 These groups in Hawaii, and following in Australia, California, and South Africa, laid the foundation for modern surf culture around the world.In July 1885, three teenage Hawaiian princes took a break from their boarding school, St. Mathew's Hall in San Mateo, and came to cool off in Santa Cruz, California.There, David Kawananakoa, Edward Keliʻiahonui and Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole surfed the mouth of the San Lorenzo River on custom-shaped redwood boards, according to surf historians Kim Stoner and Geoff Dunn.