Mickey Munoz

Who is Mickey Munoz?

Mickey Munoz, nicknamed "The Mongoose", was born in New York City in 1937 and is one of the early pioneers of surfing but is perhaps more famous for his work as a surfboard shaper. Munoz, a historical figure in the surfing world, has been featured in many popular surfing documentaries such as the 2004 film Riding Giants. He currently resides in Capistrano Beach, California and designs boards for Surftech, a manufacturer of epoxy boards.

Munoz graduated from Santa Monica High School. He was part of the surfing scene at Malibu and was present on June 27, 1956, the day a young lady showed up and Terry "Tubesteak" Tracy nicknamed her Gidget. Later he was the stunt double for Sandra Dee in the 1959 Gidget movie. He developed a stance while surfing that became known as the "quasimoto".

The correct spelling of his last name is actually Muñoz, but it mostly appears as Munoz. A good example of this appeared in his own blog, where the web address has Munoz, but the graphic on the home page has Muñoz.