How religion almost killed surfing

Time to go to church. The Church of Surf. But did you know that religion has once almost killed surfing? You kinda did, right.

Ah. Religion. Without it, we wouldn’t have the Pyramids, Dalai Lama or the Easter Bunny. But we also might’ve avoided witch hunts, guilt about sex and almost killing surfing for 100 years.

Imagine this—you’re in Hawai’i, it’s the 1700s, and surfing isn’t just a hobby, it’s a sacred ritual. You paddle out, catch a wave, and the entire beach watches in awe.

Now fast-forward a century—surfing is nearly wiped out.

What happened? Christian missionaries happened.

So this is the story of how religion almost killed surfing—and how, against all odds, it made a comeback.

🌺 Hawai’i pre-contact

Before European contact, surfing in Hawaii was a way of life. It wasn’t just about riding waves—it was spiritual, social, and political.

• Chiefs surfed on giant Olo boards (up to 22 feet long) while commoners rode shorter alaia boards.
• It was a symbol of power—if you ruled the lineup, you had status on land, too.
• Surfers prayed to Kanaloa, the ocean god, for waves.
• There were surfboard-making ceremonies, chants, and rituals before paddling out.

It was a big deal. But in 1820, things changed.

✝️ Enter the Calvinist missionaries

When Christian Calvinist missionaries arrived in Hawai’i in the early 1800s, they saw a society that, well, didn’t fit their religious beliefs.

What did they disapprove of?

😬 Surfing often involved men and women surfing together… sometimes nude. Mixing of the sexes, shock, horror.

📿 It was tied to Hawaiian spiritual beliefs—which the missionaries were actively trying to erase.

😒 It looked way too much like having fun—and fun was not on the missionary agenda.

So, did they outright ban surfing?

No. But they heavily discouraged it—and the impact was just as bad.

📉 The decline of surfing (and Hawaiian culture)

Over the next few decades, surfing nearly disappeared. Why?

1️⃣ Hawaiians were forced to abandon their traditions in favor of Christian teachings.
2️⃣ Foreign diseases wiped out a huge chunk of the Hawaiian population, and survival became the priority.
3️⃣ Land was privatized under new Western laws, restricting access to beaches.
4️⃣ The economy shifted—Hawaiians were pushed into farming and labor instead of ocean life.

By 1900, surfing was nearly extinct.

But—spoiler alert—it didn’t stay that way. You knew that already.

🏄‍♂️ The revival of surfing: thanks to… a duke?

Enter: Duke Kahanamoku, aka the man who brought surfing back.

Duke was a Native Hawaiian, Olympic gold medalist, and absolute waterman legend. In the early 1900s, he introduced surfing to the world, doing demos in California, Australia, and beyond. He brought back traditional Hawaiian surfing, and made it a global sport.

I’ll be writing about the Duke a lot, so this is just a taster.

So yeah—religion almost killed surfing… but thanks to Hawaiians who held onto their traditions, it never fully disappeared.

Today, surfing is a religion to many. If you haven’t tried it—be ready for a spiritual experience.