CALIFORNIA SURF MUSEUM STORIES

“China Beach: Surfers, the Vietnam War, and the Healing Power of Wave-riding” is a ground-breaking exhibit consisting of photos, first-hand accounts, surfboards, and memorabilia from those who were there. The story of…

Robert “Nat” Young was born in 1947 in Sydney, Australia. He began surfing at age 10. Six years later, he won the open division of the 1963 Australian Invitational Surfing Championships, as…

Eddie Aikau had the lineage of a king, and he became a modern member of Hawaii’s royal pantheon. A descendant of Hewahewa, the kahuna nui (high priest) King Kamehameha I and his…

Colorful, charismatic, headstrong, and larger-than-life, Greg Noll was born in 1937 and decided early on that being around the ocean was to be his life. When he was a youngster, the family…

Although the competitive field was full of excellent surfers from seven nations, the matchup between California’s David Nuuhiwa and Australia’s Nat Young was considered as the ultimate test of both skill and…

Bob Hurley started out as a surfboard shaper in Huntington Beach in the 1970s. Throughout the years, Bob has shaped thousands of board for surfers like Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew, Jay Adams, Carissa…

Three factors inspired the concept of this exhibit: the legendary reputation of the wave at Pipeline, the epic history of the Pipeline Masters contest, and the virtuoso skills and equipment of the…