Gates Foss first surfed the waves in Santa Barbara nearly 100 years ago, pioneering the sport at Rincon Point while diving for lobster and abalone off his homemade board.
Since then, Santa Barbara has become an international surf destination and home base for numerous surfboard shapers whose innovations have pushed the sport to new heights.
Renny Yater is one of the first commercial surfboard builders in the country. He shaped his first surfboard in Laguna Beach in 1951.
By 1959, he opened Santa Barbara Surf Shop at 28 Anacapa St. The movie “Gidget” came out later that year, and it popularized surfing nationwide. Yater flooded the market and became a national name.
In 1965, he released the Yater “Spoon,” an iconic board known for being one of the most lightweight and maneuverable designs of its era.
Represent the Santa Barbara Surf Shop name with our t-shirts, crewnecks, hoodies, hats, and more.
In 1958, people started sneaking onto Hollister Ranch to surf.
In response, the Surf Club was formed in 1960 by Renny Yater and Arlen Knight. They partnered with landowner Clinton Hollister, grandson of Colonel William Welles Hollister, to allow people to surf but also keep activity under control in the area. The Hollister family was concerned that people were leaving gates open and cattle was escaping.
In 1960, Surfer Magazine released its first issue.
This publication elevated surfing from subculture to lifestyle. It offered the first legitimate, high-quality documentation of surf culture, travel, and environmental activism.
Photo courtesy of Surfer Magazine
In 1961, Jeff White opened White Owl Surf Shop at 2320 Lillie Ave. in Summerland, CA. It closed four years later when he opened the first Surf N’ Wear location at 209 W. Carrillo St.
Current owner Roger Nance partnered with Jeff in Surf N’ Wear in 1978, and the business grew from there. Throughout the years, other Surf N’ Wear locations opened and closed across California — in Campbell, Goleta, San Luis Obispo, Thousand Oaks, and Santa Maria — until Roger established the flagship store at 10 State St. in downtown Santa Barbara in 1987.
1961 John Eichert opens IKE Shop at 24 W. Cota St.
1963 Greenough, Ike, Vincent surf the Islands on the Marmetta
1963 Ike shoots footage of Greenough at Sand Spit, opening scene “Endless Summer”
1963 Greenough makes first kneeboard at Ike’s Cota St. shop
1963 Doug Routh Surfboards, Goleta, CA
1964 Release of “Endless Summer” the movie
1964 Greenough takes first trip to Australia
1964 Jeff opens Owl Surf Shop at 21 Front St, Santa Cruz
1964 Jeff opens Pleasure Pt. Surfshop 23401 E. Cliff Dr, Santa Cruz
1964 Pat Curren moves to Santa Barbara
1965 Renny moves to Gutierrez St and opens retail store at 401 State St.
1966 IKE Shop moves to Old Town Goleta
1966 Nat Young wins World Title using Greenough Fin
1967-80 Rich Reed SPINDRIFT Surfboards
1967 John Bradbury and Alan Hazard open Creative Freedom Surfboards 5814 Gaviota St
1967 Yater moves shop to Gray Ave
1967 Wilderness Surfboards opens in Carpinteria Point
1968 “Shortboard Revolution”
1968 Wilderness Shop moves to ICE House
1969 Al Merrick opens Channel Islands Shop on Anacapa St
1970 Wilderness Shop moves to 317 South Alisas St
1970 Channel Islands moves shop to Helena Ave
1970 Stanley’s Diner and Surf Spot destroyed for Hwy 101 widening
1971 Hollister Ranch subdivided and sold to public
1971 Marc Andreini opens Andreini Surf Shop
1971 Tom Sims moves to Santa Barbara
1971 Bruce Fowler Owl Shaper Surf N’ Wear manager
1972 Sex Wax comes out
1974 Marc Andreini commissioned by Jeff White to Shape Owl Surfboards
1974 Bob Haakenson returns from Hawaii – Glassing all CI boards
1975 Dave Johnson opens Progressive Surfboards in Goleta
1976 Andreini moved into Gray Ave shop with Yater
1977 John Elleston opens Santa Barbara Surfing Emporium 732 State St
1978 John Perry opens Ocean Rhythms 4317 State St
1978 Matt Moore opens Rincon designs
1979 First Rincon Classic put on by Surf N’ Wear
1979 Chuck Ames starts True Ames Fins
1979 Lauran Yater shapes first board
1981 First tri fin “Thruster”
1981 Davey Smith pioneers aerials
1982 3x World Champion Shaun Thompson moves to Santa Barbara
1983 Kim Meario wins world title
1984 Surf N’ Wear Goleta moves to Calle Real Center
1984 Ocean Rhythms sold to Paul Kuhn 4317 State St
1985 Tommy Curren wins his first world title
1989 Hwy 101 traffic lights removed. Project forced Wilderness shop to close
1989 Chris “Brownie” Brown joins Championship Tour
1990 Yater showroom moves to Beach House at 10 State St
1990 Painted Cave Fire burns down Ocean Rhythms
1992 John Pyzel moves to North of Oahu, HI
1992 James O’Mahoney opens Santa Barbara Surfing Museum, closed 2016
1993 Wayne Rich starts shaping out of Clyde Beatty Shop
1996 Greenough moves permanently to Australia
1997 Surf Country Doug Yartz
1998 John Pyzel shapes John John Florence first board at 5 years old
1999 John Bradbury passes (RIP)
2005 Clark Foam closes
2006 CI Surfboards sells to Burton
2006 Bobby Martinez qualifies for Championship Tour
2007 Cole Robbins qualifies for Longboard Championship Tour
2007 Cole Robins qualifies for Longboard Championship Tour
1931-2009 RAE Strange Pacific Weather Analysis
2010 Jeff White passes (RIP)
2012 Lakey Peterson qualifies for Championship Tour
2016 Conner Coffin qualifies for Championship Tour
1932-2018 Bev Morgan (RIP)
2019 Last year of beach driving Hollister Ranch
2021 CI Surfboards bought back from Burton by Merricks
2024 Yater retires – shapes last board
Roger and Grayson Nance, the father-son owners of Surf N’ Wear’s Beach House, converted their board room into a tribute to local surf history.
They built the exhibit themselves from scratch, and welcomed the community to celebrate at their grand opening in September 2025.