Surfing Books

… books for surfers in-between surfs

The Perfect Day: 40 Years of Surfer Magazine

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The Perfect Day: 40 Years of Surfer Magazine

Now available in paperback, "The Perfect Day" celebrates more than 40 years of breaking waves with a collection of the finest photographs and writing from Surfer magazine’s famed archives. Packed with full-color inspiration, "The Perfect Day" captures surfing’s biggest moments, from toes on the nose in Tavarua to epic days at Waimea Bay. Here classic articles take readers back to the counterculture 60s, through the ‘hang loose’ era, and up to professional tube-time for Kelly Slater and the recent revolution in big wave surfing. Born in the back of a Volkswagon van in 1960, Surfer has provided the voice for generations of seekers. Then as now, the closing words of their very first issue define the wave rider’s dream: "In this crowded world, the surfer can still seek and find the perfect day, the perfect wave, to be alone with the surf and his thoughts."

The Girl’s Guide to Surfing

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The Girl’s Guide to Surfing

Featuring loads of informative illustrations, sidebars, and tips, this book is the bible for any girl who wants to catch a wave.


Surfing: Vintage Surfing Graphics

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Surfing: Vintage Surfing Graphics

Covers vintage ads, postcards, brochures and photographs of surfing from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Surfing Hawaii: A Complete Guide to the Hawaiian Islands’ Best Breaks

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Surfing Hawaii: A Complete Guide to the Hawaiian Islands’ Best Breaks

For more than twenty-five years, FalconGuide(R) has set the standard for outdoor recreation guidebooks. Written by top outdoors experts and enthusiasts, each guide invites you to experience the endless adventure and rugged beauty of the great outdoors.Surfing Hawaii is your comprehensive guide to the Hawaiian Islands’ best breaks-from classic surf spots to lesser-known waves. Let international surfing legend Rod Sumpter show you where to ride the waves from Honolua Bay on Maui and Banzai Pipeline on Oahu to Magic Sands on the Big Island and Nawiliwili Lihue on Kauai.Look inside for: Complete write-ups of 68 featured surf spots, plus key info on 241 more Best tide height, swell direction, and wave size for each featured siteSurf spots for all skill levels, from beginner to expertThe lowdown on hazards and localismAt-a-glance information on break types and best boardsAdvice on avoiding the crowds and finding the breaks

Surfing Fundamentals

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Surfing Fundamentals

Explains how to select a surfboard, shows how to paddle, catch a wave, and maneuver in the surf, and discusses advanced techniques, competitions, and other kinds of surfing.

Surfing California: A Complete Guide to the Best Breaks on the Califor

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Surfing California: A Complete Guide to the Best Breaks on the Califor

For more than twenty-five years, FalconGuide(R) has set the standard for outdoor recreation guidebooks. Written by top outdoors experts and enthusiasts, each guide invites you to experience the endless adventure and rugged beauty of the great outdoors.Surfing California is your one-of-a-kind guide to the best breaks in the Golden State – from classic surf spots to lesser-known waves. Explore the surf from the Oregon border to the Mexican border, covering every worthwhile break in between. Let local surfers Raul Guisado and Jeff Klaas show you where to ride the waves from North Jetty in Arcata to Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz to Huntington Beach Pier in Huntington Beach.Look inside for: Complete write-ups of 100 featured surf spots, plus key info on 100 moreBest tide height, swell direction, and wave size for each featured siteSurf spots for all skill levels, from beginner to expertThe lowdown on hazards and localismAt-a-glance information on break types and best boardsAdvice on avoiding the crowds and finding the breaksCalifornia natives Raul Guisado and Jeff Klaas surf their favorite breaks every chance they get. Raul has been a surf coach for more than fifteen years and is the author of The Art of Surfing (Falcon). Jeff is an avid surfer who travels extensively in search of the best waves.

Surfer Magazine’s Guide to Southern California Surf Spots

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Surfer Magazine’s Guide to Southern California Surf Spots

"Surfer Magazine" offers the ultimate guide to catching the best waves from the pristine points of Santa Barbara to the sunny beaches of San Diego. For more than 250 spots, this sturdy manual sporting a water-resistant cover delivers a clear assessment of wave quality, prime wave conditions, and local hazards (both natural and manmade). Informative text answers the burning questions that surfers often pose: What tide? What wind? What swell? How are the locals? Are they worse than the sharks or the traffic? With helpful maps, photos, and directions, this "Surfer’s Guide" is sure to become the gold standard for anyone looking to score the perfect wave.

