Woman and Surfing

Did you know that for the first time in history the number of woman entering the sport of surfing has surpassed men. Traditionally, surfing has been dominated by men, but not anymore. Some statistics indicate that there are twice as many women entering the sport as men.
"There are an estimated 260,000 women surfing in America, and female participation is growing twice as fast as that of men, according to the Surf Industry Manufacturer’s Association. The number of female surfers jumped 15 percent last year alone."
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And those are statistics from as far back as 1998. In the last three years, I have seen an explosion of young and not so young female surfers at our local beach break in Narragansett, Rhode Island. On any given day, I witness just as many women in the water as men...sometimes more.

About five years ago, My daughter was interested in a surf camp here in Rhode Island. Having tried surfing 12 years earlier but never really getting the knack for it, I thought it would be fun to enroll myself. I have been surfing ever since. At forty five I may not be the youngest female in the water but I am certainly not the oldest one either. In the early 1980's, "Gidget" Lee Ferrera, began surfing at the age of 21. She was recently featured in an article in the Rhode Island monthly on the diehard pioneers of surfing here in the Ocean State.

Photograph by Dana Smith
Rhode Island Monthly November 2007
She surfed for love before she loved to surf. “I had a boyfriend who surfed, and if I ever wanted to see him I had to go in the water,” says the Peace Dale resident. “That first time felt like dancing on water. I still get that feeling, that ‘Yeeaaahhhhh!’ What a rush!” A year and a half later, she was surfing competitively. Ferrera was a Northeast division champion in the Eastern Surfing Association and still competes, recently scooping first place in its thirty-five-and-up women’s division. Her first board—a 9'6" 1967 David Nuuhiwa longboard—still “rides like a gem.”
This article appears in the November 2007 issue of Rhode Island Monthly.


I love this paragraph run in a SurfPulse publication back in 2002 titled Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,
"Today, however, a whole new culture is emerging within women's surfing: surfing for fun. While previous rises in popularity revolved primarily around professional surfing, today's surfer-girl to be isn't necessarily aspiring to be a traveling pro. Rather, she may just want to go down to the local beach to ride a longboard, hang out with her friends, and enjoy the ocean. This represents a 180 degree shift in both mentality and image for women's surfing. Instead of the previously serious, often very aggressive representation of women in the surf, today's portrayals are centered simply on women having fun."
Written by Dane Larson


So this is for all you women out there!!! You are never too old or too young to start surfing. It may just turn out to be the most exciting thing you have ever done. If you need a little inspiration, check out this link to my a favorite video clip of an amazing longboarder by the name of Summer Romero that can be found on the online surf magazine Jetty Girl.

If you are ready to take the next step there are numerous camps, clinics and resorts that cater to the female surfer. Here are a handful to get you started.
Surf Diva
Las Olas...Surf Safaris for Women
Pura Vida Adventure
Boardfolio.com...surf directory

Yours Truly...Costa Rica 2007