Who Wants to Be a Surf Millionaire?

Today is Boxing Day in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand—you know, the Commonwealth countries. Second Day of Christmas in Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and some other European countries. And in the US it is called… nothing. No name. It’s like it doesn’t exist.

Oh well. For those of you who do have a day off—how about some surf trivia, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? style?

💵 For $100 surf dollars…
What does “goofy foot” mean?
A) Right foot forward
B) Left foot forward
C) Riding switch
D) Riding finless

✅ Answer: A, right foot forward.

💵 For $500 surf dollars…
Which type of surf break is known for long, peeling waves?
A) Beach break
B) Reef break
C) Point break
D) River mouth

✅ Answer: C, point break.

💵 For $1,000 surf dollars…
What does the Hawaiian wave scale measure?
A) Wave height from the back
B) Wave face height
C) Wave height from the shoulder
D) Wave height on the open-ocean swell

✅ Answer: A, wave height from the back—which is why the number is typically about half the wave face height.

💵 For $10,000 surf dollars…
What does Waimea mean?
A) Sacred water
B) Red water
C) Place of the gods
D) Big wave

✅ Answer: B, red water—also implying something of importance.

💵 For $25,000 surf dollars…
Which surf film helped bring surfing to a mainstream global audience?
A) Riding Giants
B) Big Wednesday
C) The Endless Summer
D) Gidget

✅ Answer: C, The Endless Summer. Objectively. (But for me, it was Riding Giants.)

💵 For $50,000 surf dollars…
Why is Teahupoʻo considered especially dangerous?
A) Strong offshore winds
B) Gigantic waves
C) Heavy localism
D) Extremely shallow reef.

✅ Answer: D, stupidly shallow reef. Scalp Central!

💵 For $100,000 surf dollars…
Where was the surfing event for the Paris 2024 Olympics held?
A) Biarritz, France
B) Hossegor, France
C) Hawaii, USA
D) Teahupoʻo, Tahiti

✅ Answer: D, Teahupo’o. There’s a lot of Teahupo’o in this quiz!

💵 For $250,000 surf dollars…
Who directed The Endless Summer II?
A) Dana Brown
B) Bruce Brown
C) Stacy Peralta
D) Taylor Steele

✅ Answer: B, Bruce Brown. But if you thought it was Dana Brown, it’s probably because he was one of the writers on it.

💵 For $500,000 surf dollars…
Which surfboard came first historically?
A) Alaia
B) Olo
C) Paipo
D) Caballito

✅ Answer: LOL. Honestly—not 100% sure. Felipe Pomar would argue the caballito, though it wasn’t a board per se. My best guess is the olo, which was ridden by Hawaiian royalty. I’d phone a friend—Matt Warshaw—to be safe.

💵 For $1,000,000 surf dollars…
How many consecutive days did Dale Webster surf?
A) 14,642
B) 13,980
C) 14,562
D) 15,098

✅ Answer: A, 14,642 consecutive days. Some sources say 1,461.

This was fun. Let’s do it again next year!