The History of Surfing:
A Timeline from 300 A.D. to 1900

300 A.D.
The Polynesians who arrived in Hawaii were excellent fishermen and were documented as playing in the surf with "belly boards."

2000 B.C.
Polynesians migrated to an area north of New Zealand, east of Tonga, and west of Tahiti.

Neptune's Chargers "Broken" by Man: Riders of the Surf. Drawn by S. Begg from a photograph. In: The Illustrated London News (Aug. 27, 1910)

1779
First record of surfing in Hawaii as a social caste system. At this time art, sports, and religion were flourishing and at their peak in Hawaii, west of Tahiti.

1820
Decline of surfing was accelerated by Calvinist Christian missionaries who put restrictions on the activity, which in turn contributed to the collapse of Hawaii's culture.