Surfer Magazine’s Guide to Northern and Central California Surf Spots

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Surfer Magazine’s Guide to Northern and Central California Surf Spots

"Surfer Magazine" offers the ultimate guide to catching the best waves from the redwood shores of the Oregon-California border to the wind- blasted coastal plains of San Luis Obispo County. For more than 250 spots, this sturdy manual sporting a water-resistant covers delivers a clear assessment of wave quality, prime wave conditions, and local hazards (both natural and manmade). Informative text answers the burning questions that surfers often pose: What tide? What wind? What swell? How are the locals? Are they worse than the sharks or the traffic? With helpful maps, photos, and directions, this "Surfer’s Guide" is sure to become the gold standard for anyone looking to score the perfect wave.

Surf U.K.: The Definitive Guide to Surfing in Britain

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Surf U.K.: The Definitive Guide to Surfing in Britain

Surfing is booming, and this is the guide to Britain’s surf beaches. It has been compiled by a surfer, with input from local surfers all round the coast. You just can’t beat local knowledge to help you find exciting waves in unexpected places. Each chapter deals with a particular section of the coastline. A numbered map highlights each beach, the numbers on the map corresponding to numbers in the text. Here, each break’ is discussed together with details about the beach including access, facilities and accommodation. Using this book, you should always be able to find the best waves going, whatever your standard. Surfers like to get together so an appendix gives the names and addresses of local surf shops, clubs and schools. Plus where to phone for surf reports. In short, this is the best companion in your travels to find the perfect wave.

Surf Culture: The Art History of Surfing

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Surf Culture: The Art History of Surfing

Designed by David Carson and published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Laguna Art Museum in July 2002, Surf Culture examines the history of modern surfboard design from 1900 to the present and features over 100 surfboards. It is the most comprehensive examination to date of surfing’s impact on western culture and its cultural bleed into mainstream. Both exhibition and book will explore surfing related activities and by-products such as skateboarding, surf photography, film, clothing, and music and make an assessment of their socioeconomic impact. Works of art featured are all surf-influenced and by artists/surfers who have achieved prominence in either the art world or popular culture — Craig Kauffman, Billy Al Bengston, and Robert Irwin to name just a few. Guest curator for the exhibition is Craig Stecyk of Dysfunctional fame.

Rough Guide Directions Lanzarote & Fuerteventura

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Rough Guide Directions Lanzarote & Fuerteventura

Up-beat and opinionated, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura Directions has all you need to get the most out of your trip to the islands. Glorious beaches, world-class windsurfing spots and the famous volcanoes are covered in detail, as are the stunning visitor attractions created by influential Lanzarotean artist CA(c)sar Manrique. The guideas hand-picked accommodation and eating recommendations cover all the main resorts and inland villages, revealing plenty of hidden gems, such as tucked-away gourmet restaurants, beautiful coastal villas and charmingly rustic hotels. All are indicated on a series of useful maps. With a full-colour section packed with suggestions for things to do and see, from scenic hikes to quirky fiestas, youall never be stuck for ideas.

Rhinos Who Surf

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Rhinos Who Surf

Surfing is an exciting pastime with a lingo and a look all of its own and it becomes even more fun when three radical rhinos take to the waves. This hilarious look at the sport will delight readers of every age. The brilliant watercolor illustrations bring alive the thrill of shredding mondo waves, carving up the face, and finally, riding the last wave into bedtime. Young children will especially love hearing this book read aloud and looking at the colorful and way-cool pictures.

