Surfing History

Surfing Origin
Surfing was a central part of ancient Polynesian culture. The chief was the most skilled wave rider in the community with the best board made from the best tree. The ruling class had the best beaches and the best boards, and the commoners were not allowed on the same beaches, but they could gain prestige by their ability to ride the surf on their extremely heavy boards.

The art of surfing was first observed by Europeans in 1767, by the crewmembers of the Dolphin at Tahiti. Later, Lieutenant James King, wrote about the art[1] when completing the journals of Captain James Cook upon Cook's death in 1779.

Surfing is a sport of Polynesian life as any major sport is part of western life today, if not more. It permeated ancient Polynesian society, including religion and myth. Polynesian chiefs would demonstrate and confirm their authority by the skills they displayed in the surf.

Artificial reefs
The value of good surf has even prompted the construction of artificial reefs and sand bars to attract surf tourism. Of course, there is always the risk that one's holiday coincides with a "flat spell". Wave pools aim to solve that problem, by controlling all the elements that go into creating perfect surf, however there are only a handful of wave pools that can simulate good surfing waves, owing primarily to construction and operation costs and potential liability.

The availability of free model data from the NOAA has allowed the creation of several surf forecasting websites.

Content taken from Wikipedia