A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Canada, the second-largest country in the world after Russia, in terms of landmass, is fringed with temperamental and isolated surf spots on both the Atlantic and the Pacific, as well as dozens of freshwater breaks in the Great Lakes. 

Air temperatures along the Canadian east coast and around the Great Lakes drop to 30 degrees below zero during winter and can exceed 70 in summer; water temperatures range from the mid-30s to the upper 60s. Due to the Gulf Stream current, the ocean is warmer along much of the Canadian east coast than it is in New England. West coast air temperatures range from 20 to 70; water temperatures range from the low 40s to the low 60s.

The diverse Canadian surf ranges from minuscule summer beachbreak waves to burly 12-foot rock-reef pounders. Three- to four-foot waves are common throughout the year. Much of the convoluted island- and river-filled Canadian west coast is virtually inaccessible, with dense rainforest extending nearly to the water's edge, and just a few sandy areas. 

British Columbia's Vancouver Island is the center of Canadian west coast surfing, and Long Beach, located near the town of Tofino, is Vancouver Island's best-known break—not so much for its gentle sand-bottom waves, but for its accessibility and easy parking. Jordan River, a hollow right-breaking wave located inside the Juan de Fuca Strait and favored by territorial local surfers ("slippery black leprechauns," as described by native surf journalist Kevin Brooker), is often cited as Canada's best break. Dozens of other spots along Vancouver Island are accessible only by boat. 

August through December is the best time to surf on the west coast, as the weather is still relatively warm and the North Pacific begins to regularly produce swell-generating storms.

While the Newfoundland province has an assortment of high-quality but fickle and remote breaks, and is home to a small cadre of dedicated local surfers, central Nova Scotia has long been the hub of east coast Canadian surfing. Prime surf season here lasts from late August to November, as the area pulls in waves created by central Atlantic hurricanes and North Atlantic storms. 

The Lawrencetown Beach area, located just outside of Halifax, is Nova Scotia's best-known surf zone—which leaves it well short of famous. "Ask your average Bluenoser about surfing here," former Canadian surfing champion Lesley Choyce wrote in a 2000 issue of the 

, "and they will tell you with great confidence that nobody surfs in Nova Scotia." 

Canadian surf hazards include rock reefs and extreme cold on both coasts, and aggressive sea lions and sharks on the west coast. Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy has the world's largest tidal range, with water levels sometimes changing by as much as 50 feet in less than seven hours.

Surfing in Canada started in 1965 on Vancouver Island's Wreck Bay (later renamed Florencia Bay), after a small group of locals (including Tofino's Jim Sadler) and American expatriates took to the waves using crude homemade boards and scuba wetsuits. Vancouver Island became a semicommunal refuge for draft dodgers and hippies in the late '60s and early '70s, with a few dozen surfers included. 

Jordan River surfer Jim Van Dame was among the first native boardmakers, setting up a backyard operation in the mid-'70s. The Canadian east coast was first surfed in the mid-'70s by American surfers tracking hurricane swells across the border. A small number of surfers eventually settled in the Lawrencetown area. Surfing was introduced to the Canadian side of the Great Lakes in 1966, at Wyldewood Beach, Ontario. 

The surf press all but ignored Canada until 1988, when

 magazine published an article on Nova Scotia; the first Canadian west coast feature was published in 1994. The Canadian Surfing Contest debuted in 1966, at Long Beach, but competition wasn't really part of the surf scene here until the late '80s. Westbeach, Canada's first surf shop, opened in Vancouver in 1979.

By 2012, there were roughly 20 surf shops near Vancouver and eight in Nova Scotia, surf schools on both coasts, and about 10,000 surfers (less than 1,000 of them all-year riders) across the country. The all-Canadian Island 

 magazine was founded in 1992, changed its name to

 in 1994, and became an Internet-only publication the following year. 

Top Canadian surfers include the Bruhwiler brothers, Raph and Sepp, of Vancouver, Tofino's Peter Devries and Nova Scotia's Stevie Marsh. Regional and/or national surf contests are organized by the Canadian Surfing Association and the Surfing Association of Nova Scotia, both founded in 1989, along with the 1992-founded British Columbia Surfing Association and the 1966- founded Great Lakes Surfing Association.

 (2002) were the first two internationally distributed surf videos to feature Canadian waves and surfers exclusively. The Canadian surf is also featured in 

 (2006), and the Bruhwilers' and Devries' segments on the 

 website. The Canadian surf is detailed in 

Canada

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing