Three Princes' Surf Site

Nothing marks the river mouth itself. The bronze honoring the three princes stands on Lighthouse Point, about two kilometres west, outside the surfing museum. In July 1885 David Kawānanakoa, Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole and Edward Keliʻiahonui, nephews of Queen Kapiʻolani on summer break from their school in San Mateo, had a local mill cut redwood into olo boards and rode the waves breaking here. A Santa Cruz paper described their surf-board swimming on July 20, the first documented board surfing on the mainland. Edward, the youngest, died in 1887.

What the plaque says

Surfing Was First Brought Here by Hawaiian Princes During the summer of 1885, three young Hawaiian princes rode the waves at the mouth of the San Lorenzo River on redwood planks they ordered cut in the shape of olo surfboards by the local timber mill. H.M. Queen Kapiʻolani's nephews: H.R.H. Prince Jonah Kühiö Kalanianaʻole H.R.H. Prince David Laʻamea Kahalepouli Käwananakoa H.R.H. Prince Edward Abnel Keliiahonui While attending St. Matthew's Hall Military School in San Mateo, stayed during their vacations with the Swan family in Santa Cruz and started a craze by bringing for the first time the royal Hawaiian sport of surfing to the Pacific Coast of the Americas. A gift to the City of Santa Cruz from the Käwananakoa and Marignoli families.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk — 0.3 mi
• Branciforte — 1.2 mi
• Site of Santa Cruz Mission — 1.4 mi
• Camp Capitola Superintendent's Office — 3.4 mi