Richard Barnick, owner and creator of Tsunami is an Ohio kid with a California heart. Transplanted to California at a young age, he fell in love with surf, skate, and the culture surrounding these and other extreme sports. In 1977, he became one of the first sponsored skateboarders for Ski Mart Skateboard team. He went on to manage the Badlands at Shady Acres Skate Park in Long Beach for three years, until the park shut down and life took him further north...

        After spending time in Big Sur and Santa Cruz at Cowell's Beach Surf Shop under the tutelage of Pete Pappas, Richard got a taste of surf shop life and continued filling his time with his passion for surf and extreme sports. He even started his own cable access show! The show, orignally named "Surf TV", later becoming "Central Coast Airwaves: Surf, Skate and Snow TV", was graced with people like Johnny Rice, Ward Coffey, Kelly Slater, Omar Etcheverry, Robert "Wingnut" Weaver, Pat O'Connell, and more!

         Richard shot his own footage and collaborated with filmmakers like Tony Roberts and Steve Spalding to get clips and interviews for episodes. The show was originally hosted by Terry Campion and later hosted by Shawn "Barney" Barron for the three years it ran.

        Through all the bustle of the Central Coast, the redwoods, black sand beaches and uncrowded waves drew Richard to the mysterious Lost Coast of Humboldt County where he looked out over the waters and said, "Yep. I'm gonna build a shop here". 

        The original Tsunami Surf & Sport was roughly 250 square feet with one rack, one case, a couple pairs of board shorts, and a couple surf boards in Its opening year of 1997. It quickly grew to a 1,000 square foot store packed full of the coolest shoes, apparel, and hard goods we could find! 

        At Tsunami we are committed to good customer service, good products, and good stories. Over our 27 years in Garberville, we’ve prided ourselves on seeing return customers from all over the world. We hope to continue our legacy in a new way.

        We have closed our store in Garberville to focus on online sales of our original apparel and accessories that can be shipped directly to you. We’re in the process of adding more products to our online store, so be sure to check back frequently for updates.

We have an array of products and apparel from our Garberville store that are available to see by appointment. These products are not available for online sales or shipping. Brands include: Channel Islands, Vans, Xcel Wetsuits, O’Neill Wetsuits, Hotline, Hippy Tree, Globe, NHS Santa Cruz, Creature, Independent, No Bad Ideas, Coal Headwear, Fox, and more!