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

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

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

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

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Poor, rocky, rifle-laden Middle Eastern republic, located on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula between Saudi Arabia and Oman, with 1,200 miles of coastline along the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Gulf of Aden. 

Small- to medium-sized waves roll onto the Yemen shore with some regularity during the Indian Ocean's May-to-October monsoon season; the rest of the year is for the most part waveless. The Yemen coastline is windy and oven-hot, and filled with boulder-lined points and coves; summertime water temperatures get into the mid-80s.

Yemen was first surfed in 2003, when four young Americans ("bros who could handle themselves in heavy situations and keep up witty repartee while having their heads stitched," as crew member Jay Quinn later wrote in

 magazine) landed in the capital city of Sanaa and drove south to Aden, then headed east along the coast toward Oman. 

Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists had bombed the USS Cole three years earlier and terrorist attacks in Yemen were still common, so the surfers often traveled with a military escort. They had no luck with waves until they went to the tranquil island of Socotra, 200 miles southeast of Qishn, where they found consistent and well-shaped head-high surf along a series of coves, and spent time drinking tea and dining on local delicacies with fishermen from a nearby village. "After 10 days," Quinn wrote, "we were redolent of goat fat and well-tanned by the Arabian sun and ready to stay forever."

magazine sent a small cadre of professional surfers to Socotra in 2006. Though the crew failed to find good quality waves, they did land on the front page of the 

, an English-language newspaper. They were referred to as "professional water skiers." Yemen remains a virtually uncharted surf destination.

Yemen

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

Encyclopedia of Surfing