yes, walking on soft sand with a longboard is a workout. That's the toll, and it's worth paying.

Respect the flags — genuinely. The lifeguards zone the beach for good reasons, and in August those reasons are several thousand swimmers deep. Surf between the black-and-white flags, keep well clear of the bathing zone even when the bank over there looks tempting, and be the person who makes surfers look good. The lifeguards notice club colours. Let's keep them pleased to see us.

Use the tide, not the clock. Summer crowds run on lunch and ice cream; banks run on tide. A midweek low at 7am is worth three weekend sessions. The forecast thread on the forum does this thinking for you most weeks — Dan has opinions and, irritatingly, they're usually right.

Or just embrace it. Warm water and small waves are the best teaching conditions of the year. Bring the friend who's been making excuses since Easter. Worst case, you spend an hour in a warm sea watching someone you like fall off a foam board. There are worse Augusts.