588 - Greg Noll: PodAloha with Paul Strauch

·55 min·5 clips

David Scales revives the lost Pod Aloha interview with big-wave pioneer Greg Noll, who quit surfing after a near-death experience.

This episode is a re-release of a conversation from the Pod Aloha archive, a series where early Hawaii surf pioneer Paul Strauch interviewed his friends who shaped surf culture. Host David Scales introduces the episode, explaining that Pod Aloha produced eleven episodes before disappearing from the internet. The guest list included icons like Jerry Lopez and Mickey Dora. Today's episode features Greg Noll, born in 1937, who began surfing at age 10 and became one of Los Angeles' best surfers in the 1950s. He first visited Hawaii at 17, staying at Makaha for seven months and developing a love for big waves. Noll helped pioneer Waimea Bay in 1957 and is featured in a famous John Severson photograph at Pipeline. After a near-death experience surfing 35-foot Makaha in 1969, he quit big-wave surfing, sold his business, and worked as a commercial fisherman for two decades. The interview, conducted by his lifelong friend Paul Strauch, opens with reflections on losing fellow surfers like Buzzy Trent and George Downing. Noll and Strauch discuss surfing as a lifestyle that gets under your skin, affecting daily moods. Strauch recalls a Costa Rica event Noll organized that reunited surfers from various coasts. Noll shares humorous anecdotes about Phil Edwards' reluctance to surf in front of people and a dinner disrupted by a fly. He tells a classic story about Buffalo's unconventional lifeguard rescue at Makaha, where Buffalo made a drowning man swallow more water before helping him to avoid paperwork. Noll also recounts presenting Buffalo with a giant octopus at a contest, which made the local newspaper. The conversation turns to Noll's big-wave riding, with Strauch describing a perfect 15-18 foot day at Makaha when Noll caught a legendary wave. Noll expresses discomfort being compared to modern big-wave surfers like Shane Dorian but acknowledges his role in inspiring them. He discusses his shaping career, revealing that at its peak, Greg Noll Surfboards had 62 employees producing up to 150 boards a week, with the Mickey Dora signature model selling for $175 and later limited editions fetching thousands. Noll criticizes modern mass-produced boards from China, contrasting them with the pride of handcrafted boards. He reflects on how money, particularly from events like the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational, changed surfing's camaraderie. Noll explains that he shaped boards and made films primarily to fund winters in Hawaii. He shares a poignant moment from promoting the film "Riding Giants," where he told New York critics they would never understand surfing's allure without experiencing it. Noll's son Brandon asks about passing on the love of surfing, and Noll advises focusing on the joy rather than external expectations. The episode concludes with mutual appreciation and a story of Strauch out-surfing Noll in their youth.

As heard by us

A surf history episode finds its spark in a wry lifeguard rescue story.

Surf Splendor's Greg Knoll episode of Pod Aloha treats surf history as remembered company, tracing Knoll from San Diego to Manhattan Beach, into surfing at 10, and on to Hawaii in 1954, where seven months at Makaha helped shape his appetite for big waves.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You get Greg Knoll's early surf path and a Buffalo rescue story built around sand, cigarettes, and a four-page report nobody wants to write.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Surf Splendor