History of surfing in Monta

In 1963, Marcel Monge was a keen swimmer on the ocean coast (first at Lacanau, then at Montalivet). He also tried his hand at surfing. The sport was in vogue on the West Coast of the USA and was beginning to show its face on the Basque Coast.

Marcel builds himself a board to ride the waves. Tests were inconclusive, but he learned that two or three prototypes existed in Biarritz and that they worked. He soon went there and met the famous de Rosnay, Jo Moraitz and Barland père, the manufacturer of “boards” as they were then known. “I bought two and took some advice. The adventure begins. Each board is 3.30 meters long and weighs 15 kilos. “My beginnings were terrible. There was always something wrong: either the waves, or I’d stay behind for lack of power, or I’d get up too much behind, in short, the galley!”

Not from the Médoc, a bit of a maverick, Marcel was the attraction on the beach. “He’ll drown,” thought the locals. But through sheer determination, it worked. “I had my own personal festival in small and big waves. Young people like Johny Sanchez, Jean-Jacques Quillac, Joe Petit, Sylvain Burzacchi… followed me. Things were hotting up on the waterfront around the old tourist office.

It was then that André Peyruse, the mayor at the time, asked Marcel Monge to create a structure. This was the beginning of surfing culture in the resort, with the creation of a sports centre. In 1971, the first Montalivet Surf Club was built. “It didn’t take long for other young people to join us and learn this new sport. We were the first club in France with such a high percentage of young women”.

Good results were not long in coming. Marcel Monge and Cathy, his daughter, climbed the steps of the podiums (French champions in Lacanau, several podiums in Europe, participation in several world championships). Later, in agreement with the two presidents, the Montalivet Surf Club merged with the Kokoloko to form the Montalivet Kokoloko Surf Club… which today boasts almost 300 members.