Surfing Museums Show the Rich History of Surfing

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California Surfing Museums

California is home to the following surfing museums.

Santa Cruz Surfing Museum, 701 West Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz CA 95060 (831) 420-6289
International Surfing Museum, 411 Olive Ave, Huntington Beach CA 92648 (714) 960-3483
California Surf Museum, 312 Pier View Way, Oceanside, CA 92054 (760) 721-6876
Santa Barbara Surfing Museum, 16 1/2 Helena Avenue: #C, Santa Barbara, California 93101 (805) 962-9048

The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum is the smallest of these. It is in the lighthouse right next to Steamers Lane. It has a small collection of surfboards ranging from wooden planks to modern designs. There are also old Santa Cruz photographs of surfers, more modern videos, and a small gift shop. It is open Thursday - Monday, 12:00 pm to 4 pm. July 4th through Labor Day is Wednesday - Monday, 10 am to 5 pm. Sounds like classic surfer work-hours.

The International Surfing Museum in Huntington Beach has the obligatory vintage surfboard collection as well as old films and memorabilia. In addition, it has a display dedicated to Duke Kahanamoku, the Hawaiian credited with popularizing surfing after its post colonial decline. There is also a small surf music display featuring Dick Dale's guitar. Typical "surfing hours" again, 12 to 5 pm, Monday - Friday and 11 am to 6 pm, Saturday and Sunday.

The California Surf Museum was founded in Oceanside in 1986. It's similar to the other two museums in that it has a vintage surfboard collection, memorabilia, old photos.... and so forth and so on. The good news is that it is waiting to move into a bigger, newer building where it can show a much larger collection. Open daily from 10-4pm, Thursdays 10-8pm, Tuesdays Free Admission.

The Santa Barbara Surfing Museum was founded by James O'Mahoney in 1992. It has a pretty good collection of surfboards and skateboards. Listed hours of operation are Sunday 12 pm to 5 pm.