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Israel's Thriving Surf Scene
Anna Dimond
Israel's playful breachbreaks will never make it a destination location for surf travelers, but its vibrant surf scene has been thriving for decades, as many European surfers discovered this week while attending the SEAT Netanya Pro, the first pro event sanctioned in Israel since the early 1980's.
Israel's Surfing Roots
Israeli surfers have the late surf icon Dr. Dorian Paskowitz to thank for bringing California's budding surf culture to Israel when he moved there in 1956. According to surf historian Matt Warshaw, that's when Paskowitz took his Hobie pintail to Tel Aviv, opened the Paskowitz International Surf School, and changed the country's relationship with waves forever. Those seeds have blossomed into a robust local industry with shapers, shooters, and core surfing enthusiast.
North to Netanya
Netanya sits roughly 15 miles north of Tel Aviv. It's flanked by multiple breachbreaks and home to a solid community of surfers. The breaks at Kontiki, the stretch of beach that hosts the SEAT Nentanya Pro, are famous for their winter barrels and strong (if not finicky) northern swells.
Local Standouts?
Yoni Klein, Vovka Merlis and sisters Anat Lelior and Noa Lelior are four of the top surfers from Israel. Klein won the 2015 Maldives Open Championship, organized by the Asian Surfing Championships and, along with Merlis, has surfed for Israel at the International Surfing Association contests. The Lelior sisters have been fixtures on the ISA roster, and both made it to the Quarterfinals in the SEAT Pro Netanya.
Exploration
In 2014, Stab Magazine took the CT's Josh Kerr, along with freesurfers Craig Anderson, Dion Agius and Creed McTaggart, on a surf trip to Tel Aviv. The results made for a boost-filled edit.
The next call for the SEAT Pro Netanya pres. by Billabong is Saturday, January 23 at 7 a.m. local time.
Noa Lelior
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