Riding the Waves to Professionalism
The Surf Academy have been organizing a competition that brings the entire community together for six years now
Ana-Maria Cononovici, 22.09.2026, 14:00
A national sports federation in Romania is established through the association of sports clubs and county associations dedicated to a specific sport, with the express approval of the National Agency for Sport (formerly the Ministry of Youth and Sport). The sport in question must be officially recognized in Romania and must be unique in nature, meaning that only one national sports federation may be formed for any single sport.
You may not be aware, but surfers in Romania are quite close to establishing a surf federation. Tiberiu Balica, founder of Romania’s first surf school, spoke to us about the local surfing community and the first surf lessons offered by their school, which began in 2013: “The community is growing. There aren’t endless queues for the waves, nor are conditions in Romania consistent, you can’t really rely on the surf. Good surfing conditions on the Black Sea appear somewhat randomly. Believe it or not, the Romanian surf community actually started in a wave pool, one that originally just had settings for recreational splashing. You don’t need massive power in the water to learn to surf; you just need something, a wave or a swell, to carry you while you learn to catch it on a board. It can happen on a river or a lake, but a controlled environment, like an artificial pool at a water park, made it very easy to run the course. That’s essentially where surfing started. At one point, we could no longer continue the classes there, but fortunately, conditions at the Black Sea improved enough.”
We learned from Tiberiu Balica where the best spot for surfing in Romania is: “It’s best at Modern Beach, the beach next to Tomis Port (both in Constanța). There, the layout of the breakwaters and sandbars is ideal; the configuration and orientation of the breakwaters effectively filter the incoming energy, removing the ‘noise’ or ‘chop.’ Only the waves suitable for surfing make it into that bay at Modern. Out at sea, there’s a mix of wave types. Various waves crash against the breakwater, and only those with enough energy reach the sandbars, which shape them into surfable waves. Those are the ones we ride. There aren’t many spots along the coast; under certain conditions, locations further south, towards the resorts of 2 Mai, Vama Veche, or Eforie, can be good too, but they are very particular about the direction the energy, or the storm is coming from.”
Tiberiu Balica encouraged us to join the ranks of those who practice this sport: “Anyone can surf; you don’t need huge waves or deep water, you can even learn in shallow water. You don’t even need to know how to swim; all it takes is the courage to make the decision and try something new. If you can’t swim, overcoming that fear requires a lot of courage, and we help people get past that. It’s therapeutic; beyond the physical benefits, it has many mental and psychological effects that help people.”
And, surprisingly, even though we may think of surf as a seasonal sport, we learned that isn’t the case. Tiberiu Balica is here with details: “It can be practiced anytime; the difference between summer and winter is simply the level of comfort. Obviously, 95% of people come in the summer. But conditions are actually better in winter because the waves have more energy and are bigger. In other words, for someone who already knows how to surf, winter is better than summer. It’s just harder and less comfortable. You definitely need different gear, and you need a lot of inner warmth! A hood, gloves, and surf booties!”
We also learned that a few more clubs need to be added to the list of ten required to establish a federation. In the meantime, however, since it is September, surfers are awaiting the big Black Sea storm for a new edition of the competition! Tiberiu Balica: “We are trying to develop this sport on a professional level as well; within our community, we are discussing the creation of a Romanian Surf Federation. We, at the Surf Academy, have also been organizing a competition that brings the entire community together for six years now, this is the sixth edition. Every September, we hold a contest that gathers all the practitioners across various skill categories. It centers on the first major storm of September. There is a fishermen’s term for it: the ‘September big swell’. It isn’t a fixed term, though, because we don’t know exactly when the storm will arrive. We know there will definitely be a big storm in September, but we don’t know the date. Sometimes it has happened early in the month, other times towards the end.”
Longing for the holidays, all that’s left for us to do is wish the surfers “Good waves on the Black Sea!” and promise to keep an eye on their performance! (LS)
