"Santa Cruz surf breaks are free to enjoy but worth millions. That's one of the key findings in the first report to put a dollar value on this world-renowned surf playground. The report identified 30-odd surf spots dotted across Santa Cruz County's 7-mile stretch of pumping waves. One of them, Cowell's Beach, is among the busiest, partly because it's a good place to learn."
"Mendoza has surfed all over the world but caught his first wave here. He remembers the feeling from the front of his dad's longboard when he was about 5 or 6 years old. "When you get your first wave and you stand up on it and you're riding it in, the feeling is electric," he said, "and I knew right away I was hooked and I was gonna be hooked for the rest of my life.""
"In its new report, Save the Waves, a national surf-advocacy nonprofit based in Santa Cruz, found surfing draws in 800,000 people and $200 million to the area each year. "A lot of people say surfing's priceless," said Shaun Burns, a pro surfer who also works at Save the Waves. "Putting a number to it is pretty awesome and pretty groundbreaking.""
Santa Cruz County's surf breaks span roughly seven miles and include about 30 recognized surf spots, with Cowell's Beach among the busiest and popular for learners. Surfing attracts roughly 800,000 visitors annually and contributes about $200 million to the local economy, supporting spectators and participants across skill levels. Surfers describe deep personal, lifelong connections to local waves. Economic valuation efforts quantify that worth while also warning that climate change and rising sea levels threaten wave quality, accelerate shoreline erosion, and could reduce the duration and availability of surfable conditions.
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