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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

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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

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Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

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beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Beschen, Shane

Australia's storm-lashed and well-forested island state, located 170 miles below the southeast corner of the continent, is flanked by the Bass Strait, the Tasman Sea, and the Southern Ocean, and is home to a wide variety of cold water surf breaks. 

Tasmania's 2,000-mile coastline can be divided into three main regions: 1) The crowded beach- and pointbreaks of the Hobart area on the temperate south coast, including the reliable sand-bottomed peaks of Clifton Beach and the long right-breaking point waves at Seven-Mile Beach. 

2) The pastoral east coast, which includes a number of high-quality but temperamental beachbreaks. 

3) The weather-battered west coast, home to Shipstern Bluff, the horrific right-breaking reef widely publicized by the surf media in the early '00s as one of world's most dangerous waves. 

Tasmania receives its best surf from November through April, as the weather is relatively mild and Roaring 40s storms send out regular pulses of three- to six-foot waves, with 10-to-15-footers possible in March and April. Average daytime temperatures range from 70 in summer to 50 in winter; water temperatures range from the low 60s to the high 40s. Tasmanian surfing hazards include sharks, dangerously shallow reefs, powerful waves, and lack of emergency services along much of the coast. 

While it's believed that the Swansea area of Tasmania was surfed as far back as the early 1900s, the sport was not practiced regularly on the "Apple Isle" until visiting Sydney surfer Cedric Cane began riding Clifton Beach in 1926. (Boardless at the time, Cane allegedly took to the surf on a fence post he wrestled out of the ground.) Local auto salesman Ken von Bibra began selling surfboards out of his car in the late '50s; Sea World, Tasmania's first surf shop, didn't open until 1971. 

The Tasmanian Surfriders' Association (later renamed Surfing Tasmania) was formed in 1963. The first state championships contest was held at Clifton in 1964; Tasmania hosted the Australian National Titles in 1989 and 2000. 

As of 2003, Tasmania was home to 12 surf shops, a dozen surfboard shapers, and about 3,000 surfers, most of whom live in or near the state capital of Hobart. Despite an abundance of surf, Tasmania surfers for the most part have remained anonymous; top riders in 2002 included big-wave ace Andrew Campbell, along with minor league pros Dara Penfold and Simon McShane. Tasmanian Surfing Adventures, a surf tour operation focused mainly on the difficult-to-access west coast, including Shipstern Bluff, was opened in 2000. 

The Tasmanian surf has been featured in a handful of surf movies and videos, including Under Down Under (1998) and Taz Zero One (2002). Tasmanian surf breaks are detailed in The Surfing and Sailboarding Guide to Australia (1993) and Mark Warren's Atlas of Australian Surfing (1998).

Tasmania

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