A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Alexandre, João (Dapin)

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

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Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

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Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Belyea, Barbara

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Precocious and immensely talented goofyfoot from Ocean City, New Jersey; second runner-up in the 1970 World Surfing Championships in Australia at age 14; described by fellow New Jersey Surfing Hall of Fame member Mark Neustadter as the "female Wayne Lynch." 

Belyea was born (1955) and raised in Ocean City, the daughter of a career Marine officer and a Philadelphia-born mother who divorced when Barbara was young. 

Belyea and her mother lived directly across the street from the beach, and she began surfing at age 12, with guidance from an uncle. Belyea later claimed that she did not miss a single day of riding in her first year, even when the water temperature dropped to the mid 30s. Before the year was out, Belyea was not just entering and winning surf contests, but doing so by impressive margins—against older and far more experienced surfers. Described in a 1968 

 contest report as "A 13-year-old All-American girl . . . Miss Belyea was the champ by a big margin. She piled up 45 points, while Sheryl Rogaski of North Miami was second with 30." Friend and fellow New Jersey surfer Sandy Ordille later noted that Belyea, at that point, was "incredibly driven and competitive" and that her surfing style was both "smooth and aggresive, to a point where she was out-surfing not just the women, but most of the hot local guys too." 

The wins came often and easily to Belyea for the next two years. When she flew off to Victoria, Australia, for the 1970 World Championships, she was easily the top-ranked female surfer on the East Coast, and riding for Weber Surfboards, as was her chaperone Mike Tabeling, of Florida. Belyea was by far the least-known American contender that year, and had almost no experience in the kind of open-ocean right-breaking point waves found at Bells Beach, the contest site. But she adapted quickly to the surf, impressed spectators, writers, other surfers, and contest judges alike, and finished third, behind winner Sharron Weber (who would go on to win in '72 as well) and Margo Godfrey. Belyea, still a high school freshman, turned 15 the day after the finals. She'd been surfing for just three years. 

Already a popular figure in Ocean City, after the World Championships, as reported in the 

, the town went all-out for her homecoming. 

Barbie is scheduled to arrive home today. The town is expected to turn out en masse to welcome her for ceromonies on the high school football field about noon. School will close early, bands will play, and the mayor will give her a key to the city. A dinner party will follow. 

Belyea's fame did not extend to the surf media center of Southern California, however. She was not interviewed or photographed by SURFER magazine, nor did she appeared in any of the surf films of the period. In 1972, when the 17-year-old won the women's division of the first professional surfing contest held on the East Coast, at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, earning $350, SURFER was forced to take notice: "She is an amazing girl surfer, a breed which rarely has that powerful complete leg flex designed to produce speed. Barbie has it."

One year earlier, however, Belyea hinted that the competition wins were perhaps coming at a cost. Surfing on a schedule, she told the 

After moving with her father to California, Belyea graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1973, in same class as LPGA teen golf prodigy Laura Baugh. Two years later she moved to San Diego's Pacific Beach to attend UCSD, then got involved with a church group and soon pulled away from both college and surfing. Belyea moved to Hawaii in 1976, where she married, raised a family, and opened a successful landscaping business. 

When Belyea was inducted to the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame in 2012, the MC opened by saying, "Our first nominee, unfortunately—we couldn't find her. The last known whereabouts of Barbie Belyea is Kona, Hawaii." 

As of 2025, Belyea was still living in Hawaii. 

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features