To many people, a beach cruiser is a simple, single-speed bike with a curvy frame, large tires, and fat seat to relax on.

While that may be true, there’s more to a beach cruiser than meets the eye.

For many people, it’s pretty safe to say that surfing is one of the best activities out there. What many don’t realize is that surfing has a wide variety of health benefits.

Not only does it help our bodies to stay in shape, it also helps our minds.

In this article, we’re going to discuss all of the health benefits of surfing in hopes to get you out in the water more, as well as to feel better about spending your time surfing in general.

Without further ado, here are our top 13 health benefits of surfing in no particular order.

1. It Can Help With Your Mental Health

If you or anyone you know is struggling with a mental affliction such as autism, PTSD, depression, etc., surfing can be a great way to combat that. Of course it isn’t a completely substitute for medication or therapy, though can have amazing supplemental effects. Gary Katz, a licensed social worker from Manhattan, is a major proponent of surf therapy. He says that the physical exercise and sensory experience you get from surfing is a great way to disconnect, better your mood, or just have fun, all ways to help your step away from your mental troubles.

2. Helps to Treat Diabetes

We all know that surfing can help you to develop a stronger core, though did you know that having a strong core can actually have secondary effects in combatting diabetes? This is because having extra weight in your core area is actually one of the biggest causes of type 2 diabetes. Paddling, balancing, swimming, etc., are all great ways to strengthen your core and keep your weight down. You can also try stand up paddling if you want to take it even further.

3. Can Relieve Stress

Stress is something that all modern people seem to deal with. This is because it’s so easy for us to constantly be working or connected to our phones. Surfing is nostalgic in a way, as it helps us to have fun without the need to be connected to anything else but the ocean. In turn, it can help us to relieve tons of stress. Try to go for a 30-minute surf session after a long day of work. We promise that you’ll feel a million times better after getting out of the water.

4. Get Your Vitamin D

5. Strengthen Your Back

Most of us spend our days hunched over a desk at work without ever noticing that our posture has slowly diminished over the past couple of years. We’re not spending enough time keeping our spines and the muscles in our back in great condition. Surfing can help with that, as it’s probably one of the best back exercises out there. From paddling around the ocean waves, to popping up on your board, to just carrying your gear down to the ocean, you will have a big, strong back in no time.

6. Helps to Fight Insomnia

Exercise is one of the best things to help fight insomnia or general sleeplessness. There’s no doubt you’ve heard that before, as it is a common truth. That being said, surfing is excellent exercise, meaning that it can help you sleep better too! If you notice that you’re having trouble sleeping at night, try and surf before you stay in for the evening. Don’t surf in the evening though, as the added adrenaline can actually make you feel more awake as you lie in bed.

7. Combats Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases are some of the top reasons people die in the US. While it is necessary to have a great diet to combat these sorts of diseases, it is also necessary to get enough cardio in your daily exercise routine. Surfing is easily one of the best forms of cardio out there, as it involves a lot of paddling, swimming, and core balance. Besides waiting in the lineup, you’re constantly pushing through some of Mother Nature’s strongest elements. If you suffer from any sort of cardiovascular disease, or just need a new form of cardio in your exercise routine, we recommend taking up surfing.

8. Improves Your Balance

Improving your balance can be very important, especially as you move into old age. This is something that many people don’t think about because they don’t realize how it can carry over into other aspects of their lives. If you’re into any other sports, be it snowboarding, skating, gymnastics, hockey, etc., this can work as compound exercise to better your balance in those sports. To actually surf, it is important to first be able to balance on your board when you hit a wave. A number of factors, mental and physical, go into having great balance. Surfing is a way to amplify those factors.

9. Help You To Become More Flexible

Surfing can help to great increase your flexibility. Having great flexibility is amazing for a number of reasons. For starters, it can help to reduce the risk of injury whether you are surfing, playing sports, or just living your daily life. Secondly, being able to move your muscles in their full range of motion can help you to get more blood and oxygen to them, allowing you to not only perform better, but relax better at the end of the day.

10. It Can Help To Inspire You

Whoever says surfing is easy has probably never surfed. Becoming a great surfer takes a ton of time, commitment, and mental strength, in order to overcome obstacles and persevere. Those who have seen themselves become better surfers over time will tell you that it is a very rewarding and motivating experience. Not only does it prove to you that you can overcome physical obstacles in your life, but also overcome possible fears to reach things that, at one point, may have seemed far out of reach.

