Surf legend and artist Tony Caramanico talks taste

My personal style signifiers are surfer-style clothes. I’ve pretty much worn them since I was 13 years old, back in 1963, and I’ve always kind of worn what’s in style. It’s comfortable, beachy and very relaxed. It reflects the lifestyle. For the past 25 years I’ve worn board shorts by Toes on the Nose – sort of a ’60s California vibe. I’ve even had my artwork on some – one of my prints, Voodoo Lounge. 

The last thing I bought and loved was a vintage surfboard. I collect them; I have, like, 100, which I keep in a barn, all stacked up. Last year, I purchased several Lightning Bolt surfboards, the iconic ’70s ones that came out of Hawaii. They’re very high-end in the collectable market and came off of the ’60s longboard era; the late ’60s was when boards started getting smaller. So from being nine, 10 feet, by the ’70s they had dropped to, like, six or seven feet. Buying some was kind of exciting.

The place that means a lot to me would have to be Montauk. Geographically, it’s a beautiful place – all rocky coves and high cliffs, which gives us great topography for surfing. I first came here in 1965, as a young teenager, and I moved here in 1971 – from Amityville, New York – opened up a surf shop, then a restaurant and then a motel. But its greatness is that it’s seasonal, so it has allowed us to travel and surf in the off-season. 

The best souvenir I’ve brought home is a 200-year-old, 14ft dugout canoe made in Sumatra, which I bought in Bali. We filled it with sarongs and board shorts and bikinis, and shipped it back to New York. I had it for a good 30 years – I sold it two years ago, because I’m running out of room for all the collectables I have. 

The best book I’ve read in the Past year is More Stoked! by Bob McTavish. He was an Australian pioneer in the early ’60s and also ushered shortboards into Hawaii in 1967. It’s a story about his life and influence – of being a surfer and discovering many surf breaks in Australia back in the day. I just went back and read some of it because I was taking photos of the surfboard I got from him in 2015 – it’s a replica of the one that’s on the cover of the book.

An object I would never part with is the trophy I received when I was inducted into the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame, in 2020. It’s very dear to me. It represents my 60 years in surfing, and I was acknowledged as a certain legend.

If there’s an afterlife, maybe I’ll come back as a dolphin and continue riding waves

The last music I downloaded was Jimmy Buffett’s final album, Equal Strain on All Parts. I was good friends with Jimmy, who passed away last year. I surfed a lot with him here in Montauk and surrounding areas, and in St Barths over the holidays. Jimmy’s basically the laidback Caribbean lifestyle. He’s the music of sailors and surfers and island people. He’s one of the most successful musicians of all time, financially. 

My style icon is Ralph Lauren. Timeless. The brand does get a little faddy, sometimes, with the patches. And too many insignias. But overall, his style is real classic – beautiful, tailored clothes that work anywhere in the world. He has a home out here in Montauk. I’ve seen him around a few times. 

The first wave I caught was on Gilgo Beach, the epicentre of surfing in the ’60s. I lived across the bay from the surf break: I used to go there by boat as a kid and it was the first place I surfed, when I was 13. It changed my life. I knew right away what I was going to do. Didn’t know how, but that’s how it started.

The best gifts I’ve given recently were two flags made with St Barths’ ocean conservation charity Utöpia out of recycled ocean plastic – one with one of my art collages, the other with several surfboards on it. I recently had a solo show in St Barths at the Summum Gallery, called Something about the Sea, and while it was on we had a benefit for Utöpia. 

The best gift I’ve ever received was from my wife Charlotte: a rose-gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner. 

The best way to spend $20 is on breakfast. Bacon and eggs or pancakes if I’m at home, and almond croissants with café au lait or eggs Benedict if we’re at a café. 

The works of art that changed everything for me are those by Peter Beard. I lived with Peter for seven years, from ’78, and then he lived with me for a little bit. It was a pretty wild time, because he was such a well-connected person. He was working with Cheryl Tiegs, the supermodel, so she was around the whole time. I was very influenced by him. He documented his lifestyle and everything he was doing – the story of what he was up to, the people he was with, his travels, artwork, photography. He told me to keep a journal, and my artwork sort of started like that. We’d work on our journals together. I still keep one. 

