Published on June 14th, 2018 | by Alex Mauer

River Surfing – Going Mainstream?

Its hard for me to understand why river surfing hasn’t gone as main stream as ocean surfing. Surfing is the art of riding river waves. It doesn’t matter where you chose to surf or what you chose to surf on. Surfing is surfing.

Why hasn’t any river surfers been recognized by mainstream surf companies? River surfing opens the sport up to so many more people. There are definitely more people who live next to rivers than the coast. Yet there is no validation given to any of the river surfers by mainstream surf companies.

I don’t understand. Surfers dream of discovering new waves and surfing an uncrowned lineup. With river surfing you can discover or build new waves. You can almost always find an uncrowned wave to rip on. Take my video for example. The wave isn’t the best but there is no one else in the line up

What do you think?

  • Will river surfing ever be accepted by mainstream surfing?
  • Do you even want it to?
  • Why do you think it hasn’t been accepted?

Comment below and share your thoughts!

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Alex Mauer

When I was 12 my dad gave me a boogie board. He told me to go play in the river next to his apartment. I have been playing in the water and helping pioneer the river surfing scene in Colorado ever since. I have a bucket list of waves I want to surf around the world! I love to play in the water and will try and surf anything! Surfing is surfing no matter what you are riding, short board, long board, SUP, boogie board, pool toys, lunch trays ... you name it I will try and surf it!




  • longboardkook

    No; No; and; Because Ocky has not authorized it to be accepted by the mainstream yet.

  • longboardkook

    Actually I kind of like river surfing being not mainstream, much cooler that way. I think that it hasn’t become accepted as mainstream because: river surfing is too hard for the average person to go do (beaches are more accessible); is a bit more dangerous on many levels; and there is not enough revenue potential in river surfing as compared to ocean surfing. The last reason cuts both’s way in my opinion. Sure it would be nice if river surfing was able to grow itself with big bucks but at the same time it is refreshing that the river surfing industry isn’t big and isn’t run by a bunch of clueless money grubbing poser executives (who are less interested in supporting surfing and more interested in getting big fat annual bonuses by creating unsustainable growth with unrealistic revenue streams while cooking the books to show a profit for their stockholders) like so much of the surf industry is… With that said, let the mainstream “ooh and awe” at river surfing when they stumble upon it near the river or see it on beer commercials, way cooler that way.

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