Never surf alone if you can help it
The simplest safety measure in surfing is not being alone and unnoticed. Surf with a buddy, or at minimum tell someone on land: I am paddling out here, I expect to be back in about an hour. A guarded beach is even better, because the lifeguards are trained, watching, and can advise you on the day's hazards before you go in.
If something goes wrong, the difference between someone knowing you are out there and nobody knowing is enormous. This one costs nothing and changes everything.
Know how to escape a rip
A rip current is a channel of water flowing fast back out to sea, the surfer's escalator from Reading the Ocean. Here is the crucial truth: a rip pulls you out, not down. You do not drown in a rip unless you exhaust yourself fighting it. People drown because they panic, try to swim straight back to the beach against the current, lose, and tire out.
- Do not fight it. Never try to swim straight in against the current.
- Paddle or swim parallel to the beach until you are out of the current's pull. Rips are usually narrow.
- Then head in, on the wave energy either side of the rip.
- If you are tired, wave one arm for help and float. Floating costs no energy. Panicking costs all of it.
Protect your head
When you fall, and you will fall constantly as a beginner, your board is attached to your ankle by a leash, and it can spring back at you. When you come up after a wipeout, come up with your arms wrapped around your head, covering it, for the first moment before you look. Surface with your head protected, then find your board by following the leash. Simple, automatic, and it saves a lot of emergency room visits.
Don't ditch your board
When a wave is coming and you do not want to go through it, the beginner instinct is to throw the board away and dive under. Do not, especially with anyone behind you. Instead hold onto your board, or turtle roll it, or duck dive it. Only bail, jumping off and abandoning the board, as a genuine last resort, and always look behind you first. Keeping hold of your board keeps everyone safer.
Know your limits and honor them
The waves will be there tomorrow. You will not be, if you push past your limit today. Beginners get into trouble when pride overrides judgment: one more wave when the arms are gone, staying out in conditions that built beyond their level, going out on a big day because they made the trip. None of that is worth it.
- Check the surf report and the beach flags before you go out.
- Ask locals or lifeguards about hidden hazards: rocks, currents, shallow reef.
- Learn basic self rescue: float, wave, breathe.
- Respect cold. Getting too cold impairs judgment and coordination.
- Watch the sets and the lull so you enter and exit in the calm windows.
Common beginner mistakes
No shame here. Everyone does these.
- Fighting a rip head on
- The mistake that drowns people. Swim parallel, do not fight, float if tired.
- Surfing alone and unnoticed
- Always tell someone or surf a guarded beach.
- Surfacing without protecting your head
- Your own board is the top injury risk. Arms up when you come up.
- Ditching the board with people behind
- Hold on, roll, or dive. Only bail as a last resort, looking first.
- Pushing past your limit out of pride
- Cold, tired, or scared means go in. The waves return tomorrow.
- Skipping the flags and the surf report
- Two minutes of checking prevents most bad days.
Words from this lesson
- rip current
- a channel of water flowing fast out to sea; escape by swimming parallel
- leash
- the cord attaching your ankle to your board, and the thing that can spring back
- bail
- jumping off and abandoning your board; a last resort, done only after looking behind you
- current
- moving water that can push you sideways or out
- lull
- the calm stretch between sets; your safe window to paddle out and in
Takeaway
Small habits, huge margin. Don't fight rips, protect your head, honor limits.
Sign up to track your progress and earn points for every lesson you finish.
Create your free accountKeep going