Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks share an incredibly rich surfing history. Virginia Beach is home to major surfing institutions so iconic and long lasting they are simply referred to as "ECSC," "WRV" and "17th Street." Of course, the Outer Banks has the consistent waves. The barrels. The lighthouse. Its beaches have been the setting for iconic moments in the history of the Eastern Surfing Association. Local surfing historian Tony Lillis chronicles the rich history of surfing along Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks from the early twentieth century, when world travelers brought home tales of Hawaiian surfing, through the heyday of the 1960s and into the twenty-first century.
