International Surfing Day, held annually on the third Saturday of June,[ citation needed ] is an unofficial, environmentally conscious [1] sports-centered holiday that celebrates the sport of surfing, surfing lifestyle, and the sustainability of ocean resources. [2] [3] Contests and prizes [4] are also part of the celebration, with surfing-related industries donating prizes such as surfboards and wetsuits. [1] Another purpose of the celebration is to promote the popularity of surfing and to attract new participants. [5]
International Surfing Day was established in 2005 by Surfing Magazine [6] [7] and The Surfrider Foundation. [6] [7] International Surfing Day closely follows the spirit and intent of the World Surf Day, established by the Usenet newsgroup alt.surfing in 1993. [8] International Surfing Day is a worldwide [9] celebration of the sport of surfing. The day is observed with surf contests, [7] barbecues, [10] film screenings [1] and other surf-related activities. Surfers also use the day to give back to the environment by organizing beach clean-ups, [6] [7] [11] [12] [13] [14] dune and other habitat restoration [10] and other activities [3] such as lobbying to maintain the recreation areas in California where surfing occurs, or planting Naupaka (a flowering coastal plant) in Hawaii. [15] [16]
Direct action was used by form of protest on this day in England to express opposition to sewage in the waters of the Gold Coast; a precarious problem for many surfers who become infected by the bacteria from open wounds from sports-related injuries. [17]
International Surf Day events have been held on all populated continents including South America where it is celebrated in Argentina, [9] Brazil, [18] and Peru. [18] Also in the Southern Hemisphere the holiday is observed in the Oceanian nations of Australia [19] and New Zealand. [18] The day is also widely observed in the American state of Hawaii, also in Oceania. [3] [14]
In North America the surfing day is most widely observed and celebrations may be found in Canada, [18] Costa Rica, [18] the French Antilles, [18] El Salvador, [20] Mexico, [21] and in the majority of coastal states of the United States: California, [4] [15] Connecticut, [18] District of Columbia, [18] Florida, [13] [22] Georgia, [23] Maine, [18] Maryland, [18] New Jersey, [6] [11] New York, [18] North Carolina, [18] Oregon, [10] South Carolina, [24] Texas, [18] and Virginia. [18] After North America the observance has the most popularity in Europe: including in most of the coastal European Union and it is held by surf enthusiasts in France, [5] [18] Italy, [5] the United Kingdom, [17] [18] Portugal, [5] Spain, [5] and Belgium. [18] Further European celebrations are held in Norway, [5] in addition to many of the EU nations overseas possessions.
In Africa, the two French territories of Réunion and Mayotte [5] hold annual festivities alongside Morocco, [5] the Spanish insular area of the Canary Islands [5] and South Africa. The day has also taken hold in some other countries such as Israel and Japan. [5] [18]
Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku was a Hawaiian competition swimmer who popularized the sport of surfing. A Native Hawaiian, he was born to a minor noble family less than three years before the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. He lived to see the territory's admission as a state and became a United States citizen. He was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming, winning medals in 1912, 1920 and 1924.
Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer, uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found on ocean shores, but can also be found in standing waves in the open ocean, in lakes, in rivers in the form of a tidal bore, or in wave pools.
Father's Day is a holiday honoring one's father, as well as fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. The holiday complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Mother's Day and, in some countries, Siblings Day, and Grandparents' Day. The day is held on various dates across the world, and different regions maintain their own traditions of honoring fatherhood.
The Gold Coast is the second-largest city of Queensland, Australia, after Brisbane. It is Australia's sixth-largest city, the most populous non-capital city, and the state's after Brisbane, with a population over 600,000. The Gold Coast is a coastal city and region located approximately 66 kilometres (41 mi) south-southeast of the centre of the state capital, Brisbane. The city's central business district is located roughly in the centre of the Gold Coast in the suburb of Southport. The urban area of the Gold Coast is concentrated along the coast, sprawling almost 60 kilometres, joining up with the Greater Brisbane metropolitan region to the north and to the state border with New South Wales to the south. Nicknames of the city include the ‘Glitter Strip’ and the ‘Goldy’. The demonym of a Gold Coast resident is Gold Coaster.