And the one artist I would collect if I could is Andy Warhol. I met Andy a bunch of times out here, because he had a house in Montauk, but I also met him in New York City, through Peter. I’d like a soup can. Or Marilyn Monroe. I actually have a signed little piece of Andy Warhol; when Chairman Mao died, his picture was on the cover of the New York Post and Andy signed a bunch of them with “Mao is dead! Mao is dead! Andy Warhol”. I acquired one through Peter and have it framed in my house.

The last item of clothing I added to my wardrobe was a pair of New Balance sneakers. I needed a pair for walking. When I’m in the Caribbean, I do a lot of walking. I used to run marathons, but now I’m just a walker. New Balance classic 574 shoes, $94 

The grooming staple I’m never without is cheap shampoo and conditioner, like VO5. I have great hair. And I use basic Old Spice deodorant. I don’t have a grooming guru, but my barber is Danny DiMauro. He has a very high-end clientele – movie stars and people – but we’ve been surfing buddies for 20 years. I just tell him, “Clean it up and keep it long.”

In my fridge you’ll always find the basics: eggs, butter, milk, juices, vegetables, fruit. We usually have chicken, maybe burger or steak, and salmon. Vanilla Häagen-Dazs. Nothing out of the ordinary.

The things I couldn’t do without are sunshine and the ocean. I’ve always been happy to be near the sea or in the sea. And I have to have sunshine. I’m not good on cloudy, rainy days.

My greatest adventure was in 1980, when I took ABC Sports on a ride around the world to do a TV surf show on the island of Java. It was the best-known surf break in the world; the most exotic at that time. And it was also the first surf camp. My friend, Rick Rasmussen, was the US champ, and when I saw the footage of him in this exotic location, I presented the idea to ABC Sports. Six months later, we’re on our way to Indonesia, where we lived in treehouses. On the way, we stopped in Los Angeles, Hawaii, Australia and Bali – then I went on to Borneo to live with orangutans for 10 days, then Jakarta. Then I flew to Biarritz, then back to New York. It was a wing and a prayer – we were winging it the whole time. It was pretty wild. And the segment – Java Surf – ended up winning an Emmy.

Do I believe in life after death? I always feel that “when you’re dead you’re dead”. But if there is an afterlife, I hope it’s peaceful. Maybe I’ll come back as a dolphin and continue riding waves.  

An indulgence I would never forgo is eating sweets, chocolate, cakes and ice cream. I’m pretty active so I burn all that off well.

In another life, I’d have been a sailor, to be able to move around the world and explore places like the south Pacific or Indonesia. 

The best bit of advice I ever received was “buy real estate”. My father told me that. And I did. I’ve had several restaurants, motels and surf shops. I have a couple of houses and cottages – including one on Tobago for 25 years, and the Bahamas. It allows me to travel and it pays the bills. 

I don’t really listen to podcasts. I’m more about looking at publications, but I listen to Swell Season once in a while. It’s about surfers and everything around the scene.

My favourite room in my house is the living room. You can sit there and watch the sunset over the water. And I can look out the window and see the day. It’s just a comfortable room. Kind of the epicentre of the house. I have a bunch of my artwork in here and some images of famous surfers. And also some Peter Beard artwork.

My favourite websites and apps are surfing ones and weather channels. Magic Seaweed [now surfline.com] is good. It’s kind of a funny name, but you can go on there and it has surf spots all over the world. Also surfforecast.com. They come in very handy when you’re going to a place and you want to see the different surf breaks. And it just gives all the information you need. Also worldsurfleague.com, which covers all the professional surfing contests around the world.

My favourite location is Indonesia, because of the beauty and creativity. Like in Bali – the architecture is very in keeping with the environment. I first went there in 1980, and I spent a lot of time there in the ’90s. But I haven’t been back in a long time – it used to be spectacular, but it has changed a lot. When I went back in ’96, I was frightened at how westernised it had become – they had replaced packing everything in banana leaves with plastic. It got so bad there was plastic everywhere, and in the ocean. It felt like jellyfish.

Montauk Surf Journals by Tony Caramanico is published by Damiani at £45