Surfing (0) GREW throughout the 20th century to a popular sport all over the world, but surfers have been around for many years. The explorer James Cook saw surfing in action in 1778 during an to the Pacific. In fact, surfing took in the same areas then that have since become popular surfing resorts now, such as Hawaii and Tahiti. Surfing wasn’t encouraged by local officials the 19th century but young Hawaiians took up the activity again in the early 1900s. Following the invention of lighter surfboards, surfing attracted people around the world. The 1960s saw a huge increase in the of surfers as the activity was promoted through the media and popular music. The hobby quickly became the professional sport it is now, and and national organisations were created that organised competitions and raised money to hold events.