The Baja coast has always had amazing waves. But as recently as the 1960s — when American surf culture took off — surfboards were a rare commodity in Ensenada.
“It wasn’t like it is today where you see them everywhere,” said Ignacio Felix, one of Mexico’s surf pioneers in an interview in Spanish. “Every once in a while, we sometimes saw Americans drive to Ensenada with a board tied to the roof. But it was rare — two or three every summer.”
Whenever American surfers paddled out in Ensenada, Felix was among a group of curious children who spent hours on the beach just sitting on the sand and watching the surfers catch waves.
Since there weren’t any board manufacturers in Mexico, locals who wanted to learn how to surf either stole boards from American tourists or bought boards that had previously been stolen.
As Felix grew older, his fascination turned into a passion. He and his friends would go on to co-found Mexico’s first competitive surf club, the Baja Surf Club, and host international competitions that brought Southern California longboard legends like Mike Doyle and Miki Dora to Ensenada.