Nat’s Nat and That’s That: A Surfing Legend

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Nat’s Nat and That’s That: A Surfing Legend

Robert "Nat" Young claims honestly not to remember the first time he rode a wave. He remembers the place- Sydney’s Collaroy Beach in the 1950s- and he remembers how it felt. The sensations of those early rides on an inflatable rubber surfmat, "kicking and paddling into it, rushing straight down the face of wave," drove the course of Nat’s life from then on. Today, with numerous world titles spanning three decades, he is generally regarded as the greatest surfer of the modern era, and one of Australia’s finest ever athletes. But surfers are not like other athletes, and this book shows us why. It began as a series of short stories, drawn from Nat’s dinner party tales; in the writing process it became something else entirely. What has emerged is not just yet another story of a sportsman’s relentless training, ups and downs, and eventual triumph over adversity. It’s a sociological journey. As Nat crashes around the world from adventure to adventure, winning, losing and everything in between, he experiences the big Western cultural shifts of the past forty years from ground level. Australia before Vietnam and during the draft; hippie 1970 Byron Bay; the good life in California with obscure surfing legend Mickey Dora; Kuta before the tourism boom; environmentalism; dope; international fame and its consequences; it’s all here. As Nat says: "It’s been a wonderful time to be alive and if I had it over I wouldn’t change a thing- and it ain’t over yet."

Maverick’s: The Story of Big-Wave Surfing

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Maverick’s: The Story of Big-Wave Surfing

With its massive faces, punishing rocks, and treacherous currents, Maverick’s presents a surfing challenge like no other. Author Matt Warshaw has updated his critically acclaimed illustrated history of Maverick’s to cover important recent developments.

Maui, Molokai & Lanai: Top 10 Eyewitness Travel Guide

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Maui, Molokai & Lanai: Top 10 Eyewitness Travel Guide

Whether you are travelling first class or on a limited budget, this Top 10 guide leads you to the best of Maui, Molokai and Lanai. Dozens of top ten lists – from the top ten surfing beaches to the top ten restaurants, hotels and resorts – provide insider knowledge. Included are detailed maps.

Laguna Cove

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Laguna Cove

The beach is hot, the teens are beautiful, and there’s always time for surfing in a new young adult series form the author of "Faking 19" and "Art Geeks and Prom Queens."

Hidden San Diego Hidden San Diego: Including La Jolla, the Zoo, San Di

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Hidden San Diego Hidden San Diego: Including La Jolla, the Zoo, San Di

Riegert leads travelers to over 40 sunny beaches, including those with family-friendly picnic areas, fun swimming spots, exciting surfing breaks, and even one with a hidden bird sanctuary. This guide covers San Diego’s famous locales as well as nearby lesser known attractions, such as an old mining town and a hidden park that is perfect for hiking and riding. 11 maps.

Fit to Surf: The Surfer’s Guide to Strength and Conditioning

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Fit to Surf: The Surfer’s Guide to Strength and Conditioning

"Guaranteed to make you rip twice as hard."—"TransWorld Surf" magazine Stay out longer, catch more waves, and perform more demanding maneuvers Whether you’re a veteran surfer or just discovering the thrills of catching a big wave, this surfing-specific fitness guide helps you become a better, stronger, more agile surfer. "Fit to Surf" gives you everything you need to create a personal fitness program that builds strength and increases endurance, fine-tunes balance and coordination, and minimizes your risk of injury. Renowned personal trainer and avid surfer Rocky Snyder presents easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions for scores of illustrated exercises that you can perform at home, in the gym, or on the water. Complete with a muscle chart and a workout log you can use to organize your personal training program, "Fit to Surf" helps you improve your wave count, maintain a higher energy level, and master maneuvers that you thought were beyond your skills. It includes: Flexibility training Sun salutation warmup yoga poses Strength training Medicine ball and stability ball training Skill transfer exercises Endurance training Surf team drills Detailed sample workout programs "An easy-to-follow guide."—"Longboard Magazine" "A must-have for your surf library."—"Girls’ Surf Life" magazine

Extreme Surfing

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Extreme Surfing

Dynamic photos energize this exciting series on extreme sports and their cultures! Explosive full-color photos, engaging text, historical trivia, star profiles, and the sports’ hot spots add up to one wild ride—all from a safe distance, of course! Strap yourself in, but don’t try this at home!

Coastal California Handbook

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Coastal California Handbook

From the north’s blue-collar-meets-New-Age redwood country to San Francisco’s gleaming Marina district and the surfing scene along San Diego’s white-sand beaches, the author captures the essence of each community in lively, thoughtful prose. 60 photos, 20 illustrations, 15 maps.

