FROM TOP : JAMES FERRELL ; SKYLAR WILSON ; TOM CAREY

Blair Conklin surfing at the Wedge in Newport Beach ( above ); in the water in Alaska

“ I am fortunate enough to have very supportive sponsors , which include Catch Surf , Exile Skimboards , I-Sea Sunglasses and Reef . Other than that , I am a full-time beach bum ,” he says .

Without social media , he adds , “ I would not be able to do what I love for a living .” For reference , his YouTube channel , SkidKids , has more than 3 million subscribers .

“ Ten years ago , it was close to impossible to make money as a professional skimboarder and my parents shook their heads in dismay at the idea ,” he recalls . “ Nowadays , sharing videos across different platforms has really opened people ’ s eyes to the sport and has helped me get recognition in both [ the ] surf and skim worlds .”

Conklin , 28 , grew up in south Laguna so some of his earliest memories are from Totuava and Thousand Step beaches . “ These beaches are some of the best places to skimboard in Laguna , so I was exposed to the sport at a very young age ,” he says . His dad and uncles , who all surfed and had tried skimboarding at some point , helped teach him .

“ Surfing came a little later . … At Laguna Beach High School , I had the option to either do the standard P . E . class or join the surf team and learn how to surf . It wasn ’ t a super tough decision .”

GO-TO PLACE IN TOWN South Swell Donuts , Ahba , La Sirena Grill , zpizza , Aliso Beach , Thousand Steps Beach and Valido Trail FAVORITE LOCAL SKIMBOARD SPOT Aliso Beach FAVORITE GLOBAL SURF SPOT Near Sumba in Indonesia —“ It is so much more relaxed there to surf than any of the local SoCal breaks .” FAVORITE GLOBAL SKIMBOARD SPOT Sununga Beach in Ubatuba , Brazil BUCKET LIST SURF DESTINATION Ireland , Scotland or Iceland —“ I seem to be attracted to the colder waters that have less crowds these days .” SURFING / SKIMBOARDING STYLE “ I think my wave riding style has been heavily influenced by the surfing films that I watched as a kid . I always wanted to emulate what surfers were doing on waves , but on my skimboard .” HIS BOARD “ Catch Surf has been supporting me since I was in high school and Exile Skimboards long before that . So basically my boards are either really really hard and sharp or really thick and soft .” OTHER HOBBIES Pickleball and ping-pong

Needless to say , he ’ s progressed in both sports over the years . In fact , he has won The Vic — skimboarding ’ s world championships , held in Laguna and sponsored by local company Victoria Skimboards — three times , in 2017 , 2018 and 2023 . “ I think winning that contest is most skimboarders ’ dream achievement ,” he says . “… People from all over the world travel … to compete in the event and challenge their skills in the unforgiving shorebreak waves of Aliso Beach . I am honored to have my name on a plaque alongside so many other past , present and future legends in the sport .”

Skimboarding has taken him to places he would have never imagined like Alaska , Sri Lanka , Indonesia and Angola , Africa . “ More importantly , the sport has given me the opportunity to connect with people all over the world ,” he says . But he also appreciates spending time in his hometown . “ I love the community of people who all share a passion for being outdoors and in the ocean ,” he says .

Conklin also has used his travels to make a difference , recently becoming involved with the Surfrider Foundation ’ s Clean Border Water Now campaign . “ This is an urgent public health crisis and environmental disaster that can be remediated ,” he says . “ The Tijuana River dumps an estimated 35 million gallons of sewage into the ocean daily . There is a water treatment facility upstream that can be upgraded to treat a lot more water .”

And Conklin his own SkidKids clothing line plus mini Doinker Decks for display — sold through blairconklin . com , which launched in 2022 in response his YouTube success .

“[ It ] started off as somewhat of a joke . … We were surprised at the popularity and are just running with it ,” he says . A new design includes shredded parts of his old skimboards . As he says , “ It is a win-win for everyone , including the environment .”

Conklin gets some air in a wave pool .

LAGUNA BEACH MAGAZINE 49