Sand. Sun. Surf. Think beach, and those are the first descriptions that pop up. Images of azure waters gently rolling to pristine shores, coconut and palm fronds waving in the sea breeze, the soft tinkling of wood-and-string instruments accompanied by the staccato of percussions… all in keeping with the picture-perfect summer holiday. So the general, typical beach-going public would agree.

But take it to a different world: one of waves swelling to as high as thirty feet overhead, of deeply tanned pecs, abs, biceps and legs running, jumping and swimming in shape and of human figures skating the surface of these gigantic waves on colorful boards in a race against crashing foam and surf. It’s the world of surfing.

Surfing traces its historic roots in the early Polynesian people of Hawaii. Memoirs written by Capt. James Cook on his visits to the Pacific are the earliest records of surfing anywhere in the world. Traditionally, the people of Hawaii lay flat on their bellies on wooden boards to skim the waves. Surfing is deeply-rooted in Hawaiian and Polynesian culture, playing a role in the construction of legends and myths. The imminent danger faced while surfing, the thought of conquering the waves, the thrill of being atop them and the discipline it takes to reach all of the above: these elements are responsible for the excitement and popularity that surfing has become.

The last statement proves true in the fact that Hollywood has capitalized on the surfing industry, making movies out of it and of the lives of surfers. “Blue Crush” features Kate Bosworth as a female surfer struggling to make her mark in this male-dominated sport. Along with two other female friends and her younger sister, Anne Marie (Bosworth) is determined to prove her worth, eyeing the Pipe Masters competition as her triumph. Amidst the stunning visuals of the Hawaiian coast, Anne Marie drives herself into shape and hones her surfing skills for the event, while making a living teaching football players the game. Though she loses the Pipe Masters contest, Anne Marie does get to demonstrate that women can surf and surf well, too in a wonderfully executed exhibition at the “Pipe,” one of the most dangerous surfing challenges present.

“Point Break” is about surfing, yes, but with a rather peculiar twist. Keanu Reeves plays Johnny Utah, a rookie FBI agent on the tail of a gang of bank robbers called “The Ex-Presidents.” The gang robs banks using masks bearing the faces of previous American presidents, and Utah’s partner, agent Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey) has a theory that they may be surfers. Utah immerses himself in a surfing culture, learning the ropes of surfing through some newfound friends headed by a guy named Bodhi, played by Patrick Swayze. Bodhi turns out to be a one of the “Ex-Presidents” and he and Utah battle it out with the waves of the Los Angeles coast as their background. Utah goes from being an ex-football player who is clueless about the sea to a a competent surfer who has learned not just the art and beauty of surfing, but of good relationships as well.

A movie with a story different from what mainstream Hollywood has to offer. “Riding Giants” is just that. In documentary format and featuring real-life surfers, “Riding Giants” takes the viewer for a dive into the history of surfing, the culture that holds it alive today and the commercialized hype that has popularized it. It gives a detailed look inside the real world of surfing, where the dangers are always close by and how the fascination for those huge waves have lured and molded the icons and legends of surfing. It has been dubbed as the most informative surfing movie to date, complete with fantastic visuals.

There are more surfing movies, particularly from the sixties to the seventies. Those mentioned above have been produced in this recent century. Other popular surfing movies include “Endless Summer” and “Endless Summer 2,” “Big Wednesday,” “Billabong Odyssey,” “In God’s Hands” and the digitally animated film, “Surf’s Up” that has a penguin for its lead surfer.

In the early 1900’s the Hawaiians organized the Hui Nalu (surf club) and competed in neighborly surf competitions with the Outrigger Canoe Club. This drew a great deal of attention to the Waikiki surf shore, bringing a revitalized interest in the sport, which had fallen out of favor in the late 1800s. Duke Kahanamoku, an Olympic star in swimming, popularized the sport further by traveling internationally and showing off his surfing style to thrilled audiences around the world. He was favored by Hollywood elite; having acted in bit parts in films and was always recruiting new surfers wherever he went. He is credited with surfing the longest wave of all time in 1917, in the popular surfing area now called Outside Castles in Waikiki. His 1000 meters plus wave record has yet to be overtaken.

In the 1930s, the sport of surfing was experiencing a Renaissance. Tom Blake, founder of the Pacific Coast Surf Championships that ended with the onset of war in 1941, was the first man to photograph surfing from the water. Another photographer and surfer named Doc Ball published California Surfriders 1946, which depicts the pristine coastal beaches and good-time, relaxed atmosphere of surf living. Surfing, although curtailed in the aftermath of WWII, revived as always by the 1950s. Bud Browne, an accomplished surfer and waterman, created the first ’surf movie’ with his 1953 “Hawaiian Surfing Movie”. This inspired many photographers, filmmakers and surfers to continue documenting the sport, culminating with is arguably the best surf movie of all time, 1963’s “Endless Summer” by Bruce Brown. The film opened up the genre of the surf movie and the art of surfing to non-surfing people, accumulating fans and inspiring neophytes.

Although surfing was a male-dominated sport, adventurous women surfers can be seen all the way back to the times of the Polynesian Queens. Two notable ’surfer girls’ were Eve Fletcher and Anona Napolean. Eve Fletcher was a California-born animator for Walt Disney and Anona Napolean was the daughter of a respected Hawaiian surfing family. The two pioneered the sport for modern women, winning surfing competitions up and down the California coast at the end of the 50s and into the 60s. Hollywood was quick to be on the scene and with the 1959 film “Gidget”, surfing was flung far out into the mainstream, never to return to its humble, ritualistic beginnings. “Gidget” inspired a slew of “Beach Blanket Bingo” movies that brought surfing to a new generation of teens and inspiring a new genre of ’surf music’ that accompanied films and made The Beach Boys more famous than Elvis in the 60s.

Surfing spread throughout all media and Surfing Magazine was born in the early 1960s by famous surf photographer, LeRoy Grannis. After that, other publications cropped up bringing more information on the sport, equipment and stars of the surfing scene. John Severson, an accomplished filmmaker and photographer, created Surfer Magazine, originally called “The Surfer”. These publications brought advertising, professional surfing, surf culture and publicity to the now very popularized sport.