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

The world's largest ocean, covering 103 million square miles, or nearly half of the earth's ocean surface. The Pacific runs along 83,000 miles of coastline, and is bordered by Asia, Australia, Russia, North and South America; tributary bodies of water include the Bering Sea, the Coral Sea, the East China Sea, the South China Sea, the Gulf of Alaska, the Gulf of Tonkin, the Yellow Sea, the Philippine Sea, the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Tasman Sea. Ge­ographers disagree as to whether the Pacific extends to Antarctica or stops at the Antarctic Ocean. 

The equator divides the North Pacific from the South Pa­cific; surface currents in the North Pacific are domi­nated by a clockwise warm-water gyre and in the South Pacific by a counterclockwise cold-water gyre. The westerlies and the tradewinds are the Pacific's two primary wind belts; the westerlies form between 30 and 60 degrees latitude in both the North and South Pacific; the tradewinds also form on both sides, blow­ing in toward the equator from about 30 degrees latitude.

About 25,000 thousand islands are spread across the Pacific Ocean, more than are found in the rest of the world's oceans combined; the vast majority of the Pacific's islands are located south of the equator. "Continental" islands, like Taiwan, New Guinea, and Australia—the largest islands in the world—are located primarily in the east. The volcanic and coral islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Poly­nesia are scattered primarily between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The Challenger Deep, the lowest point on earth at almost 36,000 feet below sea level, is located in the North Pacific, near Guam, in the Mariana Trench. Water temperatures in the Pacific range from 84 degrees near the equator to 28 degrees near the Antarctic Circle.

The Pacific is the birthplace of surfing and home to many of the world's best-known surf destinations, including Hawaii, California, Fiji, Tahiti, and the east coast of Australia. It is believed that Polynesians have been riding waves since 2,000 B.C.; fishermen in northern Peru may have practiced a form of surfing as far back as 3,000 B.C. North Pacific winter storms broadcast a regular supply of waves to the shores of North America and many of the Pacific islands; breaks such as Maverick's in California and Jaws on the Hawaiian island of Maui produce the world's largest ridable waves. 

From September to February, cyclones and typhoons along the western band of the North Pacific often send high-quality surf to Asia's east-facing shores; from June to October, hurricanes forming south of Mexico bring waves to Central America, Mexico, and California. The biggest and most durable South Pacific storms are formed be­tween June and September, sending waves into the central and eastern Pacific, as well as the west-facing coastline of South America.

Pacific Ocean

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

Encyclopedia of Surfing