Are you looking for the best quotes about surfing? You just found them!
In this article we put together some of the funniest, most inspiring, motivational and famous surfing quotes. They’re quotes that will make you smile and inspire you to keep going on your surfing journey.
And because a picture is worth a thousand words, we have paired these surfing motivational quotes with epic surf photography!
Many of these surfers quotes are by famous professional surfers, and reflect really well their ideas and attitude towards the sea and surfing.
Whether you’re looking for surfing captions for your next social media post, or some motivational surf quotes to keep you pumped during your next surf session, I’m sure you’ll find that here!
So what are you waiting for? Read on and discover the best surf quotes!
My personal favourite surf quotes
I thought I’d start this compilation of epic surfing quotes with my personal favourites. I haven’t been surfing for very long, but it’s a sport I love, which makes me feel close to nature and helps me relax and reflect.
These surfing sayings and quotes reflect just that!
1. “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
2. “The best wave of your life is still out there.” – Steve Hawk
3. “Life is a lot like surfing… When you get caught in the impact zone, you’ve got to just get back up. Because you never know what may be over the next wave.” – Bethany Hamilton
4. “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” – John Kabat-Zinn
5. “Surfing is a release from exploding tensions of 20th-century living, escaping from the hustling, bustling city world of steel and concrete, a return to nature’s reality.” — Fred Wardy
5. “If you’re having a bad day, catch a wave.” – Frosty Hesson
6. “The best surfer out there is the one having the most fun.” – Phil Edwards
If besides surf inspiration, you’re also looking for advice on how to improve your surfing, make sure to check our other articles below!
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The 4 Levels of Surfing & How to Know Your Level!
The 7 BEST Surfboards for Beginners
Surf Essentials: What Equipment do You Need to Start Surfing?
Inspirational surfing quotes
Especially if you’re at the start of your surfing journey, reading inspirational surf quotes by famous surfers can be great motivation to push yourself and continue your surfing journey.
In this section we included some amazing quotes that will inspire you to get out there right now, get your board, and head to the beach!
7. ”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
8. “Nobody gets to the end of their life and wishes they surfed less.” – Bradley Hook, in “Surfing Life Waves”
9. “Surfing’s one of the few sports that you look ahead to see what’s behind.” – Laird Hamilton
10. “Surfing is the most blissful experience you can have on this planet, a taste of heaven.” – John McCarthy
11. “Surfing frees everything up, it’s just the best soul fix. Life should be stress-free, and that’s what surfing is all about. It’s something you do in your sleep, with your eyes closed; it’s something you’ll constantly embrace and be passionate about, and whatever it takes, you’re gonna do it, because nothing else in the world can give you that kind of self-esteem.” – Rell Sunn
12. “I think it’s just the spirit of adventure. People get excited about travel and the unknown when you’re going out to a wave that maybe nobody’s ever surfed before. It’s just the whole spirit of exploration.” – Richie Fitzgerald
Surfing quotes about life
There are loads of quotes about surfing and life out there, and I have to say they’re some of my favourite. I love the comparisons between waves and phases of life.
The next surf quotes in this article are quotes that will make you reflect on the impact that surfing can have on your life, and on the lessons you can learn from this amazing sport.
13. “Surfing’s a more profound kind of sport than it looks. When you surf, you learn not to fight the power of nature, even if it gets violent.” – Haruki Murakami
14. “There’s so many parallels that can be drawn between how you interact with the ocean and how you interact with life, they’re both constantly shifting beasts.” – Caitlin Creeper
15. “Surfing is rehabilitative because the ocean, like war, is a minefield. Filled with sharks and other unknowns, it requires acceptance of chaos. But … once you embrace the chaos, it’s beautiful.” – Eric Stoneking
16. “Surfing is for life.” – Bruce Jenkins
17. “I’ve always thought surfing is a reflection of who you are.” – Kelly Slater
18. “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
19. “Surfing leads you through life, especially when you’re young and with hope in your heart.” – Tom Blake
20. “Feelings are much like waves. We can’t stop them from coming but we can choose which one to surf.” – Jonatan Martesson
Famous surfing quotes
Some surf quotes are more iconic than others. They’re the ones that you hear and see repeated all the time, so don’t be surprised if you recognise some of the quotes in this section!
21. “It’s like the mafia. Once you’re in – you’re in. There’s no getting out.” – Kelly Slater
22. “There’s an independence to surfing, it’s just you and the ocean. There aren’t a bunch of rules.” – Lee Clow
23. “Sliding a wave removes our brains out of the ordinary and slips us into the extraordinary 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
24. “Climbers have Everest. Surfers have Nazaré.” – António Silva
25. “My passion for surfing was more than my fear of sharks.” – Bethany Hamilton
26. “Surfers, because they’re exposed to the wild, have something that most of society has lost. Most of society is completely cut off from the wild, completely cut off from the natural world they live in. Climate controlled automobiles or houses or whatever they are… In this day and age where you have such fractured societies, who is there more prepared and more globalised and more integrated into the natural world and the global community than surfers?” – Drew Kampion
Quotes from surfers
Admittedly, pretty much all the quotes in this blog post are from surfers, but these are some of the most iconic quotes from famous surfers.