11. It Can Enhance Your Spirituality

You don’t have to believe in God or be religious to feel spiritual. Getting on a surfboard and paddling out into the deep blue can help you have moments of perspective, realization, calmness, oneness, openness, and so on, all which deal with our spirituality. Being surrounded by the expanse of the ocean and peering off into the horizon helps us to appreciate the beauty of Mother Nature more than anything else. It can help us to disconnect from the struggles of modern society and feel at peace with the things happening in our lives. There is a reason why people often meditate or do yoga at the beach. In a way, surfing is a form of meditation.

12. It Can Bring People Together

The surfing community is one of the strongest communities out there. People from all walks of life can come together in a lineup to enjoy the beauty and excitement of the waves. It can help you to meet new people and make friends, in turn getting rid of stress and helping you to feel a sense of belonging. You may have heard that surfers are very territorial, which is true for some people, though most surfers we’ve met are actually some of the most down to earth people around.

13. Surfing is Fun!

Lastly, surfing is fun! That’s why most of us surf to begin with. The excitement of catching a wave, busting out a new maneuver, or just gearing up for a day in the salt and sun with good friends, is unparalleled.  

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By no mean do you have to be a surfer to appreciate the beauty of a great wave.

Most beach lovers could spend hours sitting on the sand watching the hypnotic push and pull of the ocean tides.

This may be you, though have you ever pondered the thought, “How are Waves Formed?”

Many of us haven’t, but knowledge is beauty, and can enhance your wave watching experience tenfold.

Simply put, waves are formed because of the wind.

Without it, surfers would never be able to catch a wave again.

But how does the wind create an ocean so sleepless? 

Does the wind know that it creates incredible waves for us surfers to enjoy? 

Let’s break it down and see how these natural beauties come to be, day in and day out.

What Creates Waves

To simplify it beyond believe, waves are just energy. Waves aren’t actually water by any means, but the things that pass through the water instead. Essentially, waves are energy transmission that is caused by the wind. The wind is not alone in their creation though, as other natural factors such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and arctic ice caps melting, can have a substantial impact. The energy from these natural forces is transmitted across the water because the ocean’s surface is unobstructed. There’s really nothing to stop a wave until it reaches the shoreline.  

So there are actually many types of waves in the ocean. The waves that we most commonly see are known as wind-driven waves, or waves that are the result of wind blowing over the water’s surface. Sometimes people refer to these as friction waves, as the physics of the wind is creating friction with the water beneath. Wave crests are created as wind blows towards the direction of the shoreline.

Are Waves the Same as Swells?

Wind doesn’t start right at the shoreline. It actually starts many miles out at sea in much calmer waters. The wind creates tiny ripples that eventually evolve into large waves as they reach the coast. A swell is actually an assembly of waves produced by wind. These winds that are hundreds of miles off the coast create the best waves we know.

There are a few factors that go into how big those swells will be though:

• Wind Power: The speed of the wind on the ocean’s surface
• Uninterrupted Wind: If the wind continues for a while without stopping, the more energy will build up in the swell
• The ‘Fetch’: The Fetch is the length of water over which a given wind has blown

So now that you have a basic understanding of swells, you must know that there are two types of swells: Groundswells and Windswells.

Groundswell vs. Windswell

The type of swell is judged by the time of a wave. If the period of a wave lasts longer than 13 seconds, we know that they are being created by strong winds blowing far offshore. More energy is being transferred through the water and the fetch is larger as well. These are the types of waves that give surfers long rides into shore.

Windswells, on the other hand, are wave periods under 10 seconds. These are created by winds that are close to shore. These waves aren’t nearly as consistent and are much weaker than those created by groundswells.

Pressure Systems

This brings us to pressure systems. When less air particles are present, low-pressure systems are produced. When that air is cooled and a high air particle region decreases, high-pressure systems are produced.

Low-pressure systems are the best for creating stronger waves. An equalizing motion occurs, as there aren’t as many air particles to obstruct, and better wind is generated. In a deep, low-pressure system, wind power is much faster, therefore created more waves in a system where friction is pretty tight.

