Posted: Tuesday, Aug 21st, 2018
Updated: Friday, Mar 1st, 2024
No Surprise … Surfing is California’s State Sport (and Ventura’s soul)…
by Visit Ventura
In August of 2018, then Governor Jerry Brown (wisely) signed a bill officially declaring surfing California’s sport… …… which was nice, but also a little like declaring wine the official beverage of France. Surfing’s roots run long and deep through California, and Ventura has played a big, though quietly understated, role in California’s surfing story…
California has 1,100 miles of pristine coastline, lined with a pearl string of surf breaks, from easy rolling points to powerful, thrilling, hand-you-your-teeth beachbreaks (the Newport Beach Wedge, for one)…
Surfing originated with the Polynesian people and arrived in California courtesy of surfers from Hawaii…
Since then, California has revolutionized the sport…
Surf forecasting and the neoprene wetsuit were both invented in California. Surfers were thrilled with the coming of the wetsuit. Mixed feelings remain regarding surf cams and surf forecasting…
It’s estimated that surfing brings California over $6 billion in annual retail sales, though surfers don’t really care. Surfing isn’t about legislative proclamations, or trophies, or sales, or any of the outside world’s noise. Surfing is a quiet thing. Quiet and irresistible. Anyone who has dropped into a wave, heart surging as the world falls away, understands…
“No other sport represents the California Dream better than surfing — riding the waves of opportunity and living in harmony with nature,” said Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi who originally introduced the bill.
Inspired? Check out our Guide to Surfing in Ventura. Top image by Maya Sacks.
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