Life on the ocean wave: How joy and freedom can be found in surfing – Telegraph.co.uk

As girls are given the opportunity and support to engage with sport, and as accessibility to boards and beaches increases, we will make up for lost decades in getting back to surfings legacy of inclusivity. As we work to catch up not to mens surfing, but to what our own minds, hearts and bodies are capable of and long for in the water we are witnessing the depth and diversity of a truly global womens surf culture.

In 2019, surfing became one of the first sports to provide equal pay for women and men at the elite competitive level. While athletes such as Stephanie Gilmore and Caroline Marks are globally visible womanifestations of the potential for womens sport in cultures of economic privilege, radical change is also bubbling up from the fields and streets of emerging surf cultures around the globe: India, Sri Lanka, Iran, Morocco, Brazil, Gaza, and more. Women in these countries are not only shaping their local communities and cultures, they are rewriting the rules of femininity and womanhood, a by-product of pursuing their passion for slip-sliding across a watery wave face. Looking forward, regionally adapted surfing cultures, guided by fresh perspectives those of women, indigenous people and people of colour might reshape the impact of surfing on beaches and communities.

A rare story of optimism, business has hardly ever been better for surfboard builders than in 2020. While so many of us have been crushed by job loss, financial hardship, illness and worse, the surfers and surf-curious among us have also relished in the unexpected, unsolicited gift of rediscovering the freedom that the waves have to offer in a year full of restrictions. For some of us, 2020 has also allowed us to rediscover what it means to have leisure time once again, time out from the inhuman pace of life, to connect again with the elements, our families and our communities on surfboards.

It is only a matter of time before those freshly glossed and polished boards become objects of wanderlust once again, calling us forth toward new waves and new ways.

Hawaii

Oahu has always been a gathering place. The island, comprising two overlapping volcanoes, is home to more than three quarters of the population of the Hawaiian Islands and usually sees more than 4.5 million visitors annually. Its not a coincidence that the Hawaiian Islands are the birthplace of surfing culture. Oahu, in particular, is a surfing smorgasbord, with something to suit every palate. From the water mountains of Waimea Bay, to the ankle slappers of Waikiki, Oahu seems to have been precisely crafted as a surfing paradise.

Italy

The Tuscan coastline is considered the heartland of Italian surfing, as well as organic farming. And though its beaches are known for being high-density, coldmistral winds that bring bigger surfalso send beachgoers packing.

Australia

The working-class town of Byron Bay, formerly known for whaling and sand mining, started to mutate as long-haired hippies and surfer types migrated to the region as a result of the Aquarius Festival of 1973 (Australias Woodstock) and the discovery of perfect, uncrowded surf. Today, Byron Bay is many things to many people, but it is undeniably abusy place. Perhaps to its own demise, it is recognised as one of the worlds best surf towns.

Tahiti

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Life on the ocean wave: How joy and freedom can be found in surfing - Telegraph.co.uk