Manly locals are used to spotting longboards, mini mals and the occasional foamie at Manly but on Tuesday morning, beachgoers witnessed something 3,500 years in the making.
A traditional Peruvian Caballito de Totora, a reed surf craft dating back to pre-Inca civilisation, was paddled into Manly’s waves for the first time in history.
The demonstration formed part of the East Coast Activation Tour (ECAT) 2026, a travelling surf and conservation group organised by Gold Coast World Surfing Reserve (WSR) to celebrate their 10-year anniversary.
The Manly stop was one of nine along the coast, and a symbolic one, with the tour visiting the Manly-Freshwater WSR.
Craftsman Carlos Ucanan Arzola, known as “Huevito”, performed a traditional Marinera dance on the sand before entering the surf on the Reed board.
The Caballito, meaning “little reed horse”, has been used by fishermen and wave riders in northern Peru since roughly 3000 BC.
Made from tightly bound totora reeds, it predates the modern fibreglass surfboard by thousands of years.
Andrew McKinnon, President of Gold Coast Surfing Reserve, explained its origins were practical before they were recreational.
“It is ancient and maybe the world’s oldest surfboard.
“It was for fishing,” he said.
“In Huanchaco they get really big waves.
“That is why they design it with a hyper kick nose.”
Our local reserve is widely recognised as the birthplace of Australian surfing after Duke Kahanamoku’s famous 1915 exhibition, the moment added another international layer to its surf story.
Carlos Antonio Ferrer, Manager of the Huanchaco WSR in Peru said: “We want to pay tribute to Manly because this is where Kahanamoku introduced all of surfing to Australia.”
Spectators gathered along Mid-Steyne to watch as Huevito demonstrated the craft’s unique straddling riding style, part paddle, part glide, catching several waves in the small surf.
“We are making some history down here at Manly Beach,” said McKinnon.
“We have got the Caballito de Totora out there on the water with Huevito, I call him the king of Caballito.
“He is out there trying to catch a wave.”
The ECAT tour follows directly after the World Surfing Conservation Conference 2026 and includes 22 surfers, researchers and conservation leaders from Peru, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, the United States, Bali and Australia.
Among them is the Peruvian Junior Surfing Team, Catalina Zariquiey, Brianna Barthelmes, Bastian Arevalo and Alejandro Bernales, visiting Australia for the first time ahead of competing at Snapper Rocks.
The five-day coastal journey connected WSR from the Gold Coast to Sydney.
The reserves were launched by Save The Waves Coalition in 2009 and aim to protect significant surf breaks from threats such as inappropriate development, with sites selected for wave quality, environment characteristics, surf culture and history.
As the tour wraps up in Sydney, the Caballito will be transported back up the coast to its permanent home at Robbie Page Royal Indigenous Surfing Museum, Kempsey South.
Robbie Page is a former professional surfer and Pipe Masters champion who is dedicated to First Nation surfers and supporting indigenous competition.
Page said: “I am truly honoured to be the custodian of the Peruvian Reed board.”
In the afternoon, the group was set to surf with Assistant Minister of Immigration and Foreign Affairs Matt Thistlethwaite at Bondi.
“That is really going to wrap up our ECAT Tour,” McKinnon said.
Documentary footage from the tour is set to premiere at the Save The Waves Film Festival later this year.
