Surfing in Italy

Surfing is a discipline that is gathering more fans every year in Italy: it is estimated that today it is practiced regularly by around 30,000 – 50,000 people . It took a few decades for this sport to explode on the Italian coasts, but this does not lead to a lesser passion for the water and the waves among Italian surfers.

But how did this sport arrive in the Bel Paese?

The surfing culture in Italy developed between the 60s and 70s , probably also thanks to the spread of American pop culture through our media. This is in fact the period of beach rock 'n' roll , twist and the Beach Boys : the fascination for this new culture that was becoming increasingly popular in Italian clubs is increasingly intriguing sea lovers. Crowning the rise of the passion for surfing in Italy was the release in 1978 of the film " Big Wednesday": the film soon became a portal to surfing culture in Italy, imprinting itself on the minds of enthusiasts not only the style of the surfers, but also the ideals of freedom and contact with nature that accompany this sport. The first brave ones begin to repeat the exploits of the protagonists of the film, trying to imitate not only the technique, but also the lifestyle of a real surfer.

It takes only a short time to transform surfing from a passing trend to a true constant in the lives of many people: this is demonstrated by the increasingly frequent birth of sports associations aimed at spreading the surfing culture and teaching the discipline to children and adults. Thanks to the activity of these associations, what in the past a person learned independently in 3 years, he was able to learn after just one year of course, greatly accelerating the spread of surfing culture.

The cast of 90210

The trend doesn't seem to stop, not even between the '90s and '00s, when a " new wave " of enthusiasts targets Italian beaches, inspired by new cults of popular culture, such as American TV series set on the Californian coasts such as “The OC” or “90210”.

From the moment surfing began to populate Italian beaches, great developments occurred in the community of enthusiasts: in 1991 the first association of surfers was born (the Italian Wave Surf Team ), which represented our country in international competitions for many years. The greatest achievement in the discipline certainly occurred in 2015 , when the Italian Surf Federation (FISW) was born: an important step that marked the establishment of the discipline at a sporting level.

Today surfing is increasingly loved among Italians , and many Italian beaches are known abroad for being meeting points for international surfers. Sardinia is greatly admired (considered by many to be the Italian Hawaii), where the best seasons for surfing are Autumn and Spring, as they guarantee the best weather conditions to favor the right waves to ride. The best beaches for surfing are in Capo Mannu (Oristano) or Porto Ferro (Alghero): two spots of great interest not only for the fantastic waves that give lovers of the discipline shivers, but also for the landscapes that have nothing to envy to the Californian panoramas. The City of Surfing , however, is located in Lazio: it was renamed Santa Marinella (near Civitavecchia). In fact, every year the city attracts thousands of enthusiasts not only for the sea and its waves, but also for the numerous specialized shops and surf schools, which have allowed the surfing community to grow particularly in this area.