Danny DiCola

SKATER, SHAPER, AND THE ART OF PURE FUN

Danny DiCola may not be a household name in surfboard shaping, but that’s fine by him. Born in Leucadia, California, in 1984, he and his brother, Chris, spent every moment at the beach.

His first taste of shaping came from watching his friend’s dad Gary Goodrum craft boards in his backyard. Goodrum would give them foam scraps to carve into tiny surfboards, which he’d glass for them.

DiCola didn’t shape a real board until 2010. Focused on a skateboarding career, he joined a North Shore trip with Alex Horn of OJ Skateboard Wheels, where they shaped their own boards under the guidance of Milford Barnes, a tattoo artist taught by Jeff McCallum. The process hooked him. Soon, he was shaping anywhere he could—sanding hot coats in his van behind grocery stores and doing color work in dirt lots by Terra Mar.

Determined to refine his craft, DiCola sought mentorship from Hall of Fame shaper Hank Byzak. Known for his brutal honesty and unmatched precision, Byzak pushed DiCola to his limits. “The fins are too far back!” Byzak would yell, or he’d grab the board and immediately point out asymmetry in the rails. But DiCola kept at it. One day, he brought in a new egg shape, and Byzak finally said, “There’s nothing wrong with that surfboard.” Coming from Hank, that was huge.

With Byzak’s approval, DiCola shaped rent-free in his shop—alongside John Kies and Steve Clark—under one condition: his boards had to carry the Pure Fun logo. He refined his craft further, shaping Aipa stings, mini-Simmons-inspired boards, and a fish design that drew attention to his fins. His brother Chris became his test pilot, riding the same egg shape over and over until it was dialed in.

Today, DiCola Surfboards is known for performance-driven boards and signature skateboard-fin designs, crafted from repurposed decks. His shapes, built for San Diego’s year-round waves, keep customers coming back.

Follow him on Instagram: @dannydicola