High-pressure systems create the opposite effect, creating strong air motion in high-altitude regions. Obviously high-altitude winds aren’t as effective in the creation of waves, so we won’t focus on those as much.

These Pressure Systems Sound A Bit Chaotic. How do Waves Organize Themselves?

You’re right, they are very chaotic. Wind waves, in what we call “wind zones”, are completely out of order until they eventually move outside of the wind zone. Eventually, the larger and faster waves begin to overtake the smaller and slower once. This creates less waves overall, but a lower number of more powerful and unified waves.

At some point, waves are forced to organize into wave-sets. Wave-sets are defined as several waves that follow in line behind each other. The number of waves can be anywhere from a few to over 20. The time between those waves is known as the “wave period”. This whole process of organization can easily take a number of days to happen.

The longer that period of time, the cleaner and more organized those wave sets will become. If there is a wind zone that these waves hit after they’ve already emigrated from their original wind zone, they will lose energy.

Sand Banks

Tides Vs. Waves

There’s a common misconception that tides and waves are the same. Tides are actually a name for the collective of slow-moving waves that regularly rise and fall on the sea’s surface. These tides are not caused by wind, but by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun. Gravity is the thing that holds water in place. The gravity that the moon creates helps to pull the ocean water so that it sways and moves.

As the sun rises in the east and the moon and stars come out, waters will typically rise and fall. The moon pulling the water is known as high tide. While the moon is close to your local break, pulling the tides up, you can assume that wherever the moon is furthest from has lower tides.

What are the best types of waves for surfing?

There are three main factors that produce great waves for surfing

1. A low-pressure system of waves that are created hundreds of miles offshore
2. An uninterrupted, windless journey from the original wind zone to the coastline
3. No offshore wind that is close to the shoreline

What is the largest wave on Earth?

How is a Rip Current Formed?

The ocean water that is tossed up on the beach will eventually flow back out into the deep. There is no method to this flow though, and the water will naturally move back out through whatever route is easiest. This can be through a jetty or a strange break in a sandbar.

Essentially, that water will funnel through a narrow stream on the ocean floor, creating a pull in the opposite direction. These rip currents are usually darker than the surrounding water and easier to spot.

What are the different types of breaks?

There are four main types of beach breaks that create different waves:

• Beach Breaks
• Reef Breaks
• Point Breaks
• Rivermouths

Beach Breaks are where waves break over the sand and are the most commonly known.

Reef Breaks are where waves break over a rock bottom.

Point Breaks are where the waves hit a stretch of land at an angle and break semi-parallel to the shoreline rather than towards it.

Rivermouth waves will break as a river deposits the water at the shoreline.

Right Hand Breaks Vs. Left Hand Breaks

This is simply the direction that the wave is breaking. It is judged from the perspective of a surfer or someone out at sea, not by someone who is standing on the beach. If a wave is breaking from left to right, and a surfer has to ride it to the right, it is a right hand break.

Weirdly enough, there are waves that peel off in both directions at the same time. These are called A-Frame Waves.

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The history of the gun surfboard goes all the way back to 1949. A man named George Downing began shaping redwood boards in his garage in Hawaii.

At this point, not many people were surfing the massive breaks on the North Shore or Maui, as their boards couldn’t handle the waves.

Downing, a man who is now synonymous with the word “legend”, sought out to change the game.

He designed the Hotcurl, a thin 10’ 11” log that is now known as the grandfather of modern day gun surfboards.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that Downing began shaping guns that we now know as modern-style gun boards.

George Downing didn’t just shape guns though, he rode them fast and hard.

He successfully surfed the untouched waves of North Shore and Maui and became one of the first surfers in history to ride waves bigger than 20-feet.

How Did These Boards Become So Popular?

The popularity of these boards arose after the 1954 Makaha International Surfing Championship, where George took how the champion title riding his gun. He also took his gun to Peru and won a few championships there, showing off his skills and new board. Basically, he was gunning through the 1950s and 60s, winning tons of competitions, appearing in legendary surf movies like The Endless Summer, and teaching modern day shapers his ways.

So What Is A Gun Surfboard Exactly?

Why Did the Gun Surfboard Catch On?

Gun surfboards caught on because they were the only boards that allowed surfers to ride waves once they reached a certain size. Prior to Downing, it was impossible to hit waves over 20’ high. Longboards were too wide at the noses and tails to get enough contact with waves and shortboards were too wobbly to get the proper stability to survive a steep drop.

