A Glimpse at Santa Cruz Surfing Culture

On a brisk May evening, Santa Cruz Neighbors invited Richard Schmidt and me to a panel discussion about the culture of Santa Cruz surfing.

The venue was unique, at the Santa Cruz Police Department Community Room, 155 Center St., and as I pull into the parking lot, I think how stoked I am to be able to share some of my experiences and appreciation of the ocean in Santa Cruz. 

As we settle in to begin the casually moderated discussion from a set of questions, Richard cues up a personal photo album to share while we discuss surf spots, territorial surfers, the Monterey Bay Sanctuary and why we love surfing. 

Richard, born and raised in Santa Cruz, had stories of the '70s when he started surfing on inflatable mats at the river-mouth, which eventually led him to start surfing on boards. In the '80s and '90s, Richard was the surf instructor of choice at Cowell and became part of the group that led surf lessons for Jack O'Neill throughout Europe. He reminisced on his pro surfing career traveling around the world and realized how lucky he was to live in a place like Santa Cruz.

I remembered learning to surf and realizing that I wanted to make this my life, from the very first wave. All I ever thought about was how could I get into the water that day. Jobs, girlfriends, dinner reservations and basically any event that may interfere were cast aside, as the love of my life is surfing. I was fortunate to travel with a bunch of pro surfers our shop sponsored at the time, getting to see the world and how it compared with Santa Cruz.

There were a couple of items that led the discussion, including surf culture, how it has changed over the years and how it impacts the lineup. Richard brought it back to the elite club mentality in the beginning, saying, "If you didn't put your time in, you just didn't get the best waves," and brought it to the current, with the understanding the aggro effect has toned down and more people are surfing of all professions.

I touched on the skate-influnced tricks going down most recently, with Zoltan Torkos taking the Volcom $10,000 prize for doing a kickflip on a surfboard to the Santa Cruz phenom Nat Young, who will be the first Santa Cruz surfer to take a run at the pro tour, which has not been done since Adam Repolgle and Chris Gallagher in the '90s.

We talked about the Monterey Bay Sanctuary and our appreciation for this designation, when Richard made sure to point out that Santa Cruz had been acknowledged as a just this year. He also stated that people seemed more aware of the environmental impact by recycling and refusing to use one-time-use plastic bags.

The hot topic of the night was how Santa Cruz ranked against the world in regards to surf quality, culture and the overall appearance of Santa Cruz surfers. Richard started out by noting our concentrated quantity of surf breaks every 50 to 100 yards, with different conditions driving every spot. Not very many places in the world  compare, he said, besides the North Shore of Hawaii.

My answer to this question was centered around the surfers and how we were received in other parts of the world. It always worked out that once it was known our group was from Santa Cruz, we were treated differently. 

Santa Cruz has a mystical grip on the locals who are very proud of their town (and rightfully so, as we all know what the REAL Surf City is!) who all surf incredibly well and dominate when they travel. Let alone the fact that during the '90s and '00s, Santa Cruz surfers were gracing the covers of major surf magazines busting airs, charging huge waves or making photo editorial trips. It created a frenzy of expectations that Santa Cruz guys were off the chain. Some of that created insane surfers, and it also wrecked some surfers.

While Richard has made a business out of teaching people to surf in Santa Cruz and Costa Rica (Richard Schmidt Surf School), he enjoys the visits from the likes of Operation Surf Santa Cruz and his friend, Van Curaza, which brings it all back to reality for this surfing legend.

My business has been retail driven (Santa Cruz Skate and Surf Shop) with an emphasis on our local community leading me to found Grind Out Hunger with Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County, which has collected more than 750,000 pounds of food over the last six years. I am the chief development and technology officer for Second Harvest. 

At the end of the night, there was a question-and-answer session with Santa Cruz Neighbors asking questions about Mavericks, women surfers, best place to learn to surf and a few other Santa Cruz-related comments. 

Overall it was a cool exchange. Everyone walked away with a smile on their faces, a little bit more educated about Santa Cruz surf culture and lifestyle.

For information, visit santacruzneighbors.com