Santa Cruz Surfing Museum
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The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum is the oldest surf museum in the world. With collections dating back to the earliest years of surfing on the mainland, the museum houses a good historical account of surfing in Santa Cruz, California.
[edit] Surf History
Located in the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse at Lighthouse Point on West Cliff Drive, the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum opened its doors in June 1986 as the first surfing museum in the world[1].
Overlooking the legendary Steamer Lane surfing hotspot, this little gem of a museum features photographs, surfboards, and videos tracing over 100 years of surfing history in Santa Cruz.
The exhibits at the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum explore this unique culture from its early origins in Hawaii and over 100 years of surfing in Santa Cruz. Introduced in 1886 by three Hawaiian princes who surfed the mouth of the San Lorenzo River on plank boards, surfing has permeated every facet of the Santa Cruz community.
Throughout its history, surf culture has reflected and responded to popular culture. Photographs chronicle the evolution of surfing culture in Santa Cruz from idyllic summers spent at the beach in the 1930s and 40s, through the hipster beach party 50s, the surf rock 60s, the “soul surfing” 70s, the neon 80s, and the rebirth of classic long-board riding in the 90s.
Examples of surfboards from each era are on display, from the huge hollow paddle boards and redwood planks made and ridden in the 1930s and 1940s to examples of early foam and fiberglass boards, and speedy short boards used to create radical new surf moves beginning in the 1970s.
