Although Hawaii is considered the cradle of this sport, the truth is that it is very difficult to date its date of origin since there is nothing documented about it until the first European travelers began to tell stories of people sliding on the waves.
To talk about the origins of Surfing, we go back to the 16th century to South America where in Peru and Bolivia the Caballito de Totora was used, which is a boat built of stems and leaves used mainly for fishing, although it was also used to slide on the waves.
Although it is estimated that the Tahitians brought it to Hawaii in the 12th century, as we can see in this Hawaiian petroglyph from 1500.
In the 18th century, almost 200 years after the Caballitos de Totora were documented, Captain James Cook recounted the art of sliding on the waves of the natives after years of knowing their customs and culture. The Kahuna or leader of the island always had the best board made with the best wood. Likewise, the best beaches were intended for the nobility, so it is believed that Surfing was a sport reserved for the upper classes.
Around 1800 the first missionaries arrived on the island of Hawaii, surfing and other traditions were banned as they were considered immoral. Over the next 150 years, surf culture virtually became extinct under the strict monk culture based on religion and work.
Already at the beginning of the 20th century, one of the descendants of ancient Hawaiian kings, Duke Kahanamoku, resumed the custom of sliding with boards over the waves and remains the image of modern surfing to this day.
In the 1930s, surfing became very popular in California, where major championships were held and the first magazines dedicated to this sport were created. It is during these years that the keel was incorporated into the board by Tom Blake, which allowed greater maneuverability when surfing the wave.
Already in the 60s, an important musical and cinematic culture emerged that promoted and expanded surfing throughout the world. And this is the time when the boards had the most development in terms of materials and designs.
Three enclaves played a fundamental role in this powerful renaissance of Surfing, and they were Hawaii, Australia and California, where over the years and to this day they promoted this sport, making it grow, making those of us who practice it love it from minute one and making our lives happy at levels that someone who doesn’t surf would never understand.