Women in Surfing: A History of Courage and Grace

Women have surfed since the days of ancient Hawaiʻi. From legendary chiefesses to Olympic champions, explore the women who shaped surfing and fought for their place in the lineup.

Women have always been part of surfing. In ancient Hawaiʻi, they rode waves alongside men. In the modern era, they’ve had to fight for space in the lineup, fair treatment in contests, and equal recognition. This is a short history of the women who kept paddling out, and who made it easier for the next generation to do the same.

Women Surfers of Ancient Hawaiʻi

In old Hawaiʻi, heʻe nalu was not just for men. Women of all ranks surfed, and some became famous for their skill.

Hawaiian traditions tell of Kelea, a chiefess of Maui celebrated as one of the finest surfers of her time. Stories like hers, passed down through moʻolelo (traditional stories) and chants, show that women’s skill in the waves was admired and remembered for generations.

In the place where modern surfing was born, women were never outsiders. They were part of the tradition from the start.

To learn more about surfing’s roots, read The History of Surfing.

Isabel Letham and the Early 1900s

When surfing was revived in the early 20th century, women were there, too.

During Duke Kahanamoku’s famous visit to Australia in 1914–15, he invited a Sydney teenager named Isabel Letham to ride tandem with him on his board in early 1915. She is celebrated as one of Australia’s first surfers. Isabel lived to the age of 95 and remained a passionate swimmer and advocate for the ocean throughout her life.

In Hawaiʻi and California, women surfed through the early and mid-1900s, often on heavy wooden boards that were a real physical challenge for anyone.

The Gidget Era

In the 1950s, a teenager named Kathy Kohner spent her summers learning to surf at Malibu. The local surfers nicknamed her “Gidget,” a blend of “girl” and “midget.” Her father, writer Frederick Kohner, turned her stories into the 1957 novel Gidget, and the 1959 movie starring Sandra Dee became a hit.

Gidget helped spark a surfing boom across the United States. It also showed millions of young women that surfing could be for them. Read more in our surf movies, books, and music guide.

Pioneers of Women’s Competition

Margo Oberg

Margo Oberg (then Margo Godfrey) won the women’s division of the 1968 World Surfing Championships in Puerto Rico when she was just 15. In the 1970s she became one of the first women ever paid to surf, and when International Professional Surfers added a women’s world title in 1977, Margo won it. She claimed more world titles in the early 1980s and later ran a surf school on Kauaʻi.

Rell Sunn

Known as the “Queen of Mākaha,” Rell Sunn was a champion longboarder and is widely remembered as Hawaiʻi’s first female lifeguard. In 1975, she helped found the Women’s International Surfing Association, an early pro circuit for women. She also created a surf contest for kids at Mākaha that still carries her name. Rell’s warmth, humility, and aloha made her one of surfing’s most beloved figures.

The Fight for Fair Treatment

In the early years of professional surfing, women often competed for far smaller prizes, were sent out in poor conditions, and received little media attention. Organizations led by women surfers pushed to create more events and better opportunities, and women’s pro surfing grew slowly but steadily.

The Modern Pro Tour

Over the following decades, a series of great champions raised the level of women’s surfing and its profile:

• Lisa Andersen of the United States won four straight world titles in the 1990s and helped bring women’s surfing into the mainstream.
• Layne Beachley of Australia won seven world titles, including six in a row from 1998 to 2003.
• Stephanie Gilmore of Australia won eight world titles, starting with her rookie year in 2007.
• Carissa Moore of Hawaiʻi won five world titles between 2011 and 2021.

These women proved that women’s surfing was powerful, progressive, and exciting to watch.

Equal Prize Money

In 2018, the World Surf League (WSL) announced that men and women would receive equal prize money at all of its events, starting with the 2019 season. It was one of the first global sports leagues to make that commitment.

The change came after years of advocacy, including from women big-wave surfers who pushed for the right to compete in heavy waves and to be paid fairly when they did.

Big-Wave Women

Women have also proven themselves in some of the biggest surf on Earth. Big-wave surfers such as Keala Kennelly, Paige Alms, Bianca Valenti, and Maya Gabeira have ridden massive waves at places like Teahupoʻo, Jaws (Peʻahi) on Maui, Mavericks in California, and Nazaré in Portugal. Their work helped open big-wave contests to women.

Olympic Champions

When surfing debuted at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (held in 2021), Carissa Moore won the first women’s gold medal, competing for the United States.

At the Paris 2024 Games, held at Teahupoʻo in Tahiti, Caroline Marks of the United States won gold, with Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb taking silver.

Courage Beyond Competition

Some of surfing’s most inspiring women are known as much for their resilience as for their results. Bethany Hamilton lost her arm in a shark attack on Kauaʻi in 2003 at age 13, returned to the water, and has inspired people around the world through her story.

Every day, women around the world are also building surf clubs, teaching kids, shaping boards, running surf shops, taking photos, and protecting beaches. Their contributions matter just as much as any trophy.

Everyone Starts Somewhere

Today, girls and women make up a growing share of surfers everywhere. Many start later in life, or start nervous, or start on a soft-top in knee-high waves. That’s exactly how it should be.

The lineup belongs to everyone willing to paddle out with respect.

If you’re ready to start, our Learn to Surf guides will walk you through your first session. For more inspiring stories, explore our surfing legends.