Kym Campbell, Surfy music like Jack Johnson & Tristan Prettyman


This is not related to books at all, so I apologise. But since I have a website for surfie minded people I thought I would make a short post about my awesome singer songwriter friend Kym Campbell. She’s an American surfer girl/muso on the Gold Coast and she has an awesome album that makes me want to sit on the beach and drink coronas in some far away place. Her music is  in the same vein as Jack Johnson, Tristan Prettyman..etc.
Check out Kym Campbell’s  music here!

Surfer Magazine’s Guide to Northern and Central California Surf Spots

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Surfer Magazine’s Guide to Northern and Central California Surf Spots

Surfer Magazine offers the ultimate guide to catching the best waves from the redwood shores of the Oregon-California border to the wind- blasted coastal plains of San Luis Obispo County. For more than 250 spots, this sturdy manual sporting a water-resistant covers delivers a clear assessment of wave quality, prime wave conditions, and local hazards (both natural and manmade). Informative text answers the burning questions that surfers often pose: What tide? What wind? What swell? How are the locals? Are they worse than the sharks — or the traffic? With helpful maps, photos, and directions, this Surfer’s Guide is sure to become the gold standard for anyone looking to score the perfect wave.

About the Author
Surfer Magazine is the world’s largest and most influential surf magazine. Launched in 1960 by filmmaker and artist John Severson, Surfer is widely regarded as “the bible of the Sport.”

Customer Book Review

Awesome book, printed on plastic-y waterproof paper, follows the coast north to south, does a great job with most major breaks and the promising coastlines in between. Talks a lot about sharks, I guess it’s part of surfing up here, but really…we know that already, no need to mention everytime some dude’s gotten chomped on in the last 25 years. Bought this and the Bank Wright surfing California…I only surf in central/northern Cali and this book is wayyyy better. Wright’s is out of date, insuficient and inaccurate for most of northern California’s spots…great investment for the newer norcal surfer looking to travel. Highly recommended…just don’t let the locals see it on your dashboard…

Return by Water: Surf Stories and Adventures by Kimball Taylor

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Return by Water: Surf Stories and Adventures by Kimball Taylor

From the big-wave surfers of Tahiti and the salty hurricane chasers of New England, to the cliffs of Molokai’s infamous leper colony and the Wild Coast of South Africa’s Transkei Homeland, Return by Water brings light to surfers’ lives around the world with amazing sense of place and deft character portraits of the famous, ordinary and irascible surfer alike. Follow surf journalist Kimball Taylor on his travels through South Africa, Ecuador, Brazil, Mexico, Hawaii, French Polynesia, Indonesia and more. The journey is as transforming and definitive as any surfer’s first trip away from home.

About the Author
Kimball Taylor has been scolded by a leper; robbed in Peru; nearly duped by a Balinese transvestite; riddled by malarial mosquitoes in Ecuador; attacked by baboons in Africa; and mocked, browbeaten and harangued by great and not-so-great surfers around the world. A senior writer for Surfer magazine, Taylor also contributes to various other surf publications. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and is currently a candidate for a master’s in creative writing at San Diego State University. This is his first collection of stories.

Maui Trailblazer: Where to Hike, Snorkel, Paddle, Surf, Drive by Jerry Sprout & Janine Sprout

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Maui Trailblazer: Where to Hike, Snorkel, Paddle, Surf, Drive by Jerry Sprout & Janine Sprout

A guide for families and outdoor adventurers alike, Maui Trailblazer 2009 covers all of the island, and includes day trips to the neighboring islands of Molokai, Lanai, and Molokini.
Clear directions and concise descriptions lead to all of Maui’s well-known attractions, as well as to hidden discoveries that Trailblazer readers have come to expect.
137 different hikes and strolls to tropical rain forests and remote valleys, coastal bluffs and lava caves, Haleakala crater and the Hana Highway, cascading waterfalls, beaches, ridgetops, towns, whale-watching perches, historic sites, and archeological ruins.
Among the 44 snorkeling spots are hike-to coves and the secret places that tour boats go.
Kayakers can pick from about 20 put-ins.
Surfers can select from 38 beaches and decide whether to boogie, board, or body surf. Onlookers will find the best places to watch the surfers, windsurfers and kite-boarders ride the big ones.
The text is complimented by 10 maps and 240 photographs. Driving tours-nine of them-take readers to all the attractions, natural wonders, and historic sites.
A Resource Links section provides numbers for free visitor information and recreational outfitters, as well as hand-picked accommodations and local restaurants to suit every budget and taste bud.
A Best Of section lets you pick the right activity to suit your mood and the day. Appendices include free hula shows, farmer’s markets, what to pack, climate, history, fauna, and a Hawaiian glossary.
This new and completely revised third edition for 2009 includes a Trailblazer Kids section for adventuring families.

