Surfing in California traces back to the 1800s, when three Hawaiian princes arrived in the popular coastal city of Santa Cruz.
From there, surfing spread to other mainland U.S. beaches. The sport became popular after a local icon named Jack O’Neill pioneered the industry with his wetsuit brand. He was the first to create a wetsuit made of neoprene (synthetic rubber) so surfers can stay warm in the winter and surf year-round.
Jim Kempton, executive director of the California Surf Museum in Oceanside, California, met O’Neill while working as the editor for Surfer Magazine.
“He was one of the most friendly, most generous, most welcoming guys in the world,” Kempton told The Epoch Times.
With a pirate-like appearance, including a full scraggly beard and a black eye patch from a surfing-related injury, O’Neill was known to drive around and shout out surfing tips to those riding the waves in Monterey Bay.
O’Neill passed away on June 2, 2017, in his Santa Cruz home. He was 94.
“Surfers really were extremely tight-knit and still are a real tribe who identifies themselves as surfers, and their own history and heritage is really important to them and most surfers,” said Kempton.
“Even young’uns today know who their legendary forebears were and what they did and follow it in a way that I think a lot of sportsmen don’t, necessarily.”
Kempton said people are drawn to surfing because it is mostly a no-rules kind of sport with an adrenaline rush.
“We have a saying in the surfing tribe that ‘only a surfer knows the feeling.’ And because there is no other feeling like riding a wave of energy, it’s the only place in the universe where we get a chance to do that,” said Kempton.
As for how to catch a wave, Kempton said it depends on the surfer’s experience level and ability. But regardless of size, people look for an even wave that has “a glassy face and is moving rapidly across the front of the beach so that you can ride it horizontally across the wave rather than straight in and get a much longer ride and stay in sort of the center of the energy of the wave.”
Popular surfing spots include Mavericks Beach in Half Moon Bay, Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, Trestles Beach in Orange County, Swami’s Beach near San Diego, Windansea Beach in La Jolla, and Rincon Beach near Santa Barbara.
Los Angeles will host surfing in the Olympics in 2028. The first time surfing became an Olympic sport was at the 2020 Japan Olympics.
