Cheka-Looka, there's a surf shop in Seattle

Folks usually want to know what's behind the name of Cheka-Looka Surf Shop. Sure, there's a cowabunga ring to it -- and it may even sound like a colossal wave in the North Pacific -- but the story behind the name is more of a last-minute necessity than a well-thought-out moniker.

"We were completing the business license and we still didn't know what to name the shop," says Cheka-Looka owner Jeff Abandonato, 36. "Then a friend of mine- a total Southern Californian surfer kid who used to butcher the English language any chance he could- said, 'How about Cheka-Looka Surf Shop?'"

In their surf-speak, Cheka-Looka meant "Take a look at the surf." "'Let's cheka-looka, man,' my friend would often excitedly say," adds Abandonato, who moved to Seattle in 1992 by way of Huntington Beach, Calif. "It stuck so fast. People would yell at us, 'Look, it's the Cheka-Looka guys.'"

Abandonato, who is often described by the surfing community as a "very nice and friendly dude," adds, "There was no changing the name after that."

Eight years later, this one-stop surf shop on Eastlake has become known to Pacific Northwest surfers and travelers alike as the ultimate place to go in Seattle for surfboard custom shaping and repairs, surf lessons and rentals, surf gear and equipment -- including long boards ($400-$1,000) and short boards ($350-$600) -- as well as proudly carrying the biggest collection of surfing DVDs in the region. "This shop has evolved more to what people in the Pacific Northwest need," Abandonato says.

Abandonato started Cheka-Looka because he thought Seattle could use a surf shop. "There wasn't one at that time and I needed surfing equipment," he laughs. "I really believed Seattle needed a surf shop."

The surfing craze has yet to catch on in the Pacific Northwest. To this day, it remains an unexploited, sumptuous secret sport -- perhaps because surfing, as a leisure pursuit, is often associated with the splendid shores of Hawaii and California, as well as the international surfs of Costa Rica, Mexico, New Zealand and Indonesia. Until recently, many locals had not heard of surfing in the swells of Ocean Shores, Long Beach Peninsula, and Westport (also known as "Surf City, Washington") -- the Pacific Northwest hot spots for those who would like to dabble in this water sport. The Short Sands Beach, nestled in Oswald West State Park on the Oregon Coast, is also a popular seaside destination to learn surfing. "It's the essence of the Pacific Northwest surfing experience," Abandonato says.

Compared to the warmer waters in the hotter regions, the chilly ocean temperature is a major factor when dipping in Pacific Northwest waters. "You need to gear up with a good wetsuit, booties and gloves so you don't freeze in the water," says Abandonato, who enthusiastically surfs two to three times a week, rain or shine, all year 'round.

JOANN NATALIA AQUINO

Jeff Abandonato, owner of Cheka-Looka Surf Shop.

Abandonato -- a former milkman -- has been surfing since he was 15 years old and encourages everyone to start at a young age. Early exposure is the key, he said. "Anybody willing to learn, can learn," Abandonato says. Personalized surfing lessons are offered at Cheka-Looka for $100 per person with a minimum of two per group - a fee that includes the gear, a one and a half hour dry lesson in the shop, and two hours of actual surfing at Westport.

If you're not convinced yet to take up surfing, just check out Cheka-Looka and hang-loose with surfing-aficionados like Abandonato and you, too, will hungrily want to break for the nearest shores.

"We give the real surf shop feel," says Abandonato. "As if you were walking into a Southern California or Hawaii surf shop.

"You should be able to walk off a stormy day," he adds. "Come here, feel good and say, 'Hey, it's summer!'"