Cardiff Kook, Bronze surf sculpture in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California

Cardiff Kook is a 6 ft (1.8 m) high bronze sculpture depicting a young surfer in a learning stance on an invisible surfboard. The figure stands near San Elijo State Beach and is illuminated by LED lights at night.

The Cardiff Botanical Society commissioned the sculpture in 2007 for about $120,000, with $92,000 raised for construction and $30,000 from the city of Encinitas for installation. Matthew Antichevich was chosen from over 50 bidders; his original female-surfer-on-a-wave design exceeded budget, so a male surfer on a granite plinth was built, halving the bronze needed. The piece was intended to show a surfer doing a backside floater, but the wave component was cut for cost.

The nickname "Cardiff Kook" comes from surfer slang for a wannabe, coined by local surfers who found the figure unrealistic. Pranksters have dressed it as Zorro, Santa, Uncle Sam and a clown, and a costume 5K & 10K run is now held in its name.

The sculpture is located along Highway 101 at the entrance to the San Elijo State Beach campground and is easy to reach. Visitors can view the artwork at any time, with LED lighting making it particularly visible after dark.

Local sculptor Eric Hardtke built the 15-foot papier-mâché shark over a wooden frame for about $450 and two weeks of work. He and roughly two dozen friends installed it around 4 a.m. on 24 July 2010, after placing shark fins across the street that crept closer over several days. City workers sawed it apart two days later.