Born in the Philippines. Shaped in California. Built in Siargao.
Every Zamora Surf board carries the story of two people who became surfers, then coaches, then craftspeople — and who eventually found their way back to where it started.
Ian’s Story
Ian Zamora was born in Quezon City, the Philippines, where he spent his first fourteen years far from the world of waves and surfboards. That changed when his family moved to the United States in search of a better life. Soon after, on a family vacation in Waikiki, Ian discovered surfing — and the discovery hit hard enough to reshape the direction of his life.
He spent the next several years honing his skills at Northern Los Angeles surf breaks. But when it came time to buy a board good enough to keep progressing, his pockets couldn’t support the investment. Most people would have stopped there. Ian didn’t. He decided to build his own.
Under the mentorship of world-renowned shapers Rich Pavel of San Diego and Glenn Kennedy of Los Angeles, Ian spent the next twenty years deep in California’s experimental surfboard era — every rail, every fin setup, every tail shape imaginable passing through his hands. He became one of his generation’s most well-rounded craftsmen, not by accident, but because he’d had to become the maker he needed in the first place.
Then he came home. Ian returned to the Philippines — to Siargao — to shape boards in the country that made him. Every board that leaves his hands carries that journey.
Carla’s Story
Carla Zamora isn’t a supporting character in this story — she’s the other half of it.
A competitive longboarder synonymous with First Point Malibu, Carla has spent decades building a multifaceted career around the sport: as a certified surf coach running clinics globally, as founder of The Surf Institute — a structured longboard performance coaching and athlete development ecosystem — and as founder of Queen Of The Point, an international women’s longboard series. She’s worked with professional-level athletes and competitive teams across multiple countries, helping shape some of the sport’s emerging talent.
She’s also the reason Zamora Surf makes longboards at all. Before Carla, Ian was a shortboard shaper — alternative shapes, nothing over eight feet. It was Carla who pushed him toward longboards, and the first board he built for her, the Carlita Special, became the board that launched Zamora Surf’s entire longboard line.
Together
Ian and Carla represent the complete Zamora Surf story: California technique, Philippine heart, world-class craft, and a genuine mission to grow surf culture in the islands. Every board that leaves the shop carries both of their fingerprints, whether or not their names are on it.
This isn’t a brand built around one founder’s journey. It’s built around two.
