Orange County's Surfers' Hall Of Fame Names Inductees For 2022

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA — The Surfers' Hall of Fame in Huntington Beach will celebrate its 25th anniversary this summer by inducting three new members as its 2022 honorees.

Surfer Peter Mel, Surf Explorer Martin Daly and Michele Turner, owner of the Sugar Shack Café in Huntington Beach, will be inducted into the hall of fame on Aug. 5 at 9 a.m. during the U.S. Open of Surfing.

The inductees will have their names and handprints immortalized in slabs of concrete placed at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street.

The 25th-anniversary celebration will also feature a rededication ceremony by the Pai Family, who founded the Surfer's Hall of Fame.

"As we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Surfers’ Hall of Fame, we want to take a moment to rededicate our commitment to the Surfers’ Hall of Fame and to surfers and surfing at the epicenter of the surfing world," Aaron Pai said.

Paid said he was grateful for the inductees' "commitment to surfing and the surf community."

"This year's honorees have contributed so much to riding waves and supporting our surfing community and staving off hunger after a local surf session," he said.

Mel rose to prominence when he was named the Big Wave Tour champion in 2012, a spokesperson for the hall of fame said. He's won awards in the 1997 O'Neill Coldwater Classic, 2013 Mavericks Invitational and the 2021 Red Bull Big Wave.

Daly is a surf explorer and boat captain who has run boat charters since the 1980s, taking surfers out to catch "the waves of their dreams," the spokesperson said. He also supports coral health programs and has provided relief aid in Indonesia following tsunamis.

Turner founded Huntington Beach's Sugar Shack Café in 1967 and has supported the local surfing community for more than 50 years, the Surfers' Hall of Fame said. She's helped Huntington Beach High School's Surf Team and the National Scholastic Surfing Association over the years.