Jeff Clark

Jeff is considered by his peers worldwide to be a member of a small group of pioneer watermen, including the father of modern day surfing, Duke Kahanamoku and big wave pioneer and promoter Greg Noll.

Jeff is famous for surfing the giant waves of Mavericks alone for 15 years before it was widely discovered by the big-wave surfing community. Mavericks is considered by most experts in the surfing world to be the most dangerous big wave breaks wave on the planet, reaching heights in excess 60 feet.

Jeff is the only active ambidextrous big wave surfer in the world, and one of the few in history. A natural goofy-footer, Jeff spent years learning to ride regularfoot with equal confidence and skill. This allowed him to ride frontside (facing the wave) when he started taking on the more dangerous right-breaking waves at Mavericks.

Labeled one of the “world's best big-wave riders” by Surfer magazine in 1994, Clark, along with Maverick's and the Half Moon Bay surf scene, has been featured in such films as Riding Giants and Adventures in Wild California.

The annual Mavericks surf contest was founded by, and is still directed by, Jeff Clark. The invitational surf contest brings together the best and boldest big wave surfers from all over the world to Half Moon Bay.

Clark also runs the Mavericks Surf Shop in the Princeton Harbor neighborhood of Half Moon Bay, not far from the famous break, where he sells his own custom-made surfboards, surfing apparel, big wave photos, posters and more.

Surfers and fans worldwide make sure they stop in at Jeff Clark's Mavericks Surf Shop to meet the down-to-earth legend, and most times leave with a signed poster of Jeff surfing a "monster" at Mavericks, a classic Mavericks tee-shirt, or one of Jeff's highly sought after custom made surf boards.