Surfboard shaping may be a dying art, but it lives on in Virginia Beach.
Though most surfboard makers cut their boards with machines these days, the craft of hand shaping is alive and well in Virginia Beach. Here, in the East Coast’s surfing hub, local shapers like these still craft custom sticks worthy of the early days of the sport.
Surf & Adventure Co. in Sandbridge has been in the business of selling locally-shaped surfboards and other gear for the outdoors since 1974. In 2006, the company began producing its own brand of boards—from longboards and midlength to shortboards and paddleboards.
At 757 Surfboards and 40 Toes, shapers work with customers from start to finish on both custom models and the shop’s own line of boards.
Rob Kamp, owner of Ultralite Surfboards, learned his craft in Cocoa Beach, Florida, and Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. His sticks bear names like the Droid, the Squish and the Groveler.
Pungo Board House offers professional ding repair, from a broken fin box to a cracked tail or a snapped nose. Custom boards include anything from mini-grom shortboards to high performance thrusters, funboards and longboards.