In a way, gun surfboards were like shortboards. They were created to bust through the ceiling that limited surfers for many years. Unlike shortboards, which were designed to change the trick and maneuver possibilities, gun surfboards were made to conquer the beasts of Mother Nature.

Why Should I Add a Gun Surfboard To My Quiver?

You should only add a gun to your quiver if you’re brave enough to take on the biggest waves out there Nobody under an expert surfer should realistically have a gun in their quiver. You also have to be an expert paddler. At some point, you’ll be paddling into waves going 30MPH. If you are brave and willing though, a gun will be your one-way ticket to a feeling like no other. Need we say anything else?

Final Thoughts?

The gun surfboard is synonymous with big wave culture. Thanks to George Downing, men and women surfers everywhere are now able to go where surfers in the past were never able to go before. You can really never prepare yourself for coming in contact with a wave that is 10x taller than you. You truly just have to take that drop and hope for the best. For the expert surfers out there, we hope that you can now surf your guns with a bit more context and respect for where they came from. Good luck!

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The Fish surfboard was born in 1967 in a small Southern California town called Point Loma.

Steve Lis, now one of surfing’s most famous designers, shaped the fist fish after finding a longboard that was snapped in half.

It was made so that he could kneeboard around the large, hollow reef breaks that were sprinkled around San Diego County.

Eventually, after testing it himself, Steve gave a few to his kneeboarding friends to test out as well.

At this point, the Fish was still very much underground.

The first person to actually use it as a standing surfboard was Jeff Ching, a surfing buddy of Steve’s.

With Steve’s 4’7” board, Ching paddled out and carved the first ever standing fish wave in history.

After borrowing his board, Ching asked Steve to make him a board that was a bit larger and more versatile.

Therein came Ching’s famous photograph of the first 5’5” fish ride. Like all good things though, the design of the Fish found its way into the hands of the world.

How Did These Boards Become So Popular?

In 1972, the World Championship was being held in San Diego. Two locals, Jim Blears and David Nuuhiwa, ended up taking their fishes out into the waist-high surf that day and totally wiped the competition. It was at that moment that the fish had gone viral. Essentially, people were so baffled as to what these boards allowed Blears and Nuuhiwa to do in conditions that were pretty subpar.

After the championship was over, new fish shapers took the design to the drawing board to begin highlighting certain characteristics so that it could truly excel in small wave conditions. Because of this, the fish was no longer for head high waves, and the design that we know and love today became cemented in history.

So What Is A Fish Surfboard Exactly?

Why Did the Fish Surfboard Catch On?

The fish surfboard caught on mostly because it was easy to surf in smaller conditions. Mush, slop, chop, whatever, a fish could take it on. Obviously surfer could have taken longboards out, but then they were sacrificing speed. While the fish worked for many surfers, it still had limitations. The true spread of the fish began as shapers started tweaking the design to make it more adaptive for outlier surfers. One example is Mark Richards, a 6’1” competitive surfer who was around in the 1970s.

The boards were too short, the tails weren’t narrow enough to provide enough maneuverability, and the single fin design wasn’t versatile enough. He was able to popularize boards that took these traits and flipped them, giving the fish a new face that would live on.

Why Should I Add a Fish Surfboard To My Quiver?

Beyond catching small waves, modern fish surfboards are very versatile. Because they have much more volume than a regular shortboard, they’re much easier to paddle and pop up on. The ease in paddling also has to do with the fact that the rocker is so flat.

Unlike a longboard, it is very possible to use the fish for tricks and maneuvers in smaller conditions as well. Most people believe that the fish is just meant to gain speed in small waves, though it definitely holds the key for much more. While not as maneuverable as a shortboard, you really can’t get anything better to perform on mushy days.

Final Thoughts?

Fish surfboards nowadays seem to be a lot more diluted than they maybe were intended to be originally. Some fish retain the small length and profile while other use the profile but extend the length to make it better for bigger waves. Fishes are being shaped for specific needs and being tuned to the point that they are pretty much hybrids of different boards.

With all that said, the fish is a classic, and easily one of the coolest boards around. Anyone who tells you they are kooky has never ridden one. We expect that they’ll one day become unrecognizable through evolution, so do yourself a favor and ride one now!

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