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

New Zealand is located 1,000 miles southeast of Australia, and is composed of two large islands (North Island and South Island), each trimmed with hundreds of surfing spots, including several world-class point- and beachbreaks.

The lush variegated New Zealand coastline runs for more than 3,200 miles. Weather conditions throughout the country are mild and moist, with air temperatures ranging from 65 to 85 degrees in summer and 35 to 55 in winter, and water temperatures ranging from 50 to 70. Beachbreaks make up the majority of surf spots. Shapely 10-foot or bigger surf is rare in New Zealand, but three to six-foot waves are common, and the sunny afternoons produce waves with a glistening transparent green finish. 

South Island surf is consistent, with waves produced by Antarctic Circle storms, as well as local wind swells. Mangamaunu, a long, tapering right point located 10 miles north of Kaikoura on the northwest coast, is South Island's best-known wave. The majority of surf spots here are found on the east coast, but the remote northeast, west, and far south coasts contain some beautiful breaks as well, many of them rarely surfed. 

North Island is home to 75 percent of New Zealand's population, and also has waves throughout the year. The west coast is best in the winter months (June to September), as Tasman Sea storms generate south and southwest swells, while the east coast is best in summer (January to March), when tropical storms push swells in from the northeast. Westerly winds are common to both islands. 

Raglan, a majestic point located near Auckland, is New Zealand's best known surf spot: a long, walling, left-breaking wave with three distinct sections that can link together on a big southwest swell. Rocks and unfiltered sunlight—New Zealand is home to the world's highest rate of skin cancer—are the main surfing hazards. Aside from the breaks in and around Auckland, this remains a relatively uncrowded surfing nation.

Dutch explorers landed in New Zealand in the mid-17th century and noted that the indigenous Maori were riding waves using canoes and unrefined surfboards; in the late 1800s, Calvinist missionaries arrived from England and, as part of their proselytizing efforts, effectively brought an end to Maori surfing, just as Hawaii-posted missionaries had done a few decades earlier. Hawaiian surfer and Olympic gold medal swimmer Duke Kahanamoku reintroduced the sport to New Zealand in 1915 by putting on a surfing demonstration at Lyall Bay in the North Island city of Wellington. Over the next several decades, members of New Zealand "surf clubs"—lifeguard organizations—rode with limited success on surf-skis and weighty hollow surfboards.

New Zealand surfing changed quickly following a 1958 visit from Southern California lifeguard/surfers Bing Copeland and Rick Stoner, who arrived with the latest Malibu-style balsa-and-fiberglass boards. "Upon returning to the beach," Copeland said later, recalling the first time he and Stoner rode at Piha, a beachbreak near Auckland, "we were surrounded by guys wanting to give our boards a go. I believe our boards never left the water during the daylight hours for the next few weeks." 

Piha tomato farmer Pete Byers helped Stoner and Copeland build several boards during their visit; Byers then went on to become New Zealand's first commercial surfboard manufacturer. A small number of local surfers had meanwhile visited Australia and returned with Australian-made boards. In 1960 New Zealand was home to about six boardmakers and 75 surfers; by 1967, there were a dozen boardmakers and about 15,000 surfers. 

The first New Zealand National Surfing Championships were held in 1963, with Peter Way winning the men's title and Wayne Butt taking the juniors (there was no women's division); the New Zealand Surf Riders Association formed shortly afterward. Australian-born John McDermott competed for New Zealand in the 1964 World Surfing Championships, held in Sydney, Australia. The bimonthly 

 magazine debuted in 1965 (lasting for six issues), just before the publication of Wayne Warwick's 

; North Island surf filmmaker Tim Murdoch soon began producing New Zealand's first homegrown surf films, beginning with 

Top riders of the decade included Peter Way, Wayne Parkes, and Cindy Webb. Regional surf clubs had meanwhile sprung up by the dozen, and New Zealand surfers in general had embraced whole-heartedly the California- and Australian-style surf culture—its music, language, fashion, and habitually wild behavior—and were raising eyebrows among staid natives. 

Over time, however, the New Zealand surfing identity became reserved, even inconspicuous. A small number of New Zealanders have developed international surf/world reputations (most notably board-maker Allan Byrne), but for the most part native surfers have been content to ride their beautiful and relatively isolated waves without drawing undue attention to themselves or their nation. "We don't have to worry anymore about projecting a bad image to the wider public," local surf journalist/ photographer Logan Murray wrote in 1995. "Surfing in New Zealand simply does not have an image."

As of 2012, New Zealand was home to over 150 surf shops, at least 100,000 surfers, and four glossy monthly surfing magazines, 

. Surfing New Zealand, the country's governing body for competitive surfing and heir to the New Zealand Surfriders Association, oversees dozens of affiliated surf clubs and produces a national pro-am contest circuit, along with separate longboarding and bodyboarding events and an annual big-wave contest. 

In 2002, New Zealand won the World Surfing Games, while Maz Quinn, a smooth-riding regularfooter from Gisborne, became the first Kiwi to qualify for the world pro championship circuit. 

As of 2012, Maz and brother Jay Quinn, Richard Christie, Billy Stairmand, and women's pro tour competitor Paige Hareb were New Zealand's most notbale surfers. 

Gone Surfing: The Golden Years of Surfing in New Zealand

 were both published in 2002 by Penguin Books. New Zealand has been featured in dozens of surf movies and videos, including 

New Zealand

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

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