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With an estimated population of 4.9 million people, tropical climates, rainforests, beautiful beaches, perfect waves, and hundreds upon thousands of eco-tourism destinations, there’s no doubt that the Republic of Costa Rica is a country rich in culture and history with inhabitants recorded as early 10,000 – 7,000 BCE. Some refer to the Republic as, “one of the most spiritual places in the world.” Jack Hendee, Kona Surf Company Team Rider and Wildwood Catholic Senior I’m sure can attest to those words, as he is lucky enough to be progressing his surfing skills abroad this semester in Costa Rica, surfing some of the best breaks in the world along the Guanacaste Province and beyond.
Hendee, a standout surfer from Cape May County who calls Avalon, NJ his home break, has recorded top performances in the ESA (Eastern Surfing Association), the NSSA High School Surfing Championships, numerous private contests, and even surfing in a WSL (World Surf League) sanctioned professional event in 2016 – the Soup Bowl Pro Junior. Needless to say with Jack’s skills and abilities, he is obviously enjoying himself down there. However, Jack Hendee with assistance from Kona Surf Company had other plans than just surfing this semester. With Kona Surf Company’s assistance, Jack brought with him abroad boxes of clothes and surfer supplies to assist the younger local groms from the central America country most in need.
“Surfing cost money, whether it’s the wetsuit, rash-guard, board, board-repair, fin setup, track-pad, leash – the list can go on and on, and Kona Surf Co. and I recognize that these items can been costly and not readily available, especially in a foreign country,” said Kona Surf Company owner Mike Sciarra. “That’s why when Jack came to us with the idea of bringing supplies down for the less fortunate, we pounced on the idea,” said Chris Sciarra, Kona Surf Company partner and owner.
Want to follow Jack Hendee on his journey? Follow him on Instagram @jackhendee. For pictures of Jack from his 2018 Costa Rica Trip, please see below:

Ron Simone 

Wildwood – With a new CNC board making machine on the way, fin bar, countless handcrafted products, facility upgrades, and in-house clothing designs on the shelves, Kona Surf Company continues to expand at a record breaking rate, far exceeding expectations of what a local Surf Shop from the State of New Jersey can domestically accomplish. Now with vendors selling Kona Surf Company boards as far North as Canada, it begs the question, “What’s next for this local surf shop that once upon a time started in a garage in Wildwood?” According to Kona Surf Company Founder and Owner, Mike Sciarra, “We will not stop until Kona Surf Company is a household name in the surfing community not just on the east coast, but world-wide.” With bold management strategies, marketing and in-house manufacturing, Kona Surf Company has been taking risks in hopes of having multiple retailers selling their products along the east coast by 2019. “Our goal overall is to offer the best products in the business, and we do so by getting honest feedback by our local surfers,” said Chris Sciarra, owning partner and Mike’s son who has been handling a majority of the renovations and day-to-day operations. “We will continue to provide products that cater to our customers, and by bringing a good portion of our manufacturing in-house, it gives us (Kona Surf Co.) the ability to create our own products with our own personal flair and have a strong USA footprint,” said Chris.

Kona Surf Company continues to bring industry and jobs back to the Wildwoods, and with a majority of the manufacturing being brought in-house, more job opportunities will be made available in the near future. Kona Surf Company recently partnered with pro-baseball player Matt Szczur and his charity Szcz the Day, a charity that helps link willing bone marrow donors with terminally ill. On January 27th, 2018 Kona donated a paddleboard to the foundation that was sold on silent auction at a Szcz the Day Benefit held at Congress Hall in Cape May, NJ. Kona continues to be a steeple in the Greater Wildwoods community, and their charitable donations to organizations such as the Szcz the Day Foundation, North Wildwood Kids Christmas Party, and the Veterans of War surfing event, proves that Kona Surf Co. is doing more than just turning a profit.

“Wildwood is who we are, it’s where we’re from, and without the town, the beach and the waves they bring, we are nothing,” said Mike Sciarra.

Written by Ron Simone

“You can only do so much in baseball—throw the ball so far, hit the ball so hard. To be able to make a difference in not only your life, but in someone else’s life and the family’s, is huge, and that’s my greatest accomplishment so far.”

-Matt Szczur

When “Szcz the Day” first came into fruition, it was not an idea developed overnight. Instead, it was an idea both cherished and cultivated by Matt since 2010, when he risked his professional football and/or baseball career to undergo extensive physical preparation in order to donate his bone marrow to an 18-month old Ukrainian baby fighting for her life.

