Surf Newquay

Surf history

Believe or not, Captain Cook and his botanist Joseph Banks recorded natives riding waves on their wooden boards in their journals when they sailed into the Hawaiian island chain in 1778. Early pioneers or what!

It wasn't until 1912 however, when Hawaiian surfer Duke Kahanamoku won the Olympic gold in swimming (he was to win again in 1920), going on to give exhibitions of surfing in California and Australia that the sport started to take off. Developing slowly, surfing hit the big time in the ‘swinging sixties' with the whole beach lifestyle culture encapsulated by ‘The Beachboys'.

In Britain at this time, it was primarily two spots, St Ouens bay in Jersey and Newquay, Cornwall that led the way. Surfing had reached Great Britain! The British Surfing Association formed in 1966, the word quickly spread that there were hundreds of great breaks around our shores and a new sport, culture and industry was born. It is estimated that around ¼ million of us across the country now grab our boards and surf the waves each year.