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

Texas surfing culture runs deeper than expected, despite the fact that wave quality suffers greatly from the broad continental shelf tracing the state's entire 365-mile-long coastline, and by the Gulf of Mexico's limited fetch. Fall is high season for Texas surfing, as hurricanes and passing cold fronts semi-regularly generate three- to five-foot waves. Winter surf is less consistent, but often bigger; summer is all but waveless. Average midday coastal air temperatures in Texas range from the mid-80s in summer to the high 50s in winter; water temperatures range from the low 80s to the low 60s. 

Surfing in Texas takes places almost entirely on the string of narrow, sandy barrier islands that trace the mainland; the southern tip of South Padre Island, near the Mexican border, generally produces the state's best surf. Top breaks on South Padre include the Jetty, the Cove, Steamers, and Boca Chica—all located within and around a pair of half- mile-long harbor jetties at the south end of Port Isabel. Other popular Texas surf spots include Bob Hall Pier in Corpus Christi, the beachbreaks at Port Aransas, and Surfside Jetty near Freeport. There are no reef or pointbreaks in Texas. Outflow from dozens of rivers often turns the Texas surf a muddy brown color. 

A deaf-mute lifeguard named Leroy Columbo is credited with introducing surfing to Texas in 1930, in Galveston, and he was soon renting a pair of flexible Firestone-made surfboards constructed from inflated inner tubes wrapped in canvas. Other '30s-era Texas wave-riders included Dorian Paskowitz and Babe Schwartz, both of Galveston. But surfing remained a cult activity along this stretch of coast until the early '60s, when the sport had a miniboom, with dozens of surf shops and surf clubs established in coastal towns like Galveston, Corpus Christi, and Port Aransas, as well as Houston. Surfing magazine reported in 1964 that it was not uncommon to see more than 200 surfers out at Galveston Beach. Two years later there were two separate state championship events in Corpus Christi and Galveston, both attracting hundreds of competitors and thousands of spectators. By 1970, Galveston locals had discovered "tanker surfing," as they rode waves produced by tanker ships passing through the 25-mile channel at Galveston Bay. The Gulf Coast Surfing Association, the state's first competitive association, was formed in 1968; a number of other regional competition groups followed. The United States Surfing Championships were held on South Padre Island in 1975, 1979, 1983, 1991, and 1995. 

In 2003, Texas was home to an estimated 20,000 surfers and 25 surf shops. The 1988-founded Texas Gulf Surfing Association has nearly 300 members and holds nine events annually, as well as the Texas State Championships. 

The state has been featured in a small number of locally produced surf videos, including Primo Days (1995) and Isla Blanca (1998); Surfing the Texas Gulf Coast, a guidebook, was published in 2000. 

Pioneering surfers Pete Peterson, Dorian Paskowitz, and Matt Kivlin, along with big-wave rider Ken Bradshaw and world champion Debbie Beacham, were all born in Texas. The first FlowRider wave machine was installed at the Shilitterbahn Water Park in New Braunfels, Texas, in 1991, and two more FlowRiders have since opened in the state. 

Texas

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

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