Situated almost atop some of the best surf around, UC Santa Barbara has been attracting students who surf — and inspiring many who don’t to give it a shot — since moving to its coastal home. It’s no wonder. Breaks at Campus Point and Sands Beach bookending the campus, waves visible from windows and a dreamy Mediterranean climate... what’s not to love?
Decades of Stoke
Totally Tubular
With hair wet and wavy like the ocean behind him, this surfer was photographed wandering a campus beach, board tucked under his arm. Gnarly, bro. The image appeared in the 1980 La Cumbre Yearbook.
Blue Hair, Don't Care
With hair color to match the blue hues of her board, this woman was captured on camera in a similar pose in 2021. Choose your decade. Any time of day, any time of year, surfing never goes out of style.