Waikiki is a Honolulu neighborhood and its eponymous beach on the south shore of the island of Oʻahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii.
Malibu is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about 30 miles (48 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching 21 miles along the Pacific Ocean coast, and for its longtime status as the home of numerous affluent Hollywood celebrities and executives. Although a high proportion of its residents are entertainment industry figures with million-dollar mansions, Malibu also features several middle- and upper-middle-class neighborhoods. The Pacific Coast Highway traverses the city and has led most residents to settle anywhere from half a mile to within a few hundred yards of it, with some residents living up to one mile away from the beach in areas featuring narrow canyons. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 10,654.
Bells Beach is a coastal locality of Victoria, Australia in Surf Coast Shire and a renowned surf beach, located 100 km south-west of Melbourne, on the Great Ocean Road near the towns of Torquay and Jan Juc.
Vincent Sennen "Sunny" Garcia is an American professional surfer from Waianae, Hawaii. After leaving school he debuted on the 1986 Gotcha Pro at Sandy Beach, Oahu, beating the 1984 champ Tom Carroll.
La Libertad ('Liberty') is a municipality in the La Libertad Department of El Salvador. It had a population of 35,997 inhabitants in 2007 according to the official census of that year. It is one of the main tourist attractions in the country.
Surf movies fall into three distinct genres:
Shaun Tomson is a South African professional surfer and former world champion, environmentalist, actor, author, and businessman. He has been listed among the top 10 surfers of the century, and was the 1977 World Surfing Champion.
Surf culture includes the people, language, fashion, and lifestyle surrounding the sport of surfing. The history of surfing began with the ancient Polynesians. That initial culture directly influenced modern surfing, which began to flourish and evolve in the early 20th century, with its popularity peaking during the 1950s and 1960s. It has affected music, fashion, literature, film, art, and youth jargon in popular culture. The number of surfers throughout the world continues to increase as the culture spreads.
step son Gordon Kowalkowski.
The Surfrider Foundation USA is a U.S. 501(c)(3) grassroots non-profit environmental organization that works to protect and preserve the world's oceans, waves and beaches. It focuses on water quality, beach access, beach and surf spot preservation, and sustaining marine and coastal ecosystems.
Montañita is a small coastal town in Ecuador located in the parish of Manglaralto, province of Santa Elena, about 180 kilometers northwest of Guayaquil. Its name means "small mountain." In the mid 20th century it was known as a surfing beach, with only a few fishermen's huts, and one or two surfers tents in summer, erected at the site. But in 1960, Montañita, foreigners linked to the hippie movement decided to settle there permanently. It is now a popular destination for surfers from around the world and considered one of the best surfing beaches in Ecuador's south coast.
Mark Massara is an American surfer, attorney, and environmental conservationist. He first gained a reputation in the surfing and environmental communities when he won a $5.6 million Clean Water Act violation, the second largest ever collected. Since that case, he has assisted nonprofit organizations, including Surfrider Foundation and Sierra Club, government agencies, and private sector enterprises in several high-profile coastal and ocean protection, restoration, education and development campaigns that highlight and achieve coastal conservation and amenities for wildlife and future generations.
Carissa Kainani Moore is a Hawaiian American Olympian, world champion surfer and activist. She was the first-ever winner of the Olympic Gold Medal in women's short board surfing in 2020. She was also the 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2021 World Surf League WSL Women's World Tour Champion. Moore is the first surfer in history to win a WSL world title and the Olympic title in the same year. She qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Rolf Aurness is an American surfer who won the 1970 World Surfing Championships held at Johanna in Victoria, Australia, beating Midget Farrelly in the finals.
Gary Elkerton, known as Kong is an Australian surfer, three time world masters champion, three time world professional runner-up, twice Hawaiian Triple Crown champion and Australian amateur champion (1984). He is regarded as an iconic big-wave rider and is highly respected by his peers for his unique, powerful surfing style. In 2009, Gary was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame.
Matt Warshaw is a former professional surfer, former writer and editor at Surfer magazine (1984-1990), and the author of dozens of feature articles and large-format books on surfing culture and history.