When people thinks of surfing, they often think of Hawaii, Santa Cruz and Southern California. However, a new club at Sonoma State University is hoping to change that mindset. Sonoma State now has their very own Surf Club. Many may find it surprising, being that campus is in the middle of suburbs and vineyards, but believe it or not the Surf Clubs goes surfing nearby almost every weekend.

While the Surf Club does strive to have students who surf at Sonoma State join the club, they also encourage anyone who has any interest in surfing or who has never even tried before. Danny Garcia, the president of the Sonoma State Surf Club, just rechartered the club last fall. 

“We also offer to give lessons for anyone who wants to learn how to surf in the Surf Club. They can rent out any boards or wetsuits at Bodega Bay Surf Shack and we would just spend the whole day with them out on the water,” Garcia said. 

Members of the Surf Club, you also get a 25 percent discount at Bodega Bay Surf Shack, which would help any new members who wanted to make purchases for surfing supplies. 

Lucas Espinosa, a freshman in the club, believes that everyone should try surfing in their lifetime and the Surf Club makes that possibility a reality.

“I’m from San Diego so I have been surfing for some time now and it’s nice to be able to still get to surf up in Sonoma,” Espinosa said.

Espinosa and Garcia try to go surfing as often as they can, even if only a few of them can go that day.“We’ll go out Saturday morning to Bodega and go to beaches like Doran Beach. We will check a few along the coast and see what the waves look like and how strong the wind is,” Garcia said. “We never check online anymore because it’s always wrong about the waves.” 

Other beaches the club goes visits to surf can be as close as Salmon Creek, which is just North of Bodega Bay, or as far as Fort Point, which is right underneath the Golden Gate Bridge.

All clubs at Sonoma State require positions, Elliot Olson is the Surf Club’s Safety Officer. Olson admits the position isn’t the most demanding, but he does have to assure the safety of his club members while making sure everything runs smoothly. 

“We have had zero casualties so far, which is a pretty good thing. We surfed Fort Point the other day too which was pretty fun,” Olson said. 

While Olson has been surfing for awhile, it was not his first sport that required balancing on a board. “Skateboarding got me involved with surfing. [The] best part is there’s no phones in the water,” Olson said.

Sonoma State’s Surf Club, while still being relatively new, has a lot of plans for the future. 

“In the future we will start having more fundraisers and maybe even dues so we can start renting vans, having competitions and even shirts that have different surf shop logos on them for advertising,” Garcia said.

“We have been trying to reach out to other CSUs for surf competitions but most of them are already booked up this semester, so we need to start planning now for competitions in the fall,” said Espinosa.

Surf Club provides opportunities for students who have been surfing their entire life or for students who simply want to learn. If any students have questions, or wish to get in contact with the club, they can email Garcia at [email protected].