The Change Mariner

North Shore's surf supremacy questioned

Honolulu Advertiser:
The North Shore's longstanding lock on the title of world's supreme surf spot is being challenged, most recently on Page 418 of "The Encyclopedia of Surfing," a 744-page, authoritative volume released last month:

"Dungeons in South Africa, along with Maverick's and Todos Santos on the North American West Coast, have broken up the North Shore's big-wave monopoly, while Indonesia with its perfect waves has to a large degree replaced the North Shore as the ultimate surf destination."

... "It's totally true," said Randy Rarick, executive producer of the prestigious Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, which will start today at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach, conditions permitting. "Maverick's blew away the notion that Hawai'i was the only location with the big waves. In Indonesia, during its prime surfing season from May through October, the surfing conditions are more ideal, more consistent, they have fewer storms and they don't get the chop and the wind.

... Manuel Menendez, executive director of the Honolulu Office of Economic Development, was more blunt.

"The surfing industry has been stolen from Hawai'i by California, by places like Huntington Beach, and by places like Australia," he said. "We lost it because we have never placed surfing as a priority industry. We used to have an envious position, but there are a lot of competitive places now that attract surfing visitors from all over the world."

The first attack on the North Shore's reputation as the No. 1 surf destination can be traced to Bruce Brown's 1964 classic "Endless Summer." Although still expressing reverence for North Shore spots, the film showed there were other places around the world to catch waves.