The Endless Summer surf film (1966)
Today I watched The Endless Summer, A 1966 documentary filmed and narrated by Bruce Brown. Throughout this film Bruce Brown follows two California surfers on a journey across the globe in search of the perfect wave. Mike and Robert travel to regions of Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and Hawaii before heading back to California.
The film starts off by giving a bit of history about the sport of surfing and moves us through popular surf spots throughout both California and Hawaii. Examples include those such as California’s famous Malibu Beach (surfrider Beach), Santa Barbara’s Rincon, Newport’s The Wedge and Hawaii’s Waimea Bay, Haleiwa, and the famous Banzai Pipeline all located on Oahu’s Northshore.
It’s crazy to think about how big the sport has become and how technology is continuously advancing the way waves are found and surfed today. In the 1960’s surfing was non-existent in many parts of the world. I think that is what makes this film so interesting.
Mike and Robert make their first stop in West Africa where they attract the attention of many locals and native tribes. They visited locations such as Durban and the Cape of South Africa taking in the different landscapes that almost made them forget they ever left home. They encountered various animals and made new friends. One surf break in particular that they’d come to reference in the film as their perfect wave was found at Cape St. Francis. A break with perfect barrels, long rides, a sandy bottom and rocky shore.
After spending some time in Africa our duo ventures off to Australia, you could almost say they were having a bit of bad luck there. Since waves tend to be better during the winter months, places in Perth and Bells Beach in Melbourne weren’t that great. They did however have some fun in Sydney. One scene in particular had me laughing. I guess in the 60’s, bikini tops were referred to as “chest protectors” and what we now call speedos were once referred to as “costumes” in Australia or “g-strings” in California.
As Mike and Robert move on to New Zealand, they begin their trip with surf on the East coast at Ahipara. While heading to the West Coast through the woods they were able to experience world famous trout fishing. Eventually they found themselves at Raglan. According to Brown “The most unique thing about this place is the ride. The ride is so long it’s ridiculous. I can’t even show you a complete ride, it would take the whole second part of the film”.
Before their final stop in Hawaii, the last place they travel to is the island of Tahiti where there is “No Surf”. Despite having “No Surf” Mike and Robert found something relatively similar to what looked like a wave. No sarcasm there…
They ended up naming the spot El Stumpo. The waves were very small but well-formed. While searching for more waves they made their way through the town of Papeete and found a surf spot they later named Ins & Outs. Brown says it was because “You could ride the wave in and you could ride the wave out” however the duo spent their time riding the waves out because they were better than those going in. As they paddled a few miles down the coast they found some better waves at another spot and ended up naming it "the other spot". I thought that was hilarious.
Overall I thought this was a great film and anyone who is interested in surfing should watch this.
