Local Surf Legend Jason Borte Celebrates Virginia Beach Surf Community in New Book Virginia is for Surfers
By Chelsea Sherman / Photo above courtesy of Andrew Tonra
The year was 1982. The spot? First Street at the Oceanfront. The swell? Subpar by most people’s standards. But to a 12-year-old Jason Borte, it was the start of a lifelong adventure that would take him all over the world–and, ultimately, right back to where he started.
“Back then, it was all about First Street,” Borte said. “It was the only place I wanted to be. Even being the lowest rung on the ladder, just getting the scraps was the most fun thing I’d ever done.”
Shortly after finding his footing at First Street, Borte began competing in local competitions. It wasn’t long before he was winning those competitions. The prizes were small at first—free T-shirts and cheap trophies. Eventually, those wins turned into bigger deals, such as sponsorships and paid travel. When he turned 18, Borte went pro.
“Going pro didn’t mean anything other than I said, ‘I’m pro,’” Borte said with a chuckle. “The first contest I did after going pro was here in Virginia Beach. I got third place and won $36, and the entry was [$]25 … so I netted $11.”
As his surfing career blossomed, Borte won championships up and down the East Coast, eventually earning the title of East Coast Pro Champion in 1997. The following year, Borte started his own surf school, which is now Jason Borte Surf School. He would go on to found the nonprofit Wave Warriors Surf Camp with his wife Feeling and provide a week of free surf camp for children from low-income families.
As his surf camps were taking off, Borte also was making a name for himself as a writer. He wrote for the website Surfline.com, traveling the world covering surfing competitions in the late ’90s. After the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, the website began struggling and eventually had to lay off many writers, including Borte.
The timing turned out to be fortuitous. A year prior to the layoff, Borte had reached out to fellow pro surfer Kelly Slater about writing a book.
“Tony Hawk’s book had just come out, and I thought, ‘Kelly should do a book.’ He was sort of the Tony Hawk of surfing,” Borte said.
When Borte brought the idea for the book up to Slater, the 11-time world champion was interested, but he couldn’t commit to it at the time. A month after Borte’s layoff from Surfline, Slater called him back and told him he was ready. Slater already had a book deal with HarperCollins–he just needed a writer who knew the world of East Coast surfing.
“Kelly is from Florida, and growing up on the East Coast as a surfer creates a different mentality because the waves are so bad,” Borte explained. “I could kind of get into his head because we had that shared experience, being around the same age and surfing East Coast waves.”
The book, Pipe Dreams: A Surfer’s Journey, was published in 2003. It would be 10 years before Borte released his next book, The Kook’s Guide to Surfing, which he self-published in 2013. The book is loosely modeled after the “For Dummies” series of books, sharing tips and tricks for new surfers in Borte’s signature witty, laid-back style.
When he wasn’t surfing or writing about it, Borte was teaching for Virginia Beach public schools–first as a middle school civics teacher, and later teaching a maker space elective he developed. In 2024, the school system cut the elective, so Borte left teaching after 15 years.
Once again, the timing of a closed door proved serendipitous for Borte. A friend gave him the idea for a new book–one that would coalesce all Borte’s surfing experiences and shine light on the Virginia Beach surf community.
“I dove into it,” Borte said. “I spent nine months going around and interviewing surfers from Virginia Beach. It’s like my whole life led to this–growing up in Virginia Beach surfing, getting to know all these wacky people, and just understanding what it means to be a surfer in Virginia Beach.”
The coffee table book, released in January, is called Virginia is for Surfers. It is not a history of famous Virginia Beach surfers or a how-to guide or even a visitor’s guide. Rather, it is a celebration of the Virginia Beach surf community and the people who make Virginia Beach surf culture what it is.
“The Virginia Beach surf community is unique, and part of that is because of the ‘bad’ waves people always talk about,” Borte said. “Growing up surfing here forces surfers to adapt, and I think it makes for a tighter surf community. “I found it also gave me a huge advantage in competing because I was prepared for less-than-perfect conditions. You go out west, and you’ll see surfers just won’t even go out if the waves are bad, so they don’t have the same experience as we do here. We’re ready for a competition on a day when the waves aren’t great.”
Surfers profiled in Virginia is for Surfers range from pros–such as former Top 10 surfer Wes Laine–to board builders and surf shop employees, to up-and-coming grommets, to surfboard collectors such as Hank Marx, whose collection spans 60 years.
“Some of the people in the book are people I’ve known for 30 years, and some I’d never met before,” Borte said. “The thing they have in common is they all have incredible stories to tell.”
Borte worked with local photographer and surfer Andrew Tonra to capture portraits of the book’s subjects. The book’s photos are a mix of Tonra’s portraits, surf shots from local photographers, historical Virginia Beach photos, and the best surfing photos the contributing Virginia Beach surfers had to offer. Borte’s son Grady designed the book.
The route to publishing Virginia is for Surfers was different from any of Borte’s previous publishing experiences. He launched a Kickstarter campaign, generated 302 supporters, and raised $42,975 to bring the book to life. It was, from start to finish, a labor of love by, for, and about the Virginia Beach surf community.
What’s next for Borte? For someone who has held the titles of pro surfer, freelance writer, author, teacher, surf camp director, and nonprofit founder, it seems the possibilities are endless.
For now, he works as director of coaching at Atlantic Park Surf, Virginia Beach’s new wave park. He also has another book in the works, this time a memoir called How Surfing Ruined My Life. The book is based on Borte’s blog of the same name, which he wrote during his year off from surfing in 2014—part social experiment, part self-discovery, and ultimately a wild ride that changed his life for the better. Look for How Surfing Ruined My Life in bookstores in May.
Chelsea Sherman
