Surf Property Glossary

Coastal concession

A coastal concession is a government-granted right to occupy, use and build on public coastal land for a fixed term, under conditions set by the grant. It is not ownership: the land stays public, and the concession can be lost if its conditions are broken.

Condominium foreign-ownership cap (Philippines)

Foreigners cannot own land in the Philippines, but they can own condominium units, provided foreign ownership in the condominium project as a whole stays at or below 40%.

CPCV (promissory contract)

A CPCV (contrato-promessa de compra e venda) is the promissory contract signed in Portugal before the final deed, fixing the price and completion date. The buyer pays a deposit (sinal) when signing it.

Due diligence

Due diligence is the set of checks a buyer makes before committing to a property: the registry title and any liens, the survey and boundaries, zoning and coastal rules, permits, access, utilities and unpaid taxes.

Ejido

An ejido is communal farmland in Mexico, granted to a rural community under the country's land reform. Ejido land cannot simply be sold to an outsider: it has to be converted to private ownership (dominio pleno) and titled first.

Escritura pública

An escritura pública is a public deed: the formal document, drawn up and certified by a notary, that transfers ownership of real estate in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries. It is then recorded in the public property registry.

Fideicomiso

A fideicomiso is a Mexican bank trust that lets a foreign buyer hold residential property in Mexico's restricted zone — the land within 50 km of the coast or 100 km of a border. A Mexican bank holds title as trustee and the buyer is the beneficiary.

Golden Visa (Portugal)

Portugal's Golden Visa is a residence permit granted in return for a qualifying investment. Since October 2023, buying real estate no longer qualifies; the remaining routes include investment funds, research or cultural contributions and job-creating businesses.

Hak guna bangunan (HGB)

Hak guna bangunan (HGB, right to build) is an Indonesian title to construct and own buildings on land for a fixed, extendable term. Indonesian companies, including foreign-owned PT PMA companies, can hold it.

Hak milik

Hak milik is freehold ownership of land in Indonesia, the strongest land title there, and it is reserved for Indonesian citizens. Foreigners cannot hold it, and arrangements that put a foreigner's land in an Indonesian nominee's name are not legally protected.

Hak pakai

Hak pakai (right to use) is an Indonesian land title that a foreigner holding a residence permit can use for a home. It is granted for a fixed initial term that can be extended and renewed.

Leasehold

Leasehold is the right to use land or a building for a fixed number of years under a lease, after which it returns to the owner. Where foreigners cannot own land — Indonesia, the Philippines — a long registered lease is a common way to secure a villa or surf-camp site.

Maritime Terrestrial Zone (ZMT)

Costa Rica's Maritime Terrestrial Zone (ZMT) is the 200-metre strip of coast measured inland from the mean high-tide line. The first 50 metres are public and cannot be owned or built on; most of the remaining 150 metres can only be held under a municipal concession, not owned outright.

NIF (Portugal)

The NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal) is Portugal's tax identification number. Anyone buying property in Portugal, resident or not, needs one before signing the purchase contract.

Notary (notario)

In Latin America and much of Europe, a notary (notario, notário) is a legal professional with public authority to draft, certify and record deeds, including the deed for a property sale — a far larger role than a notary public in the United States.

PT PMA

A PT PMA is an Indonesian limited-liability company with foreign shareholders. It can hold land under a right-to-build (HGB) title for its business, such as a surf camp or villa rental.

Public property registry

The public property registry is the government record of who owns each parcel of land and of the mortgages, liens and easements attached to it. A buyer's title search starts there.

Restricted zone (Mexico)

Mexico's restricted zone is the strip of land within 50 km of the coastline and 100 km of the land borders, where foreigners may not hold direct title to land. They hold homes there through a fideicomiso, or business property through a Mexican company.

Titled property

Titled (fee-simple) property is land held in full private ownership and recorded in the country's public property registry in the owner's name. It can be sold, mortgaged, leased or inherited without a government grant behind it.