These are some of the most famous, most known and best surfers out there, and these surf quotes are the ones that most reflect their achievements and surf style.
27. “Surfing to me is like playing music. You play different melodies with different boards.” – Skip Frye
28. “Foam is your friend. Don’t be scared of it. A little bit of extra foam here and there is good for the soul and your surfing.” – Rob Machado
29. “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
30. “You can take a surfer out of the surf, but you can not take surf out of surfer.” – Bob McTavish
31. “Surfing for me is more than my lifestyle; it’s my passion, my love, and it’s a part of me.” – Bethany Hamilton
32. “Surfing is a secret garden, not easily entered. My memory of learning a spot, of coming to know and understand a wave, is usually inseparable from the friend with whom I tried to climb its walls.” – William Finnegan (author of Barbarian Days)
33. “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
Funny surfer quotes
We’ve had some pretty inspiring and deep surf quotes already, which is why I wanted to include some lighthearted and funny surf quotes.
They’re the classic funny surfer dude quotes, which you can imagine surf dudes saying.
34. “One drop-in is an accident, two is rude, three is a twatable offense.” – Roger Sharp
35. “I don’t need sponsors. I surf better when I’m broke anyway.” – Dave Parmenter
36. “Surfing is such an amazing concept. You’re taking on Nature with a little stick and saying, ‘I’m gonna ride you!’ And a lot of times, Nature says, ‘No you’re not!’ and crashes you to the bottom.” – Jolene Blalock
37. “When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. But when life hands you hurricanes, you go surfing.” – Jon Foreman
38. “The three most important things in life: surf, surf, surf.” – Jack O’Neill
39. “Waves are not measured in feet and inches. They are measured in increments of fear.” – Buzzy Trent
40. “Surfing is very much like making love. It always feels good, no matter how many times you’ve done it.” – Paul Strauch
41. “I took off on a wave, went down the side, popped out the other end, and went, s–t, I’m still alive!” – Greg Noll
Surf movie quotes
It might seem cheesy, but some of the most famous surf quotes come from equally famous surf movies. There are lots of cool surf movies out there, and these are some of the best surf related sayings from those movies.
42. “Surfing’s the source. Can change your life. Swear to god.” – The Surf Shop Kid (Christopher Pettiet) in “Point Break”
43. “Summer means many things to many different people. For us, it’s surfing.” – Narrator in “The Endless Summer”
44. “Did you know that salt water is most closely related to human blood, and you know what that reminds me of? Our own essence, gentlemen.” – Matt George in “In God’s Hands”
45. “So you wanna surf? And the waves near the town where you live aren’t half bad. Then what? How far are you willing to go? What sacrifice are you willing to make? How good do you want to be?” – Shaun Tomson in “In God’s Hands”
46. “Look at that. Do you know what you’re sitting on there? This is koa wood. The best surfboards in the world are made of that stuff.” – Big Z in “Surf’s Up”
Positive surfing quotes
Not that the previous surf quotes weren’t positive, most of them were actually very inspiring, but I wanted to include a section of surfing quotes that focus on positivity and happiness, without necessarily being motivating.
48. “There are a million ways to surf, and as long as you’re smiling, you’re doing it right.” – Unknown Author
49. “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
50. “It’s so cool to be traveling around the world searching for good waves, meeting people, competing, living from the sport, and doing what you love. It’s beautiful.” – Jacqueline Silva
51. “Life’s just better when you add surfing to it.” – Ben Marcus
52. “Surfing makes me happy so that’s just what I plan on doing.” – Alana Blanchard
53. “When the surfs up, your life is too.” – Wilhelm Sverdvik
Short surf quotes
We’ve had lots of long, motivational and reflective surf quotes, so it was only fair to finish this compilation of surf sayings on a more lighthearted tone. Here we just listed some fun and short surf quotes.
54. “If in doubt, paddle out.” – Nat Young
55. “I surf to get tan.” – Shane Dorian
56. “Surfing and Life hold parallels.” – Elizabeth Saslamanca-Brosig
57. “Surfing is almost a way to fly.” – Jeff Hakman
58. “Surfing is a way to be free.” – Lisa Andersen
59. “We’re all equal before a wave.” – Laird Hamilton
60. “I’m surfing the giant life wave.” – William Shatner
Final thoughts on the best surf quotes
There you have it, the ultimate compilation of best surfing quotes! Are there any other surf quotes you love that are missing from this article? Let us know in the comments below!
I love surf quotes because they’re a fun and inspiring way to feel connected to the sea and surfing, especially when I’m away from it. When you pair it with epic surf photography, it just makes it even better.
Whatever it is that you were looking for amongst these surf and life quotes, I hope you found it! Looking for more surf advice? Check out our other articles below!
30 Amazing Gifts for Surfers They’ll Actually Love!
Or if you’re looking for more fun quotes, check out these Disney quotes!
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