Surfing | India rides a new wave

Surfing may be just a decade old as a competitive sport in India, but athletes are already looking to make a splash at this year's Asian games

ISSUE DATE: Aug 31, 2026

A sunny, humid day late in May, Tannirbhavi Beach in Mangaluru, Karnataka, was a postcard-pretty picture, though with two competing moods. On one side of the beach was a gaggle of gleeful tourists, flapping about in the water and enjoying time away from work with family and friends; on the other, a string of steely-eyed youngsters, looking regal in wetsuits and atop surf boards, monitoring the waves for the perfect moment to show off their moves in front of the Surfing Federation of India (SFI) jury. This was the seventh edition of the Indian Open of Surfing, but this year, the stakes were higher—the results would determine who would be heading to Japan for the Asian Games in September. Of more than 50 hopefuls, two men and two women would be selected for the tournament where surfing, already an Olympic sport since the 2021 edition, finally makes its Asiad debut.

A month later, SFI confirmed the names. Although surfers from the east coast (mostly Tamil Nadu) faction dominate the squad, edging out their old rivals from the west coast (mostly Karnataka), what unites the stories of all those who fought it out on this beach is their beginnings: kids living by the coast and their initial trepidation of water; a bond forged with the ocean by learning to swim and slowly read the waves; the ecstasy of gliding on them, if only for a few seconds. Kamali Moorthy, 16, the girl wonder from Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, who made it to the squad and started surfing at age four, is known for her ease in the water and wins both women’s and under-18 competitions. “I trust the ocean,” she says. “If it is supposed to take something from me, I let it because it goes to the ocean.”

PICKING UP THE BOARD

Surfing has been around in India as a competitive sport for only a decade, but Moorthy is part of a growing contingent that is learning to surf the waves with world-class verve. Her cohort is mostly in southern India, yet the SFI is confident that watching Indian surfers compete at the Asian Games could be a game-changer that spreads interest across the country. A medal is instrumental for such a feat—a tall ask, with Japan and Indonesia commanding both a rich history with the sport and better waves for their athletes to train on—but who knows? More and more events are coming up in India— the Andaman Islands saw their first in April. A surfing community all over the coastal country may not be a pipe dream.

Everyone agrees that one man deserves the credit for introducing surfing to India. Jack Hebner, known locally as Surfing Swami, was an American spiritualist who came to India in the 1970s and lived here for over four decades until his demise in 2020. A surfing enthusiast since his teens in Florida, he would take road trips from his ashram near Mysore and in the early 2000s chanced upon Mulki in Karnataka, a coastal town ideal for introducing his disciples to the sport. He started initiating boys to the waves in Mahabalipuram, and set up the Mantra Surf Club in Mulki in 2004.

“In India, nobody was interested in surfing [before Surfing Swami],” says businessman Dhananjay Shetty, chairman of the Surfing Swami Foundation, which supports young kids pursuing surfing in Mulki and Panambur Beach, Karnataka. “Kids in Mulki had not seen the sport before. Swamiji took it to a different level.” Founding members of the Mantra Surf Club would go on to start the Surfing Federation of India in 2011. Today, India’s eastern coast has more surfers and opportunities, according to Ramesh Budihal, 25, who is going to the Asian Games as a reserve. His bronze at the Asian Surfing Championships last year came as a major boost for the sport and served as proof that SFI’s efforts are reaping results. “The scene is a little low in the west,” he says, referring to his own roots in Hubbali, Karnataka. His family now stays in Kovalam, Kerala. “But it’s nice to see more groms (juniors, in surfing lexicon) come up,” he adds. Mulki, too, has gained a reputation as the surfing capital of India’s west coast, with surf schools like Aquatic Indica, Mambo Jambo and KayakBoy teaching a new generation at Sasihitlu beach.

Watching surfers paddle away and disappear into the sea only to emerge on their boards is a sight as anxiety-inducing as it is exhilarating. “Catching the wave and riding it is like flying in water,” says 21-year-old Srikanth D., who is also going to the Asian Games as a reserve and, like many Indian surfers, comes from a fisherman’s family. “It is like being one with nature.” Goa’s Sugar Shanthi Banarse, 21, who’s in the women’s team, says the sport helped her overcome her shyness and infused a lot of confidence. The curly-haired surfer, who runs a surf school in Ashwem, Goa, also loves the lifestyle that comes with the sport—travelling, exploring places and meeting people with a shared passion. “It is a big community. We share love and fun vibes,” she says. “Once we enter the water, we are competitive. [But on the ground], it’s hanging out, talking and training together.”

CHOPPY SEAS AHEAD

But, as fun as surfing is, it remains an expensive pursuit. Most of the equipment is still imported and a majority of surfers in India begin their passion on borrowed or shared boards from surf schools, or they have shapers refurbish old boards. Owning a board remains a luxury, with boards priced upwards of Rs 55,000. What’s not easy, either, is finding surfing spots that lend themselves well to riding the waves. “In surfing, we need exposure to different wave breaks,” says Rammohan Paranjpe, vice president, Surfing Federation of India. “And it is not just about waves, it is about being in a competitive environment and rubbing shoulders with the best of the best and seeing what they are doing.”

This is especially true of a sport like surfing, which isn’t endemic to India. Moorthy’s Tamil Nadu compatriot Kishore Kumar, 18, hailing from Covelong, won the men’s category at this year’s Indian Open of Surfing and is headed to the Asian Games. He dreams of being a professional surfer, someday competing in the World Surfing League and representing India at the Olympics. He is part of the first generation, alongside Moorthy and Budihal, travelling to training camps in Bali and Sri Lanka as well as competing in tournaments in Australia, Taiwan and the Maldives. “Talent is here, what we are doing is giving them exposure,” says Paranjpe. “Earlier, we’d be blown away by Sri Lanka and the Maldives, which have better and more consistent waves than India. But today, we are beating them.”

Banarse sees the Asian Games as a much-needed incentive for the women’s scene to improve, too. Female competition is still small, the fear of injury, drowning and a tanned complexion often stops parents from letting their daughters take up the sport. “My mother faced a lot of resistance when I started surfing,” says Moorthy. “Even my relatives didn’t want me to surf. There were all these ‘what if she’ questions.” But with the sight of her and Banarse fearlessly tackling the waves in Japan, Indian surfing could, just maybe, get its wow moment. Says Banarse, “It gives us a lot more exposure and opportunities. It’s what girls need right now.”

The loudest cheers at Tannirbhavi Beach this year, though, were reserved for local favourite Pradeep Pujar, 16, the first boy from Mulki to win the competition—bagging the under-18 category, he was the sole winner from the west coast at the Indian Open and ensured the lesser-represented region had something to cheer about over three days of competition. A protg of the Aquatic Indica Surf School in Mulki, Pujar is a benefactor of the Surfing Swami Foundation and his parents work at the Mantra Surf Club. Perhaps he represents the humble beginnings of this sport in India, one indulged in not for glory or fame, but for the primal pleasure of being at one with the surf and the sea. n

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