The surfing tradition in Seal Beach is rich and strong. People started riding waves around Anaheim Landing and the pier in the late 1930′s and ’40′s. As time passed the scene began to develop. In the ’50′s guys like Chuck Burgess, Louie Tartar, the Haleys, and the Buehls were at the top. Jack Haley won the first World Surfing Championships in Huntington Beach, later to be changed to the U.S. Surfing Championships, and today named the U.S. Open of Surfing. Mike Haley took the title the following year. This was only the start of things to come.

Jack Haley with a newly shaped beauty, April 26th, 1963

The late ’50′s and early ’60′s saw the interest in surfing explode. At the forefront of this movement was Robert August, Tim Dorsey, Rich Chew, Rich Harbour, and Corky Carroll. In 1964 Bruce Brown released his epic surf movie, The Endless Summer. The story goes that it was written and planned at a beach front house in Seal Beach, a house with a model Sphinx on the roof. In Corky Carroll’s new book he recalls running from his house in Surfside to Robert August’s house in Seal Beach to buy the first copy of Surfer Magazine. It was during this time that the roots of surfing in Seal Beach were established.

In the mid- to late 60′s the Seal Beach City Council restricted surfing to certain areas at certain times, but the surfers worked around it and waves continued to be ridden. In the 1970′s a new breed emerged. Boards got shorter and riding styles changed, but the stoke remained the same.

Sean Collins with his eye on the prize, Beach Fest circa 1980

Sean Collins, Kurt Augsburger, and Mitchell DeJarnett led the charge. Today Collins is the owner of Surfline, the premier wave forecasting company, and continues to surf in and around Seal Beach. The surfers of the ’70′s kept the surfing flame stoked in Seal Beach. The neon 1980′s spawned folks like past contest director Jason Shook (the god father of what the contest is today), and professional surfers Marty Thomas and Jeff Booth. Both Thomas and Booth continued on to compete on the world tour and establish themselves as future surfing legends. The enormous surf during the winter of 1982/83 destroyed the pier and showed surfers how big Seal Beach could get. While some of the ’80′s heros may have grown-up and moved on to other things they will always be able to call Seal Beach home.

Jason Shook throwing buckets, Northside summer '97

Through the nineties the post modern movements of Ryan Simmons, Mike Rielly, Travis Potter, Troy Tecklenberg, and Chad Wells left a lasting impression on the new guard. The new generation blends the rich tradition of Seal Beach surfing with the quick snappy surfing style of  today’s best riders. On any given day at Seal the new crew can be found ripping apart the lefts that spin off of the pier. They are the present and look to pave the way for the future generations of aspiring surf stars.

Be it hanging ten over, carving a deep arch, or boosting above the lip the surfers of Seal Beach have always taken pride in riding waves. Past, present, or future; the surfing tradition of Seal Beach has and always will be deeply rooted in style, community, and stoke. Aloha.