Our Story

Tiki co-founder Tim Heyland made his first surfboard in 1963, carved from wood on the beaches of Brazil. When Tim returned to the UK he joined forces with Dave Aldrich-Smith, setting up Tiki Surfboards in South Wales (some of the early collectors boards have the rare Abergavenny mark on them from this period), before re-locating to North Devon in 1968, briefly setting up shop in Barnstaple, before finally putting down roots in Braunton, where it is still based today.

Tim Heyland was a true pioneer with his upbringing taking him all around the world. A seeker of adventure, surfing offered him a new set of challenges. He was one of the first British surfers to take on the waves of Hawaii’s North Shore and his early ventures are full of stories and characters from the golden era of surfing. 

Dave Aldrich-Smith’s route into surfing is a tale in itself too. Whilst working on a ranch in the mid-west America, Dave was drafted into the Vietnam War. Not wishing to fight for Uncle Sam in ’63, Dave took the first Greyhound bus to California, hired a board, and never looked back. 

Landing in Hermosa beach again in ’69, Dave was under the wing of Nick Mirandon (brother of bear Miradon on whom the character ‘The Bear’ in the film Big Wednesday is based) and learned his craft around the shaping rooms of So Cal.

Timeline

Setting up shop in the UK

When Tim and Dave returned to Britain they combined their expertise and knowledge and got to work. Without any surrounding industry to supply materials they made their own blanks and sourced their own fiberglass from builders merchants. With Dave's contacts in California, they were then able to secure licenses to produce the like of Bing, G&S and Weber surfboards in the UK. Before long they were selling boards as fast as they could make them, leading to the launch of Tiki Surfboards.  

Each wetsuit design was tested by the Tiki International Team, a team of sponsored sportsmen and women from each water sport, giving feedback on the fit, action and durability.

Before going into production all suits must have passed stringent quality tests and the Tiki team members would return the suits back to Tiki in North Devon after being worn in all types of conditions around the globe.

The panels of the wetsuits were taken apart and examined, ensuring that the fit, stretch, bonding and stitching were all at the highest standard before being released to the public.

The 90’s range was an accumulation of the last 20 years of neoprene wetsuits, combining 90’s style with high performance suits. 

Greg Norman joined the Team

In 2009 Greg Norman joined the the Tiki Team. A long boarder from Appledore, North Devon. Grey has done his fair share of travelling over the years, with the Maldives and California being some of his favourite places to surf.