LOCAL SURF HISTORY

Topanga is one of the few point breaks in southern California and the closest one to 10.4 million Los Angeles residents; it is irreplaceable and priceless.

We want to share the input of surfers and their decades of observations and experiences at Topanga point, ensuring that our voices are heard in the restoration process.

first surfboard john Laronde topanga.jpeg

From "Early Surfers"

EXCERPT:

The Malibu Point was first surfed in September 1927, when it was still a private ranch, by Tom Blake (1902-1994) and Sam Reid (1905-1978).

We don’t know who first surfed Topanga, but it would make sense for Tom and Sam to have tried it before Malibu. Reid is often quoted as saying that “there were only six surfboards in the entire United States” when he graduated from Santa Monica High School in the early 1920s. Although Reid’s count was meant more to give an impression, two of those “six” surfboards belonged to brothers John E. O. (1915-1990) and Jim Larronde (1917-1989), whose parents had them engraved with the boys’ initials in Hawaii and shipped to their Topanga Beach vacation house in 1921 (John’s redwood board is now in the Museum of Ventura County).

LOCAL SURF HISTORY

Topanga is one of the few point breaks in southern California and the closest one to 10.4 million Los Angeles residents; it is irreplaceable and priceless.

We want to share the input of surfers and their decades of observations and experiences at Topanga point, ensuring that our voices are heard in the restoration process.

From "Early Surfers"

The 60’s

The 70’s

Aerial photos 1926-2007