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

Surfing off the gently shoaling South Carolina coast, in keeping with the state's natural disposition, is for the most part loose, friendly, and slow-rolling. South Carolina generally gets its best and most consistent waves during the North Atlantic hurricane season in late summer and fall; mid- winter and midspring can also produce surf. South Carolina summers are hot, humid, and filled with afternoon thunderstorms, and for the most part wave-less. 

Because the state is fronted by a particularly wide and shallow apron of continental shelf—extending out more than 60 miles from shore in some places— South Carolina waves rarely gets over six feet. Low tide can further drain off whatever surf is running, and swells rarely last for more than two days. Most South Carolina surfers are travelers by necessity, making regular visits into neighboring North Carolina. 

The water temperature in South Carolina usually rises to 70 in May, at which point surfers may ride wetsuit- free for the next six or even seven months. In mid- winter, the water temperature can drop to the upper 40s. The Washout at Folly Beach, directly south of Charleston, is by far South Carolina's best and most popular surf break. Folly Beach itself is eight miles long and studded with sandbar-producing jetties; the Washout sandbars in part are formed by the remnants of houses lost to hurricanes in decades past. Pawleys Island, to the north, the oldest beachfront in the country with vacation houses built as far back as the early 19th century, is also a popular surfing area. 

(Land-strike hurricanes provide the infrequent but jolting exception to the relaxed South Carolinian coastal experience: on September 21, 1989, Hurricane Hugo blew into Charleston with wind speeds up to 140 miles per hour, and did more than $7 billion in statewide damage. Portions of the older and funkier South Carolina beach scene were erased permanently, and clusters of million-dollar beachfront homes filled the void.) 

Wooden paddleboards could be rented at Folly Beach as far back as the late 1930s, but surfing didn't really get started in South Carolina until California-born surfer and U.S. Air Force serviceman Rick Ficthman, while stationed in Charleston in 1963, introduced the sport to local Folly Beach teenagers. Corky's Surf Shop opened the following year, also in Folly Beach, while Ficthman formed the West Coast East Surf Club. McKevlin's Surf Shop (originally called Folly Surf Shop) opened in 1965, and was still in business as of 2003. The state's first surf contest took place in 1966 at Folly Pier: a South Carolina versus Georgia team match, won by South Carolina. 

By 2003, there were a dozen surf shops in South Carolina, servicing approximately 8,000 surfers state- wide. A short segment on Folly Beach appeared in the video Surf NRG 2000; in 1998, South Carolina Educational TV produced and aired a 30-minute documentary called Beach Break: A History of Surfing in South Carolina. The Eastern Surfing Association each year runs about 10 events in South Carolina.

South Carolina

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

The Sunday Joint

Encyclopedia of Surfing

The Sunday Joint