Presented with the opportunity to potentially save the baby’s life, possibly being her last chance for life, Matt did not think twice about the decision. It was never just a consideration for him, although he never understood how it could have been just that to others. He was determined to do whatever he needed to help her, and his career beyond his donation was an improbable outcome he was willing to take.

Not only was the bone marrow transplant successful, but the healthy Ukrainian baby grew into a healthy, 8-year-old girl who enjoyed karate classes and reading books at her princess desk in her bedroom.

Watching young Anastasia grow, being forever connected to her family in an unbreakable bond was the driving force behind Matt’s motivation to keep “Szcz-ing the Day.”

To “Szcz the Day,” in an ironic play on words, means to conquer the day. To Matt, conquering the day means making the little things count, like waking up early for a sunrise, slowing down to admire a sunset. Spending time with family, helping friends. Donating your time, chasing your dreams and following your passions. Because life is all about little moments of happiness strung together to make up big moments, and for how long another day will be granted to us is an unknown.

Matt is proud to announce the launch of the Matthew Szczur “Szcz the Day” Foundation, where proceeds give back to the Be the Match organization and those suffering from bone cancer and also to others in need.

He will be working closely with Kona Surf Company, who has generously offered to support and embody his mission by selling official “Szcz the Day” t-shirts. These t-shirts represent the chance for someone diagnosed with blood cancer to watch another sunrise, admire another sunset. They represent the chance to follow the waves, the chance to Szcz the Day. Because “following the waves” is “Szcz-ing the Day.”

To purchase your own Szcz The Day t-shirt, click here.

Kona Surf Company has been gradually expanding over the past decade by manufacturing a majority of their products in-house, from clothing and accessories, to now surfboards, SUPs and watersport related equipment, all are being (or will be) produced in Wildwood, NJ, United States of America. Their new and most recent addition will be the installation of a machine dubbed, the ‘APS-3000’ (Gen5 Machine), a 3-D custom surfboard shaping device that can bring an idea for a surfboard to life within seconds. Kona Surf Company is not new to the technology, as they utilized the services of the ‘APS-3000’ (Gen5 Machine) before, prior to the purchase and anticipated installation of the machine at their headquarters, scheduled for the Spring of 2018.

The APS 3000 provides cutting services as well as design & shaping, which significantly expedites the production of surfboards for manufacturers like Super Brand, Channel Islands and Lost, now, Kona Surf Company. For further information on the new addition, please visit the following links:

Click Here To Watch The Video

Click Here To Check Out The APS 3000

“This machine is changing the way surfboards are made by eliminating the element of human error,” said Kona Surf Company owner and surfer, Mike Sciarra. “The time that it would take to shape one surfboard, can now be utilized to make twenty surfboards. You can see now why a majority of the major surfboard shaping brands are utilizing these technologies. It’s not only to match supply with demand, but to also customize the shapes of our boards, to the needs of our surfers, and we can do so now upon request” said Sciarra.

For the first time ever, the City of Wildwood has added a surf beach that will open to the general public which is located at Andrews Avenue, directly in front of the Wildwood Convention Center; Surftopia sponsored by Kona Surf Company will be providing lessons and rentals for all levels of surfers, while the Wildwood Beach Patrol will be operating the surfing beach.

Lessons provided can be private or grouped, and the following rentals will be made available to the public: surfboards, soft boards & SUPS (Standup Paddleboards). To book your private lesson today, please visit www.thesurftopia.com. For any questions regarding the beach usage please contact Wildwood Beach Patrol – (609) 846-2054, and for inquiries regarding rentals or lessons, please contact Surftopia (@thesurftopia)

The vision of The Surftopia is to include all of the little pieces of paradise that our operators and instructors have found in their worldwide travels to follow the waves. “Our mission is to create an environment of clean, happy and healthy living, by introducing “the stoke” to our patrons through surfing, yoga, fitness classes, and all in all, living a healthy lifestyle,” said the founders of The Surftopia, Tim Kaye,

“Kona Surf Company and I are happy to bring a surfing beach to Wildwood, and I am grateful that our elected officials – Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr., and Commissioners Pete Byron and Tony Leonetti is helping us to bring surfing back to the Wildwood beach,” said Kona Surf Company owner, Mike Sciarra. “We are happy to be working with the City, Wildwood Beach Patrol, and The Surftopia in our pursuit to make Wildwood a true surf-haven!”, said Sciarra. So this summer make sure to “Follow The Waves” down to Surftopia on Andrews Ave in Wildwood, NJ.

