Destination Surf was introduced in 1981 as a small family owned business specializing in manufacturing quality surf accessories. Today, over 30 years later, Destination Surf is still a core family surf business with a mission that has not strayed. Our main focus is to create quality, reliable, hard-core surf products. We have always kept the travel aspect in our scope. We pride ourselves on the fact that surfers who buy Destination products won’t be stuck in the jungle with a broken shoulder strap or driving Baja roads with a broken zipper. We’ve had the patience and experiences to create reliable products because of our founder’s love of travel and surfing.
John Smith, founder, is an avid Mexico adventurist and surfer. He brings 30+ years of surf industry knowledge to the table. John is an innovator with a natural entrepreneurial spirit. He started Destination Surf in 1981 as a distribution company called “In Season’s”. In Season’s filled a void for surf shops that needed one company for their entire surf accessory needs. In one order a surf shop could get board repair products, leashes, and covers. The covers then turned into a full time occupation and in 1991 Destination Surf Board Bags were conceived. The padded bags were launched to protect boards from sun damage, dings and all around wear and tear.
John’s son and current president, Aaron Smith, was 11 years old in 1981 and has grown with the company from the beginning. His experience inside and out of the surfing industry is the reason why Destination Surf is becoming a premium surf company. Aaron has traveled the world: Sumba, Hinakos, Bali, Fiji, Mexico…. He knows the difficulties faced by traveling surfers and these experiences have allowed him to create bags, traction, and leashes that actually hold up to the rigors of a surf trip.
WHILE Destination Surf has been fortunate to have travel-loving founders, we’ve also been blessed with the input of top ASP pros and world-class surf talent. Past and present team riders have included Joel Tudor, the Malloy Brother’s; Keith, Chris, Dan, Coco Nogales, Peter Devries, Jamie Sterling, Aamion Goodwin, Mikala Jones to name a few. We’ve been able to have a symbiotic relationship; surfers to designers to production. These guys and future team riders will continue to give us feedback helping us create the best surf accessories in the business.
Destination Surf has continued to grow and evolve with the surf industry through the ups and downs of various economies and competing companies. Destination has stayed true to the core values of surf life style; travel, good waves, experience, and fun! With changing times, we have found a new home in Oceanside, CA surrounded by other surf industry neighbors. Our new space ALLOWS us to house more inventory, facilitate more orders, research new products, and increase our overall operational capacity. We are proud to be a part of surf history with family at the center of our company. Welcome and thank you for joining our family.