ZOFEMAT (Mexico)

ZOFEMAT (Zona Federal Marítimo Terrestre) is Mexico's federal beach zone: the 20-metre strip of land running inland from the high-tide line along the sea. It is federal property and cannot be owned; private use of it needs a federal concession.

Asking price

The asking price is the price a seller or their agent puts on a listing. It is not the price the property sells for, which is negotiated and often lower.

Beachfront

A beachfront property sits directly on the beach, with nothing between the lot and the sand but any public beach strip the law keeps open. On International Surf Properties the tag is set by the seller.

Median asking price

The median asking price is the middle asking price of a group of listings: half are priced above it and half below. Unlike an average, it is not pulled up by a handful of very expensive properties.

Ocean view

An ocean-view property has a view of the sea but does not border it; there is other land, a road or other lots between it and the water. On International Surf Properties the tag is set by the seller.

Oceanfront

An oceanfront property borders the ocean itself — on a beach, a bluff or a rocky point — rather than simply looking at it. On International Surf Properties the tag is set by the seller.

Owner financing

Owner financing (seller financing) is when the seller lends the buyer part of the purchase price, repaid in instalments, instead of the buyer borrowing it from a bank. It is common in surf markets where foreign buyers rarely get a local mortgage.

Surf camp

A surf camp is a guest property run for travelling surfers — rooms or bungalows near a break, usually sold with meals, lessons, guiding or boat trips. Surf camps and resorts are bought as operating businesses as well as real estate.

Walk to surf

A walk-to-surf property is close enough to a surf break to reach it on foot with a board, without driving. On International Surf Properties the tag is set by the seller.

Wave pool

A wave pool (surf park) is a man-made body of water with machinery that generates surfable waves on demand, away from the ocean. Some new residential communities are built around one.

Barrel

A barrel (tube) is the hollow tunnel formed when a steep wave throws its lip out ahead of the face, which a skilled surfer can ride inside. Barrelling waves are usually reef or point breaks over shallow water.

Beach break

A beach break is a wave that breaks over a sandy bottom. Sandbanks shift with storms and seasons, so the peaks move around, and beach breaks are often the friendliest places to learn.

Groundswell

Groundswell is swell generated by distant storms that has travelled a long way across the ocean, arriving as long-period, well-organised waves. It is the opposite of wind swell, which is made by local winds.

Left and right (waves)

A wave is a "left" or a "right" by the direction it breaks as seen by the surfer riding it: a left peels to the surfer's left, a right to their right. A wave that breaks both ways from one peak is an A-frame.

Lineup

The lineup is the spot just outside where waves break, where surfers sit and wait for them. "Crowded lineup" means many surfers competing for the same waves.

Offshore wind

An offshore wind blows from the land out to sea. It holds up the face of a breaking wave and smooths the surface, which is why light offshore winds give the cleanest surf.

Onshore wind

An onshore wind blows from the sea onto the land. It pushes waves over early and roughs up the surface, giving messy, crumbly surf.

Point break

A point break is a wave that breaks along a point of land or a headland, peeling down the line in one direction. Point breaks can give long, consistent rides when the swell comes from the right direction.

Reef break

A reef break is a wave that breaks over a coral or rock reef. The fixed bottom gives a consistent, often powerful wave, but shallow water over the reef makes wipeouts riskier.

River-mouth break

A river-mouth break is a wave that breaks on the sandbars a river builds where it meets the sea. The banks change with rainfall and river flow, so the wave can be excellent one season and gone the next.

Swell direction

Swell direction is the compass direction a swell comes from. Each break works best on the swell directions that reach it unblocked and hit its reef, point or sandbar at the right angle.

Swell period

Swell period is the time, in seconds, between one wave crest and the next passing the same point. Longer periods mean more energy: a long-period swell of the same height breaks bigger and more powerfully than a short-period one.

Tide (for surfing)

The tide is the twice-daily rise and fall of the sea. Because it changes the depth over a reef or sandbar, many breaks only work — or are only safe — at certain stages of the tide.

Wind swell

Wind swell is made by winds blowing near the coast. It arrives as short-period, less organised waves that usually break with less power than groundswell of the same height.

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