Kona Surf Company recognizes that surfing is responsible for teaching a number of life lessons including (but not limited to): sharing, commitment; not take life too serious, and enjoy the time you have on earth and in the ocean. Living on the coast of New Jersey, our schools have the opportunity of offering surfing in the classroom so to speak, and we believe those efforts are commendable. That is why this year and in the future, Kona Surf Company is a proud partner and funding supporter of the Cape Trinity Catholic Surf Club and the Wildwood Catholic Surf Team, a new and competitive experience for the students attending Cape Trinity and Wildwood Catholic Schools.

The Cape Trinity Catholic Surf Club and Wildwood Catholic Surf Team started as an idea in the mind of Bill Auty, a lifeguard at the Wildwood Beach Patrol, and it has blossomed into quite a competitive program. “There used to be a surf team at Wildwood Catholic, but it dissolved over the years, probably due to lack of interest. I am happy that we are able to bring it back, because we have a lot of good surfers in our area that are itching to show their stuff,” said Auty, Coach of the Cape Trinity Catholic Surf Club and Wildwood Catholic Surf Team. “It is an honor and privilege to have Kona Surf Company as our partner, and the team and I are forever grateful for their support,” said Auty.

“Wildwood Catholic has always been an academically talented, resilient, and worthwhile institution, and their reputation is why I sent both of my sons Chris and Brendan there,” said Mike Sciarra, owner of Kona Surf Company. “To see that they brought back the Crusaders Surf Club and Surf Team is great news. My sons were excited to hear about it, and we at Kona Surf Company are willing to support them in any way that we can. Go Crusaders!” said Mike Sciarra.

Wildwood – By June, in the heat of the summer, surfers everywhere are anxious to store away their obligatory rubber-skin, booties and gloves for the season. By this time, winter has gotten the best of the old board, riddled with dings from a stray knee cap or elbow slam that occurred during an abrupt fall, but it’s hard to let go of the board that is responsible for so many good memories in the pursuit to Follow the Waves. However, what if those memories could be shared with another individual by way of a trade?

With Kona Surf Company’s 2nd Annual Board-Swap Event, Kona is giving our local surfers/skaters the ability to trade in for something new, better and different from what we may not be used to. On Sunday, June 25th from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. at Kona Board House, 160 W Rio Grande Avenue, Wildwood, NJ 08260, men and women in the surfing and skating community can bring a surfboard, longboard or skateboard over to the shop to be traded with other boards on display for the same intended purpose. At the event, attendees will enjoy live music by Stellar Mojo, delicious food, and of course, have the ability to trade surfboard for surfboard, skateboard for surfboard, or longboard for surfboard. No limit on the amount of boards you can bring, and no limit on the amount of trades you can make. No fees are required. We only ask that you Follow the Waves over to the Board House, and bring your stoke.

“This was an idea that I have had for some time, and I was glad that we were able to get it off of the ground last year for the 1st Annual,” said Mike Sciarra, owner of Kona Surf Company. “With this year’s event being our second annual, and given the success of last year’s board-swap, we are looking to make this year’s event bigger and better than ever,” said Mike.

For more information on the Board-Swap Event, please contact Kona Board House at marketing@konasurfco.com.

We’re just a week away from our 1st annual Earth Day “Give Back” initiative, and as local residents and volunteers do what they can to clean up our local landscape and ecosystem, we at Kona Surf Company also want our store customers to show some love to our planet, oceans and marine wildlife, all of which are in dire need our help. 

This Earth Day (4/22), #KonaSurfCompany plans on donating 22% of all proceeds from our #EarthDay t-shirt sales to the South Jersey Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. “The Surfrider Foundation is a grassroots, non-profit, environmental organization that works for the enjoyment and protection of our oceans, waves and beaches. With global sea levels rising at an irreparable, and local beaches filled with trash and pollution, it’s important that we come together to #saveourwaves.

Purchasing our new, stylish t-shirt will help further local and global beach protection while allowing you to #followthewaves. Due to illegal dumping, seismic airgun blasting, and the possible risk of offshore oil drilling near and around the New Jersey coast, the support our organization can give to our oceans, marine life and environment as a whole is more important now than ever.

“We here at Kona Surf Company pride ourselves on giving back to the community and our environment, and through these initiatives, we hope to help close the gap on the negative impacts that our ecosystem experiences on a daily basis,” said owner Mike Sciarra. “We hope to make this an annual thing,” said Mike.

For more information on the “Give Back” initiative, please contact Kona Surf Company by phone (609) 522-7899, email info@konasurfco.com or contact us via social media – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

Per Billabong’s most recent partnership with the Andy Warhol Foundation, we at Kona Surf Company pay tribute to Andy Warhol for popularizing silk screen printing, and we continue his legacy of screen printing as a form of art on a daily basis here in Kona Surf Company Headquarters. Kona Surf Company is a brand dedicated to designing clothes and boards that relate to the artistic standpoints of the surfers in our community, in homage to our culture of living and surfing in a South Jersey coastal shore town. 

