---
title: Surfing
description: Surfing is riding waves on a board. You will learn ocean safety, reading waves, paddling and pop-up technique, board selection and etiquette, and how to progress.
category: sports-recreation
subcategory: individual-sports
difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced
url: /subject/surfing
---

# Surfing

Surfing is riding waves on a board. You will learn ocean safety, reading waves, paddling and pop-up technique, board selection and etiquette, and how to progress.

## Available Resources

2 Books • 2 Websites

## Books

### 1. Surf Survival: The Surfer's Health Handbook (2nd Edition)

**Author:** Andrew Nathanson, Clayton Everline, Mark Renneker

The only medically authored reference dedicated to surfing hazards and injuries. Handbook by three surfing physicians on staying safe in the water: waves and currents, hold-downs and drowning risk, reef cuts, marine stings, shoulder dislocations, surfer's ear, sun exposure, fitness, and first aid in remote surf locations.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1510740902?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** surfing, surf-safety, sports-medicine, first-aid, injury-prevention

### 2. Surf Science: An Introduction to Waves for Surfing (3rd Edition)

**Author:** Tony Butt, Paul Russell, Rick Grigg

Wave science written for surfers. Explains how storms generate swell, how swells travel and disperse, and how bathymetry, tides and wind shape breaking waves at a given spot, so readers can interpret forecast charts and predict surf. No science background required.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0824839544?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** surfing, ocean-waves, swell, surf-forecasting, oceanography

## Websites

### 1. Rip Current Science

Surfers use rips to paddle out and must recognize them to stay safe: National Weather Service explanation of how rip currents form from alongshore variation in wave breaking and setup, the channelized, focused, shadow, deflection and transient types, typical speeds, and visual signs such as gaps in breaking waves and offshore foam plumes.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.weather.gov/safety/ripcurrent-science

**Tags:** rip-currents, ocean-safety, surf-science, nearshore-hydrodynamics, beach-safety

### 2. Surf Etiquette and Surf Safety (Surfing England)

Etiquette is mostly unwritten. Short guide from England's national surfing governing body on lineup rules: priority to the surfer closest to the peak, dropping in, snaking, paddling out without obstructing riders, sharing waves, respecting locals, and choosing lifeguarded beaches that match your ability.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.surfingengland.org/go-surf/how-to-guides/surf-safe/

**Tags:** surf-etiquette, surf-safety, lineup-rules, beginner-surfing

## Youtubes

### 1. Surf Simply (YouTube Channel)

**Author:** Ben Freestone

Free technical coaching videos from a Costa Rica surf coaching school, organized into series (Surfing Explained, Quick Tips, Question Time, Big Whiteboard Wednesday) covering stance, pop-up, paddling, wave selection, speed generation, board volume and fin physics. Breaks surfing into named, teachable mechanics rather than generic 'tips'; ~480 free videos spanning first-session basics through intermediate maneuvers and board choice, so it covers technique and progression in one place with a curated 'Surf Basics' playlist as an entry point.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.youtube.com/@surfsimply

**Tags:** surf-technique, pop-up, paddling, wave-selection, surfboard-design

---

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