Surfing can be dated back as far as 1500 A.D where it was part of ancient Polynesian culture. Rituals where all based around surfing, special chants, dances, songs and even prayers show how important surfing was to these people. The Chiefs would use it to prove their skills and rank and would have their own breaks that nobody else would surf. Their boards could be as large as 25ft and the type of wood used to make the board would depend upon the riders status in society. The first actual recorded sighting of surfing was in 1779 when Captain James Cook was on his 3 rd expedition of the Pacific. Cook was sailing around the Hawaiian chain of island and brought his crew to the Island of Hawaii . During their stay they entered several pages into the ships log explaining how the locals at Kealakekua Bay rode giant waves into shore. They noticed how they would paddle out through large surf to where the sea was calm. As the swell built they would paddle and catch large wave, riding them to shore. After cook's findings off Hawaii it became a destination for Captains, adventurers and missionaries. The effect of Western Culture on the Hawaiian Islands was not good and their own culture fell into chaos. Their rituals became less and less and along with those rituals went the surfing.

By the mid 1900's surfing almost died out, with only a dedicated few still practicing the art of wave riding. A teenager named Duke Kahanamoko and his friends would meet and surf at Waikiki beach in 1905 and later they formed their own surf club named ‘The Club Of Waves' and later named the Beach boys of Waikiki. During 1908 the Hawaiian Outrigger canoe club was founded and the two clubs would have friendly competitions. Beach huts where erected and by 1915 the club had over 1000 members. By this time Duke Kahanamoko was famous for his surfing and a fantastic athlete, a 3 time record holder in swimming. While traveling through California , en-route to the summer Olympics, he gave surf demonstrations in Santa Monica and Carona Del Mar which caused a massive sensation. Duke soon became world famous for his achievements in the Olympics and would use his celebrity status and new found fame to introduce surfing to the masses.

Australia was vaguely knowledgeable about surfing but in 1915 after a visit from the Duke, riding waves at Manly, Australia was on its way to becoming one of the great surfing powers of the world. During the 20's and 30's in California was beginning to enjoy the thrills of surfing and none more so than John H. Ball, or “ Doc Ball” as he was known. Doc Ball was a keen surfer and photographer and found surfing to be the perfect method of stress relief from his day to day work as a Dentist. If he wasn't working or surfing you could find him documenting sessions in the surf with a waterproof camera. Surfing carried on like this until the 50's, still using large bulky wooden boards, no leashes, wetsuits etc. California was seeing the popularity of surfing increase a great deal and in the late 50's early 60's surfing broke into the mainstream. Many Journalists and film makers where becoming interested in surfing. Newspaper articles, magazines and films started to appear and the surfing industry was born.

The biggest innovation in the surfing world was probably the modern foam boards. In 1958 the first foam core “blank” for a surfboard was the brain child of Hobie Alter and Gordon Clark. This type of method of making a board allowed the board to be easily shaped, it was light and when covered with resin and fiberglass it was unbelievably maneuverable through the water. Boards soon became a lot more available and surfing was now the ‘in' thing, the beach was the place to be. During the sixties boards got shorter, allowing the maneuverability on the wave's to increase. As the technology improved, so did the surfing. Surfing has continued to evolve from the early days to the multi-million pound industry it is today.