The first woman in space…sorry…surf

When I talked to Matt Warshaw, the author of Encyclopedia of Surfing and History of Surfing (episode coming soon!), he mentioned that there were no girls in the lineup when he started surfing in 1969 in Venice Beach. That made me think about the first ever woman in “surf”. So—for your sake—I went down a little rabbit hole.

Space is easy. Surfing? Not so much.

The first woman in space was Valentina Tereshkova, a Soviet cosmonaut who orbited the Earth 38 times in June 1963. She was only 26 at the time—and had been selected in part because of her experience as a skydiver. It would be nearly 20 years before the second woman went to space, and finally the first American woman, Sally Ride.

But what about the first ever woman in the lineup? That timeline is much harder to pinpoint.

We know the stories of the ancient Hawaiians—men and women surfing naked together, mixing freely. So we know both women and men surfed, royalty and commoners alike. Sure, women weren’t allowed to eat with men, but hey—the ocean is a great leveller. Hawaiian oral traditions (mo‘olelo) and later 19th-century writings are full of descriptions (usually written by ever-so-fascinated men) of expert female surfers who literally pounded men in surf competitions. I say “pounded”—the 19th-century writers say “the gentler sex frequently carried off the highest honors.”

And if you want to go one step further back—into the land of fable—the volcano goddess Pele and her sister Hi‘iaka, goddess of the hula, were both wave riders. I’m all in on legends and fairy tales. Listen to this one:

Princess Kelea, the sister of King Kawao of Maui, from the 15th century, once declared her surfboard to be her husband. According to U’ilani Macabio, a Hawaiian cultural practitioner: “Kelea—she has this wit and cunning and fast mouth, really smart.” Gotta love this girl. She was not only renowned for her exceptional beauty, but also for unmatched surfing excellence. Legends describe her fearlessly riding the powerful swells of the ʻAuʻau Channel, leading some to believe she was favored by the sea gods. (The ʻAuʻau Channel, should you ever wish to visit, lies between West Maui, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, and Molokaʻi.)

We could spend an entire episode talking about Kelea, but since she belongs more to the realm of legends—and we can’t be certain whether she was a real historical figure or a mythical heroine—let’s fast-forward to the 18th and 19th centuries.

Queen Ka‘ahumanu, the favorite wife of King Kamehameha I, was a surfer. And not just a dabbler—she surfed heavy waves, and surfed them well. And yes, since I said “favorite wife,” you’re probably wondering: how many wives did he have? At least 21, possibly 30+. But it wasn’t about companionship—it was about political alliances.

Kamehameha himself taught Ka‘ahumanu to ride waves and even built a protected cove at Kauhola Point (Kohala) so she could practice. They often surfed together, and she was regarded as an exceptionally skilled surfer—on par with the king himself. This girl went surfing while her lover was being burned to death as a sacrifice at the temple in Waikīkī. So yeah—kudos.

But then, the true tragedy: King Kamehameha dies in 1819, and Ka‘ahumanu goes from fun-loving surfer to Christian devotee. She bans surfing on Sundays and generally discourages it. Sad.

Which is why I’m probably leaning toward the stories about her mother—Namahana—as the true first woman in the lineup.

Peter Puget, who writes extensively about Namahana, served as lieutenant aboard the Discovery when it sailed for the South Pacific in 1791. That period is important, because in 1794, King Kamehameha entered a strategic alliance with Great Britain in exchange for military assistance. So let’s not call it a cessation.

Here’s what Puget wrote on January 27, 1794:

“From Kee-au-moku’s village we walked through some pleasant cultivated grounds to a small stony beach, where the natives were amusing themselves in the surf on swimming boards. Nammahana [Namahana], the wife of Tayomodu [Keeaumoku], who is reckoned one of the most expert at that diversion, immediately stripped naked—and she certainly, notwithstanding her corpulency, performed her part with wonderful dexterity. The first sea or surf that brought her in toward the beach was immensely high. On its top she came, floating on a broad board till the breaker had nearly reached the rocks. She then suddenly turned, went under that and the one following, and so on, till she had regained her situation at the back of the whole. Then she waited for a large swell and once more performed her part with great expertness. Numbers of men, women, and boys were in her company, and I was in momentary expectation of seeing some dashed to pieces.”

Sweet.