The Menehune · Since 1965
The premier junior surf contest on the West Coast (any coast?). Held every fall at La Jolla Shores for groms 14 and under.
Registration closed September 25. See you on the sand — and remember, couch surfing is still not a division.
History of the Menehune
Back when longboards were the only ride and leashes hadn’t been invented, there were very few surf contests in California and none at all for younger surfers. In 1965 the WindanSea Surf Club held the inaugural Menehune Championships at La Jolla Shores for surfers 12 and under.
The biggest story of that first contest: a small, 11-year-old girl named Margo Godfrey was crowned Grand Champion, beating the older boys on her home turf. She came back the next year and did it again — the only repeat winner in the contest’s history.
By 1969 word had spread so far that surfers came from Australia and Hawaii. An 11-year-old from Hawaii named Michael Ho was named “Most Versatile,” then came back to win the whole thing in 1970.
Early champions
Make way for the next generation of hot surfers and leaders of the Windansea Surf Club! Let the kids lead the way forward!
Parent assist policy
Any competitor, in any division, can have a parent or other adult push them into waves. If others in the heat are catching waves on their own, assisted and unassisted surfers are judged separately — in a heat of six with two surfing solo, those two compete for first and second, and the four assisted surfers compete for third through sixth.
Our goal: every kid walks away with a positive experience of surfing.
On their own
Parent assisted
Menehune moments
Paddle out with us
Your gift funds Day at the Beach, the Menehune, the Y-Strong Girls, and scholarships through the La Jolla High School Scholarship Foundation. We’re a bunch of surfers trying our best to raise money for good causes.