A Cuban boy became the star of a viral video as he explained, step by step, how they make their own handcrafted bodyboard to practice surfing due to the lack of access to real sports equipment. The clip, posted this Monday on Instagram by user @hugo_mesa_bizet_, shows the young boy describing in detail the process of constructing his makeshift board.
In just 29 seconds, the boy explains how they shape the board with yellow foam, sand it with a sack for a finishing touch, add two circles cut from the plastic of a tank, join them with wire to create a figure for tying the string, and finally incorporate the straps from an old backpack to secure the device to their body.
"With yellow foam, we shape this. Then we take a bag and erase it. After that, we take a piece of plastic from a tank. We have two little circles. We put them here and open them a little. We pass a wire through. And we make this shape here to attach the thread. Finally, we take this from a backpack to put it here," the child describes in the video.
The author of the post accompanies the clip with a request for donations: "This is a way that children in Cuba have found to surf with something similar to a bodyboard. If anyone has any surf materials they can donate to the kids, please message me in the DM."
In Cuba, surfboards, fins, wax, and other equipment are virtually nonexistent in the local market, and their cost is out of reach for most families. In light of this reality, Cuban children and youth have developed a culture of "innovation" using discarded materials, shaped by decades of scarcity in Cuba.
This video is part of a documented tradition of artisanal surfing on the island. The Santa Fe Surf Club, founded in November 2021, is one of the most prominent initiatives to promote the sport among young people on the northern beaches of Havana, although it relies almost exclusively on donations from abroad.
In January 2024, Cuban surfers received a donation of boards, fins, non-slip pads, and wax sent from abroad, celebrated as a milestone by the community. The INDER has promised support for Cuban surfing, but the athletes themselves acknowledge that this backing has been limited to statements without concrete actions.
It is not the first time that Cuban creativity in the face of scarcity has gained attention on social media. In October 2025, a young man surfed in a puddle of stagnant water in Havana using a board recycled from a dumpster. In February 2026, another young man surfed on a flooded street with a nailed wooden board, diving goggles, and a rope pulled by friends.
The phenomenon connects with a broader tradition that dates back to the Special Period of the 1990s, when the scarcity of toys and sporting goods drove handmade production as the norm among Cubans. Decades later, the same need continues to yield the same solutions.
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