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, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Beschen, Shane

Greece boasts nearly nine-thousand miles of craggy coastline spread out over more than one-thousand islands, and receives short-interval doses of small to medium-sized windswell in spurts throughout the year. Greek surf zones can be divided into 3 key areas: the west coast, along the Ionian and Mediterranean Seas, home to Greece's best surf; the numerous Greek Islands between the Aegean and Crete Seas; and the island of Crete. 

Kastro Point, a short, punchy lefthand pointbreak on the Ionian coast, is one of Greece's best and most regularly surfed spots. Kolibithra, a beachbreak on the Aegean island of Tinos, is eastern Greece's most popular break, with a small thriving surf school. 

The best time for surf varies depending on the zone; the Greek Islands get the majority of swell from the northerly Meltimi winds from July to September, while the northwest Ionian coast breaks best in winter when southerly windswells are groomed by offshore, alpine winds. Waves rarely get above shoulder high at any Greek surf spots, though fierce local storms can produce overhead waves on occasion. Water temps range from the high 50s in the winter, to the mid 70s in the summer. Daytime air temps drop down to the mid 50s in winter and rise to the high 80s in summer. There are virtually no tides in the Mediterranean basin.

Greek surfing dates as far back as the late 1960s when an Athenian sailor named Constantinos Pikros was building his own wooden surfboards and teaching friends to ride the tiny waves near Athens. Surfing didn't catch on in Greece however until windsurfers began stripping the sails off their boards and riding waves on the Ionian coast in the 1980s and 1990s. 

 sent California pro surfers Joe Curren and Mike Todd to Greece in 2007, and the crew scored several days of surprisingly fun surf: "When we pulled up to the beach, the Mediterranean scene in front of us was a little hard to absorb: The wind was turning offshore, and the waves were pumping; Joe and his wife, Teasha, paddled out, got pounded, got tubed, and surfed themselves silly. 

A small band of strangely militant locals calling themselves the Cretan Surf Tribe claim to have been surfing on Crete since the 1970s and have posted gun-toting videos on YouTube warning outsiders against exposing their secret spots. Their numbers are unknown. 

As of 2012 there are an estimated 1,000 native Greek surfers, and a handful of surf shops spread throughout the country. In 2010 the Greek Surfing Association was formally recognized by the International Surfing Association.

Greece

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

Features

Encyclopedia of Surfing

Features