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

Cold and rugged island country, slightly bigger than Ireland, located just below the Arctic Circle, 200 miles east of Greenland; known as the "Land of Fire and Ice" for its joining of glaciers and volcanoes. 

 magazine published a letter from a U.S. serviceman stationed in Iceland that read, "The waves here are generally very good, and eight foot surf is common." Twenty-seven years later, a group of California surfers, including Robert Weaver, Donovan Frankenreiter, and Mark Renneker, discovered excellent waves at several breaks around the island." A place with Hawaii's jagged volcanic skylines, Alaska's rivers of ice and the isolated powerful surf of northern California," accompanying surf writer Dan Duane noted. 

While Iceland is open to swells from any direction, predicting and catching waves here can be difficult. During the peak winter surf season, when south swells are powerful and consistent, the daylight hours are very short—on the north Icelandic coast, during the winter solstice, the sun doesn't rise at all— and water temperatures are just above freezing. Swells from the north are mostly blocked or heavily filtered by ice floes. In the summer, when water temperatures rise as high as 55 and daylight lasts for 20 hours or more, surfing is all but impossible due to heavy winds and lack of swell. 

Most Icelandic people live in coastal towns and have a respectful, even fearful, relationship with the ocean—not surprising, given the drowning deaths over the years of hundreds of local sailors and fishermen. When the California surfers asked about nearby wave conditions, they were always told to stay ashore, and often given the same simple warning; enter the water, and "you will die." 

 sent California pros Joe Curren and Josh Mulcoy to Iceland where they found some great waves and, this time, a small band of Icelandic surfers. Iceland has since become a staple for surf media snowbound photo trips.

Iceland

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

Interviews

Encyclopedia of Surfing

Interviews