Mickey Muñoz was one of the original icons of California surf culture at Malibu in the early 1950s and was among the first group of hellmen to pioneer riding big waves at Waimea Bay later that decade.
He has stunt-doubled in Hollywood surf films, invented his own surfing maneuver, shaped boards alongside the best in the business, and prone paddled farther than any sane man should.
This film is about none of those things.
Mickey is now 87 years old—or at least he thinks he is—and plans to keep riding waves until he’s 100 or so.
He’s a true professional at making lemonade when life gives him lemons and answers every question with a story that may or may not outlast your attention span.
If you aim to surf longer than most people live, click play.
From The Inertia by Alexander Haro
In the early ’50s, Mickey Muñoz cemented himself as one of California’s best surfers.
In the early ’50s, Mickey Muñoz cemented himself as one of California’s best surfers.
All these years later, he’s gone from one of California’s best surfers to a living legend in the surfing world.
A new film from the ever-talented Kyle Buthman focuses on Muñoz now, and it’s exceedingly clear that his life is a well-lived one. It’s also clear that at the age of 87 (he thinks), he’s not even close to done.
“I want to keep surfing until at least a 100 or so,” Muñoz says from a couch in a living room full of colors.
“I want to keep surfing until at least a 100 or so,” Muñoz says from a couch in a living room full of colors.
“I try and stay away from doctors, I try and eat good food and think good thoughts and run every day.”
He’s been riding waves for a very long time. The first time he stood up was on a Surf King Junior, a hollow plywood paddleboard, when he was 10 or 11 years old.
He’s been riding waves for a very long time. The first time he stood up was on a Surf King Junior, a hollow plywood paddleboard, when he was 10 or 11 years old.
“I think I first stood up in 1947 or 1948,” he remembered, “and I’m still standing. I’m privileged.”
A few years later in 1950, he got his first real surfboard, a Joe Quigg balsa board, and it changed his life.
Mickey Muñoz is 87 years old (he thinks).
His life has been incredible, and he’s not done yet.
Photos: Buthman
A few years later in 1950, he got his first real surfboard, a Joe Quigg balsa board, and it changed his life.
The next decades were formative not only for him but for surfing culture as a whole, and Muñoz was right in the thick of it.
He’s rumored to have dated Kathy “Gidget” Koehner, and he was one of Sandra Dee’s doubles in the first Gidget movie. It wasn’t just Malibu that kept him surfing, though.
He was also part of one of the first groups – comprised of absolutely wild men – who surfed at giant Waimea Bay.
The film you see here is beautifully done, and does an incredible job of conveying the constant optimism that Muñoz is famous for.
“He’s a true professional at making lemonade when life gives him lemons,” Buthman wrote, and answers every question with a story that may or may not outlast your attention span.”
He plans on surfing until he can’t surf anymore, and after a lifetime spent riding waves, he has an outlook on life that we should all subscribe to.
“There are no bad waves,” he laughs.
The film you see here is beautifully done, and does an incredible job of conveying the constant optimism that Muñoz is famous for.
“He’s a true professional at making lemonade when life gives him lemons,” Buthman wrote, and answers every question with a story that may or may not outlast your attention span.”
He plans on surfing until he can’t surf anymore, and after a lifetime spent riding waves, he has an outlook on life that we should all subscribe to.
“There are no bad waves,” he laughs.
“Only a poor choice of equipment and a lousy attitude… I think you have to keep chasing perfection. If you keep chasing perfection, you know you’ll never find it or catch it, but it keeps you in the game. You gotta just… be surfing.”
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