Surf Quotes

We spent some time digging the depths of the internet to bring up this comprehensive hand picked collection of amazing surf quotes made by famous surfers and ordinary people alike.  Let us know in the comments if we have missed any that you think should be here and we'll keep adding to this list.

"The best surfer out there is the one having the most fun."

~ Phil Edwards

 

"If in doubt, paddle out."

~ Nat Young

 

"If you're having a bad day, catch a wave."

~ Frosty Hesson

 

"I surf to get a tan."

~ Shane Dorian

 

"Surfing is for life."

~ Bruce Jenkins

 

"One drop in is an accident, two is rude, three is a twatable offence."

~ Roger Sharp

 

"It's a culmination of your life of surfing when you turn and paddle in at Mavericks."

~ Jeff Clark

 

"Big waves aren't measured in feet, but in increments of fear."

~ Buzzy Trent

 

"Then, after I've gotten rid of Batman and Robin for good, I will rule the waves. Me, the Joker, king of the surf and all the surfers. Then, Gotham City! Later, the world!"

~ The Joker

 

"Surfing is not something you retire from."

~ SurfCareers.com

 

"Eddie would go."

~ Mark Foo

 

"Sometimes in the morning, when it's a good surf, I go out there, and I don't feel like it's a bad world."

~ Kary Mullis

 

"Surfing's the source. Can change your life. Swear to God."

~ Bohdi

 

"Thank God for a few free waves." 

~ Miki Dora

 

"Honest to goodness it’s the absolute ultimate!"

~ Gidget

 

"Wiping out is an under appreciated skill."

~ Laird Hamilton

 

"I took off on a wave, went down the side, popped out the other end, and went, shit, I’m still alive!"

~ Greg Noll

 

"Your surfing can get better on every turn, on every wave you catch. Learn to read the ocean better. A big part of my success has been wave knowledge."

~ Kelly Slater

 

"If there was no such thing as barrels I probably wouldn't even surf."

~ Clay Marzo

 

"I could not help concluding this man had the most supreme pleasure while he was driven so fast and so smoothly by the sea."

~ Captain James Cook

 

"There are a million ways to surf, and as long as you’re smiling you’re doing it right."

~ Unknown

 

"Never drive away from good surf."

~ Roger Sharp

 

"Waves are toys from God"

~ Clay Marzo

 

"When the surfs up, your life is too"

~ Wilhelm Sverdvik

 

"As for my own surfing, let's just say that when the waves start pushing 10 feet, I get this tremendous urge to make a sandwich."

~ Bruce Jenkins

 

"It’s a cakewalk, when you know how."

~ Gerry Lopez

 

"I've tried body surfing. It's nice."

~ Ziggy Marley

 

"I’m just a surfer who wanted to build something that would allow me to surf longer."

~ Jack O’Neill

 

"Go strip off your clothes that are a nuisance in this mellow clime. Get in and wrestle with the sea; wing your heels with the skill and power that reside in you, hit the sea's breakers, master them, and ride upon their backs as a king should."

~ Jack London

 

"It's funny, 'cause you think surfing is your whole life, but then when you make a family it seems like it's not at all."

~ Joel Parkinson

 

"I caught my first tube today... Sir." 

~ Johnny Utah

 

"The only one whom can whisper to you the ways of the surf, is the wind."

~ Wilhelm Sverdvik

 

"One of the greatest things about the sport of surfing is that you need only three things: your body, a surf-board, and a wave."

~ Naima Green

 

"Sliding a wave removes our brains out of the ordinary and slips us into the extra ordinary of being there now. No more worries about mortgages or strife of being poor or rich. When you enter the domain of an ocean cylinder, that moment, those split seconds belong to the Zen part of just being. Period."

~ Bill Hamilton

 

"Surfing is very much like making love. It always feels good, no matter how many times you've done it."

~ Paul Strauch

 

"Surfing, alone among sports, generates laughter at its very suggestion, and this is because it turns not a skill into an art, but an inexplicable and useless urge into a vital way of life."

~ Matt Warshaw

 

"A big wave is like a beautiful woman, exciting to look at and thrilling to ride."

~ Buzzy Trent

 

"100% pure adrenaline!"

~ Bodhi

 

"Live to surf, surf to live."

~ Mike Doyle

 

"Tell the teacher we’re surfin’."

~ The Beach Boys

 

"Out of the water, I am nothing."

~ Duke Kahanamoku

 

"There is not one right way to ride a wave."

~ Jamie O'Brien

 

"Surfing in crowds is like mind over matter.  If I don’t mind it don’t matter."

~ Brodus Rogers

 

"The best surfer out there is the one having the most fun."

~ Phil Edwards

 

"You're sayin' the FBI's gonna pay me to learn to surf?"

~ Johnny Utah

 

"Surfing is the most blissful experience you can have on this planet, a taste of heaven."

~ John McCarthy

 

"My passion for surfing was more than my fear of sharks."

~ Bethany Hamilton

 

"Surfing is attitude dancing."

~ Gerry Lopez

 

"We're all equal before a wave."

~ Laird Hamilton

 

"What I love the most about surfing is that it's my first love. It's the first thing I can remember being consumed by."

~ Stephanie Gilmore

 

"There is nothing, nothing, more sad than a surfer who used to surf."

~ Unknown

 

"Surfing soothes me, it's always been a kind of Zen experience for me. The ocean is so magnificent, peaceful, and awesome. The rest of the world disappears for me when I'm on a wave."

~ Paul Walker

 

"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf."

~ John Kabat-Zinn

 

"It's not tragic to die doing something you love."

~ Mark Foo

 

"I think when a surfer becomes a surfer, it's almost like an obligation to be an environmentalist at the same time."

~ Kelly Slater

 

"The joy of surfing is so many things combined, from the physical exertion of it, to the challenge of it, to the mental side of the sport."

~ Kelly Slater

 

"It's like the mafia. Once you're in - your in. There's no getting out."

~ Kelly Slater

 

"Surfing's one of the few sports that you look ahead to see what's behind."

~ Laird Hamilton

 

"Surfing for me is more than my lifestyle; it's my passion, my love, and it's a part of me."

~ Bethany Hamilton

 

 

"If it swells, ride it!"

~ Unknown

 

We'll be updating this with more quotes, let us know if we have missed any in the comments below!

Posted by: Troy Roennfeldt, on May 5, 2015
Categories: Articles