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

Heavily forested Canadian island located just north of the American-Canadian border; the largest Pacific Coast island in North America, with almost 300 miles of rugged, deeply fissured southwest-facing coastline; an area once known to sailors as the Graveyard of the Pacific. 

Jordan River, located deep inside the Juan de Fuca Strait, is Vancouver Island's most popular place to surf, as it's one of the very few places on Canada's west coast with beachfront access. At most other breaks, surfers park as close to the shore as possible, bundle up in thick wetsuits—hoods, gloves, and boots—then walk down forest trails and across log- and boulder-covered beaches to the waves. The island's few hundred surfers, often crowded into the few point-, reef-, and river- mouth breaks that are accessible, can be cranky or even hostile to outsiders—particularly at Jordan River. 

The rain-soaked Vancouver surf is best in fall, often huge and unruly in winter, and foggy during summer. Many of the breaks are set in areas of panoramic natural beauty. Midwinter air and water temperatures are generally in the low 40s; occasionally the beach will be covered in snowfall. 

Canadian surfing originated at Vancouver's Wreck Bay (now Florencia Bay) in the mid-1960s, imported by nomadic American surfer/hippies. The first Canadian surf contest was held here in 1966, in the easygoing sand-bottom waves at Long Beach. Much of the surfing in 5mm, the first all-Canadian surf video, takes place along Vancouver Island; Numb (2002) was also filmed there. 

Vancouver Island

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

Encyclopedia of Surfing