Famous Surfing Locations: Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Escondido, Bondi Beach And Ala Moana

In less than sixty years, surfing has spread from the beaches of Hawaii and California to beaches worldwide. Although Hawaii and California are still abound with surfers, surfing areas can be found on the shores of nearly every continent: South and North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

The swells off the coast of California and Hawaii's Banzai Pipeline are still Mecca's for surfers around the globe. Always elusive and secretive, surfer camps are springing up in some of the most exotic, isolated, far off beaches of the world. Islands in the Pacific and coasts along Asia and Africa were kept under-wraps, reported to be unsurfable. An enigmatic sect, the surfer saying, "Someone foolish enough to ask a surfer where to surf is foolish enough to believe him," may not be just a saying.

Beaches on both coasts of the United States offer fertile waters for swells. California beaches from Los Angeles to San Diego–Trestles, Huntington Beach and Cardiff Beach–produce popular swells. Credited as the home of modern surfing, the beaches of SoCal have been popular since the 1960s. Malibu and Surfrider Beach are home to the most popular surfing areas. NorCal is also home to the dangerous, fickle but exciting breaks at the Mavericks.

The Atlantic Coast has also increased in popularity. The shores of New England, Maryland, North Carolina and Florida have become known as favorite surfing areas, while Virginia Beach plays host to the annual East Coast Surfing Championships. The Gulf Coast with beaches like Galveston, Corpus Christi and South Padre Island are also home to seasonal surfing communities.

Mexico has long drawn attention for its surfable waters. The beaches between San Lucas del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas are popular destinations. At Baja, surfers enjoy swells at Isla Todos Santos, San Miguel and Seven Sisters. Surfing areas like Zippers and Puerto Escondido are perhaps Mexico's infamous breaks.

Further down the Americas, South America also offers many quality breaks. Most notable is the Green Coast of Brazil, but destinations like Costa Rica, Peru and Panama are gaining repute for their surfable shores.

In recent years the cold waters of South Africa have also drawn international celebrity. Notably, the breaks at Jeffreys Bay and the Cape of St. Francis play host to the surfing community. Every year, South Africa's most renown break Jeffreys Bay, is home to the Billabong Pro WTC surfing tournament.

Australia has been a refuge for itinerant and local surfers since the 1970s. Beaches throughout the island-continent like Bondi Beach, Newcastle and the Gold Coast, the headlands of Noosa and Burleigh, and Kirra Point are favorite surfing areas. Australia's two most famous breaks are Bells Beach and Snapper Rock. Bells Beach is the home of the Beach Surf Classic as well as the Rip Curl Gromsearch National Series junior tournament.

Although surfing areas in Europe were last to achieve international notoriety, local surfers have long enjoyed the waters. The United Kingdom is home to handfuls of beaches off Scotland, Cornwall, Wales, Devon, North Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Donegal Bay, Antrim and Munster. Although the conditions are harsh, they are favorite draws for local surfers. Surfers of continental Europe have made destinations like the Aquitaine and Charent regions along the southern Basque coastline of France and the northern Basque coastline of northern Spain very popular. Portugal sea-side towns like Ericeira and Peniche attract homegrown and international surfers. In recent years, the coasts of Morocco have become very in vogue.

Once considered unsurfable, shores throughout Indonesia and the Indonesian archipelago, New Zealand and the Pacific and South Pacific Islands have attracted surfers from around the world. Thailand, Vietnam, New Caldonia, Bali, Sumatra, Timor and Mentawai and Java are home to great breaks. The exotic beaches of the Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, and Western Samoa have also drawn fame. Among these surfing areas, two favorite locations, Tahiti's Teahupo'o and East Java's Bay of Grajagan are two of the world's most fantasized-about breaks.

Hawaii, although sometimes considered too popular, still remains home to some of the most sought after breaks. Beaches at Ala Moana, Honolua Bay, Peahi and Waikiki are known for their breaks. However the most famous break off the Hawaiian Islands is the Banzai Pipeline. Considered one of the most dangerous surfing areas, the Banzai Pipeline has claimed the lives of many surfers, notably Malik Joyeux and Jon Mozo, but has also made the careers of surfers like Kelly Slater, Butch Van Artsdalen and Simon Anderson.




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