About the Author
The authors have explored the western United States together for more than twenty years. This book joins four other popular guidebooks in the series: Kauai Trailblazer, Hawaii The Big Island Trailblazer, Golden Gate Trailblazer and Alpine Sierra Trailblazer.

Excerpt from Maui Trailblazer

Snorkel: A finger from Wawau Point’s reef curls just offshore for several hundred feet at Baby Baldwin Beach, making a sandy-bottomed oval that can accommodate large numbers of swimmers. The beach is a well-known dipping pool for families, safe even during trade winds—although be mindful of the current flowing to your right as water returns out the open end of nature’s pool. Soft sand buffets the shore. Not many fish in the pool, but this is a five-star swimming spot.
Surf: Windsurfers catch the breeze off Wawau Point, near Baby Baldwin, but offshore rocks make this less popular than other spots not far away, both up and down the coast.

Zero Break: An Illustrated Collection Of Surf Writing

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Zero Break : An Illustrated Collection Of Surf Writing by Matt Warshaw

The author of The Encyclopedia of Surfing returns with this definitive anthology of the best-ever writing about surfing, illustrated with classic and cutting-edge photographs and artwork. Hip and eclectic, the collection speaks to surfing’s widespread and longstanding appeal: from Mark Twain’s nineteenth-century description in Roughing It to Susan Orlean’s essay on girl surfers in Maui and Tom Wolfe’s “The Pump House Gang.”
This anthology covers it all-from early surfing literature to descriptions of the sport’s most colorful characters, from hair-raising tales of big-wave surfing to an exploration of surf culture.

Includes contributions by:
R. Crumb, Daniel Duane, William Finnegan, Rick Griffin, Frederick Kohner, Jack London, Herman Melville, Susan Orlean, Charles Schulz, Mark Twain, and Tom Wolfe

About the Author
Matt Warshaw is the former editor of Surfer magazine and has been writing about surfing for more than twenty years. Warshaw’s articles have been published in the New York Times Magazine and the Wall Street Journal, and he is the author of several books. He lives in San Francisco.

Excerpt from Zero Break

December, 1777, Matavai Bay, Tahiti

NEITHER ARE THEY [the Tahitians] strangers to the soothing effects produced by particular sorts of motion, which in some cases seem to allay any perturbation of mind with as much success as music. Of this, I met with a remarkable instance. For on walking one day about Matavai Point, where our tents were erected, I saw a man paddling in a small canoe so quickly, and looking about him with such eagerness on each side, as to command my attention. At first I imagined that he had stolen something from one of the ships, and was pursued; but, on waiting patiently, saw him repeat his amusement. He went out from the shore till he was near the place where the swell begins to take its rise; and, watching its first motion very attentively, paddled before it with great quickness, till he found that it overlooked him, and had acquired sufficient force to carry his canoe before it without passing underneath. He then sat motionless, and was carried along at the same swift rate as the wave, till it landed him upon the beach. Then he started out, emptied his canoe, and went in search of another swell. I could not help concluding that this man felt the most supreme pleasure while he was driven on so fast and so smoothly by the sea; especially as, though the tents and ships were so near, he did not seem in the least to envy or even to take any notice of the crowds of his countrymen collected to view them as objects which were rare and curious. During my stay, two or three of the natives came up, who seemed to share his felicity, and always called out when there was an appearance of a favorable swell, as he sometimes missed it by his back being turned, and looking about for it. By then I understood that this exercise…was frequent among them; and they have probably more amusements of this sort which afford them at least as much pleasure as skating, which is the only of ours with whose effects I could compare it.