25 Nov, 2009
Royal Family of Hawaii Honors Santa Cruz for its Surfing Roots
Posted by: Beach Reporter In: beaches| california
A recent news story from the San Jose Mercury News reported that the royal family of Hawaii boosted Santa Cruz’s claim as the real Surf City. The City of Santa Cruz was presented with a bronze plaque honoring three island princes who introduced surfing to the mainland when they paddled out at the San Lorenzo River mouth in 1885.
A representative from the Santa Cruz Surfing Club Preservation Society told a reporter that the news was significant in proving that Santa Cruz was where surfing began, and not Southern California. Calling it a feather in Santa Cruz’s cap, the surfing historian said the plaque further bolster’s Santa Cruz’s claim to be the real Surf City, despite arguments to the contrary from Huntington Beach. Reporter Genevieve Bookwalter writes, “The rivalry, however, continues.”
