Cocaine + Surfing: A Sordid History of Surfing’s Greatest Love Affair

When we think of surf culture, we think of perfectly tanned people spending the bulk of their days in the water. When they’re letting their wrinkled fingers stretch back out, they’re doing so while partying. Cocaine + Surfing: A Sordid History of Surfing’s Greatest Love Affair takes you inside those parties, where, according to author Chas Smith, cocaine has become the drug du jour. The book details the transition from surfing as a laid-back hobby in the ’60s and ’70s, one where weed and booze were the other part of the pastime, to the mega-industry it became in the ’90s, when money flooded in thanks to huge brands and endorsement deals. With that influx of cash came overdoses, bar fights, and murders that were all kept under warps. This is not the surf industry you thought existed.