What first originated in China from 900 – 1200 AD, silk screen printing has  become a versatile artistic way of expression in the clothing industry, art world, and now – the surfing community. Kona Surf Company has been using silk screen printing techniques as early as 1975, and we continue to keep the process alive behind the “screens”. Our designs are for the people, and in our case, the people of the Greater Cape May County and South Jersey area. Everything we sell is carefully designed to reflect the stories shared amongst friends, the sessions shared amongst our surf team,  and the good times had by all in this area that we call home. We utilize eco-friendly water-based inks and all green chemicals during the screen printing process – safe for the environment, and safe for you to wear. 

“We have the Artbox on the boardwalk including pieces from artists all over the County, and most recently some of our local artists like David Macomber, Lou Fermonte and Julian Miller are really starting to make names for themselves,” said Kona Surf Co. Owner, Mike Sciarra. “We are proud of our local artists and we continue to have close ties with our art community here in Cape May County. We at Kona want to continue to have our merchandise reflect the area we live in, and the people we live with – friends, family and surfers alike,” said Mike.

Click here an inside look on how we are reshaping the brand through the use silk printing for our various designs!

For a small island known predominantly known for our rides and boardwalk, there’s a lot more history to be acknowledged and preserved here in the Wildwoods. For instance, what was once 5 miles beach separated by two inlets: Hereford and Turtle Gut, are now the cities of Wildwood Crest, Wildwood, West Wildwood and North Wildwood. Anyone who fishes or paddles in Cape May County have more than likely traveled through the Cape May Inlet – a deep, fish inhabited channel sandwiched between two jetties: one beach side known as the rocks, and the other known as poverty beach. However, few realize that Cape May Inlet once shared a neighboring inlet known as Turtle Gut, which traveled through the middle of Wildwood Crest around what is now rambler road. Many also fail to know that the Turtle Gut Inlet was the site of a naval battle in 1776 between the British and the United Colonies. In order to prevent the Americans from receiving war supplies through the port of Philadelphia, the British Navy established a blockade off of the Delaware Bay, including a fleet of over 240 cannons. The Nancy, a brig captained by Hugh Montgomery and chartered by Robert Morris of the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety loaded supplies in St. Thomas and St. Croix, including 360 barrels of gunpowder, fifty fire locks, one hundred and one hogshead of rum, and sixty-two hogshead of sugar, heading for Philadelphia. On June 28th, 1776, a lookout spotted the Nancy sailing toward Cape May in hot pursuit by British forces. On June 29th, Nancy, still in pursuit by the British, ran aground in a heavy fog nearby Turtle Gut Inlet, after which, 3 American relief boats set out to assist Nancy by attempting to salvage the cargo, especially the gunpowder kegs. By late morning, June 29th, 265 kegs of gunpowder had been removed and stashed in the dunes off of 5 miles beach, with the help from residents of the island, leaving 100 kegs of gunpowder remaining on the ship. It was then that Captain Barry of the Lexington relief boat ordered the main sail of the Nancy be wrapped around fifty pounds of gun powder to create a long fuse running to the remaining 100 kegs of gunpowder. The fuse was then lit, the majority of the American crew abandoned the Nancy brig, and the British quickly boarded the vessel taking the American crew’s abandonment as surrender. Shortly after the British boarded the Nancy, the gunpowder exploded with a blast felt for miles, killing many British. The battle of Turtle Gut Inlet demonstrated the resourcefulness of the American forces, and as a result, the British Navy moved their blockade further away from the Cape May area. Had it not been for the ingenuity of Captain Barry and the American crews in the battle of Turtle Gut Inlet, we very well might still be under British rule.

“Most residents fail to comprehend the historical significance of this place, only seeing the boardwalk, rides and waterpark; but, this island was inhabited for hundreds of years by people of all walks of life,” said Kona Surf Co. Owner, Mike Sciarra. “Next time you go through the Cape May Inlet, walk down to the rocks or can catch a glimpse of the jetties from poverty beach, try to remember the Battle of Turtle Gut, and the lives of those fallen soldiers that fought for our freedom against British reign, and remember that there are soldiers right now fighting for our safety and wellbeing” said Sciarra. Kona Surf Company is a proud supporter of our armed servicemen/women and veterans, and we thank all of those who have served or are serving in the military for their dedication to our country. If you are a veteran or are currently serving in the military, stop into our Kona stores and ask about our veterans/military discount!