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S.U.P. The History

Stand up paddle surfing has strong roots in the Hawaiian islands, the
Hawaiian translation for S.U.P. is Ku Hoe He’e Nalu, to stand ,to paddle, to surf, a wave. In the “Beach Boy” era Beach Boys would paddle out & take photos of tourists in canoes.
In the early 2000,s Hawaiian surfers such as Dave Kalama, Brian Keaulana, Rick Thomas, Archie Kalepa, & Laird Hamilton used S.U.P. as an alternative
when the surf was down. This progressed to where they would enter such events as the Moloka’I to O’ahu paddleboard race. S.U.P. boarders can now be seen competing in outrigger canoe races(with their own division) in many
Harbours of the world where such events take place.
There is also mention of surfing instructors using stand up paddle style surf boards to manage large groups of people learning to surf.
Rick Thomas “a Vietnam veteran” is credited as being the first “modern” surfer to bring Stand Up Paddle Surfing out of Hawaii to mainland USA, where on a 11ft Munoz board with a Leleo Kinimaka paddle, he introduced
the sport to California, and now look what has happened!!!