KILLER DANA HISTORY
Killer Dana Surf Shop opened for business on June 10, 1991, in a tiny store along old Highway 1 in Dana Point. We are about a quarter mile from the beach and have an ocean view from our rooftop. Most days, there are two or three wetsuits hanging from our front door, as we are minutes away from good surf to both the North and South. Over the years, we have moved to a corner intersection, doubled the size of our original shop, and opened “The Board Room”. The owners and many of the employees at Killer Dana Surf Shop are second and third generation surfers from Dana Point, very aware of their surfing heritage. Even though Dana Point has changed and been developed like most places in Southern California, it is still a beach town where surfing and surfers are a big part of the community. Many days at the shop, Pat O’Connell, Kasey Curtis, and others come in for a bar of wax or to hang and talk about the surf. When you come into Killer Dana Surf Shop, you experience the aloha and stoke of an old-fashioned, sand on the floor, California beach surf shop. It’s an experience that every customer receives, whether you are a world-class surfing professional or still getting ready for your first lesson.
DANA POINT, CALIFORNIA
Dana Point, California is named after author Richard Henry Dana, who, in the late 1800’s wrote the classic American novel, “Two Years Before the Mast,” a book which is still required reading in many American schools. Dana called the high bluffs and sheltered coves of this area the most beautiful spot on the California coast. Pioneering surfers thought so too, as they surfed the many breaks along this rich coast. Dana Point has a surfing history to rival anywhere outside Hawaii. Hobie Alter opened the very first retail surf shop here in 1954. You could fill a book with stories from the days of Hobie Surfboard’s nearby factory. Surfer Magazine began here and, to this day, calls Dana Point home. The Surfer’s Journal, Steve Pezman’s outstanding magazine, is based here. Bruce Brown produced the classic “Endless Summer”right here in town. On any given day, you can spot Phil Edwards riding his bike, Mickey Munoz at the market, and many other classic surfers whose roots go deep into Dana Point’s rich surfing heritage. Dana Point was also once home to a very special wave. That wave broke at the Dana Point Cove and was known as Killer Dana.The break got this name because it came out of deep water and broke close to the rocks which lined the beach. In the days before leashes, wipe outs were sure to bring at least a few dings – if not worse. The crew at Killer Dana included many of Southern California’s earliest surfers – men like Peanuts Larsen and Whitey Harrison. Later on, legendary surfers such as Phil Edwards, The Patterson Brothers, Flippy Hoffman, Del Cannon, and Billy Hamilton came to call the break home. When not surfing, these watermen spent their time lobstering, fishing, abalone diving – all the while unknowingly setting the stage for decades of surfers yet to come. Tragically, Killer Dana was destroyed when the Dana Point Harbor was built. A giant breakwater now cuts through the heart of the once epic right point. Few can imagine the silence that must have embraced the line-up on the locals’ final evening at Killer Dana. Many who had surfed the break for decades knew they would be powerless to do anything but watch as their break was filled with stones in 1966.
