Largest surfing museum on the East Coast opens in West Palm Beach

Tucked inside an 8,000-square-foot space on South Dixie Highway, decades of Florida surf history are about to be open to the public. The Surfing Florida Museum officially opens to the public this Saturday, May 2, with a grand opening celebration from 4 to 10 p.m. at 7623 South Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach. Admission is free. It's the largest surfing museum on the East Coast and according to its executive director, the second-largest in the world. "We're the second-best surfing museum in the whole world," said Tom Warnke, executive director of the Surfing Florida Museum. "And it's here in West Palm Beach." The museum was founded by four longtime Palm Beach County surfers: Fred Salmon, Corky Roche, Tom Warnke, and the late Bill Keeton — through their nonprofit, the Palm Beach County Surfing History Project. Warnke first rode a surf mat at Boynton Beach Oceanfront Park in 1956. He got his first real surfboard in 1964, founded the Cripple Creek Surf Club in Boynton Beach in 1967, and went on to volunteer for 40 years as a director of the Eastern Surfing Association. Read more: https://cbs12.com/news/local/largest-... _______________ Stay up to date with our social media: WPEC on Facebook:   / cbs12news   WPEC on : https://x.com/cbs12 Subscribe to WPEC on YouTube:    / @cbs12newswpec   WPEC Daily News Digest:    • Playlist   WPEC CBS12 is South Florida's source for local news, weather forecasts, sports and community events spanning West Palm Beach, Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, Stuart, Vero Beach, Okeechobee, along with the rest of the Treasure Coast and Palm Beaches. We are TheOneToTurnTo. For more information, visit https://cbs12.com/ Have a tip? Email us at [email protected] Call the Newsroom: 561.844.1212 Have a video or photo you want to share? Upload it to cbs12.com/chimein/ WPEC is a FL based station and a CBS Television affiliate owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today. #CBS12NEWS #WPEC #WestPalmBeach #SouthFlorida #News #BreakingNews