Maria’s Beach: Lovingly Named Surfer’s Paradise in Puerto Rico
The windswept enclave of Rincón in northwestern Puerto Rico is well-known as a top surf spot today. Prior to November 1968, though, its now legendary waves remained somewhat under the radar. ABC’s Wide World of Sports telecast of the 1968 World Surfing Championship held here changed all that. (It was, after all, the first-ever broadcast of a surfing event.) Back then, the beach that hosted the competition was called Rincón Point. Surfing changed all that too. More to the point, surfers changed the name to Maria’s Beach…and with good reason.
Maria Garcia lived in a small house right on the beach that would eventually adopt her name. If you were a surfer who ventured to Rincón in the wake of the ’68 Championship then you no doubt knew and loved her. That’s because if you needed a place to stay, Maria would let you camp on her lawn. If you needed coffee or a snack, she’d share what she had with you.
Maria’s house is also where you’d find a soda machine, making it a prime hangout spot for surfers taking a break from hanging 10.
Mrs. Garcia was like a guardian angel come to life for surfers in Rincón, her warmth and hospitality quickly becoming the stuff of legend across the surfing world. So much so, in fact, that surfers started referring to Rincón Point as Maria’s Beach.
It’s only fitting that the name stuck.
After all, it was Maria’s generosity and care for visiting surfers that inspired many of them to return to Rincón again and again over the years.
In this way, Maria did as much to make Rincón the surfing hot spot that it remains today as ABC-TV or anyone else.