What inspired you to start surfing?

[Tyrcian]

For me it was a girl... Yours?

[Old Guys Rule]

I have always loved the Ocean. It has been my place to get away from all the cares of life. It is a ways for me to be one with it. So to answer your question the Ocean itself inspired me to surf. I like to call it my mini vacations for the cares of the world.

In a perfect world I would be able to go out with no one else in the line up but me. Dawn Patrol 4:45 am.

[Tyrcian]

yeah that sounds really nice, I was instantly hooked with surfing because it's just you and the waves, all the problems melt away

[surfdaisy06]

Living by the sea and seeing it every day, and how beautiful it actually is.
(Soo deep & meaningfull ) plus its an absolutely awesome sport!

[surferdude_scarborough]

a mate of mine took me bodyboarding in cornwall years ago. i got the feel for riding waves and that was it. i was hooked. no going back

[essex sucks]

my dad took me out on a sponge and it went from there

[PapaW]

I've a fetish for scat ad surfing in UK seas is the most respectable way to satisfy it.

[Phil]

I have always loved the Ocean. It has been my place to get away from all the cares of life. It is a ways for me to be one with it. So to answer your question the Ocean itself inspired me to surf. I like to call it my mini vacations for the cares of the world.

couldnt have said it any better

[chickentendah]

I have always loved the Ocean. It has been my place to get away from all the cares of life. It is a ways for me to be one with it.[...]

Yes, what he said!

Not only do I get to enjoy the ocean, but now I get to EXPERIENCE the ocean. It's a soothing experience + a sport all in one for me.

[Hang11]

I stood up on an old kayak, enjoyed it, so I scrounged up an old popout from the neighbour's front garden, and learned to do it. I grew up on the beach, love the sea and being in it, so it was just a natural thing to do I suppose.

Have to say though, that being a teenager, it kind of helped with pulling the ladies, which kept the motivation going to keep learning.

[Sar]

nothing as soulful as the previous responses im afraid.

I saw people surfing big waves on the tv, it looked awe inspiring and great fun.

[Otter]

The lure of the ocean, the skill, the girls, the surfer lifestyle. All inspired me to want to surf from a very young age. Once I started, the stoke was all I needed to continue.

[chickentendah]

The lure of the ocean, the skill, the girls, the surfer lifestyle.[...]

Is there anything hotter than girls who surf (next to girls who like cars and drive stick)?

[Hang11]

Is there anything hotter than girls who surf (next to girls who like cars and drive stick)?

Yeah there is.

Paddling out behind a naked girl boogie boarder in France is great

Especially when they duck dive.

[Stone Fox]

I've a fetish for scat ad surfing in UK seas is the most respectable way to satisfy it.

Am I the only one who saw that?

[essex sucks]

having meet pw i would believe its true

[PapaW]

I'm not that much of a filthy wrongen am I Mark>?

Chrsit!!

[gixer]

as a skater for more years than i care to mention....i like the beach better than anm industrial park

[Bub]

I always wanted to try surfing as a teen ager and college student (I attended college 1/2 hour from the beach) but was always too poor to buy a board. I didn't have any friends who surfed either so I never could borrow a board. Go forward about 10-15 years...last year on vacation I was determined as one of my life goals was to try surfing at least once in my life, just to say I did it because it was something I always wanted to try in life at least once. I rented a board at the OBX North Carolina beach and surfed (or tried to) for the week. I'm hooked now and enjoy it very much as a hobby. Perhaps its just a midlife crisis thing...but I have a hunch its something I'll enjoy doing for many years to come.

[justloafing]

Wow what a good question. Believe this story or not.

When I was real young we moved to Iowa. For those that don't know where Iowa is, it is in the middle of the United States. I am 49 so some of you may not remember a TV show called Wide World Of Sports. Wide World Of Sports showed surfing from Hawaii. From that moment I always thought about surfing. That was back from 1964 - 1967 so I was between 6 and 9 years old.

Forward 13 years. I moved to North Carolina to go to school for Marine Technology (1977). A guy who I met in school asked if I wanted to go surfing. I went and he gave me a board to use. I got a ride and even moved my feet on the board so I could stay with the mushy wave.

I moved away from North Carolina in 1984 and came back in 1987. Met a girl and got married. She had a friend that came to visit he was a surfer. He took me out almost every day for a week or two and I could not even catch a wave. I even bought a board(wrong type for a beginner). I tried and tried and tried and never any luck. I knew of no one to teach me anything. I tried for months and got very frustrated. One day my friend from school came by and asked if I wanted to go out. There was a strong tropical storm off shore. Probably 8 - 10 ft. barrels crashing in. I had no business being out there. I went over the falls on a wave and I swear I almost broke my back. I hurt for weeks.

So lets see. Here I was wanting to surf but had no clue on what to do. My friend from school only went when it was good and not in junk stuff. So he was of no help. I tried for about 8 months and never stood up. I dropped surfing never ever thinking I would ever try again, remember there was no internet. But I still thought it was an awesome sport. So I guess the fire never died from all the way back to 1964.

Lets go forward to the new millinium (sp?) My brother was an awesome wind surfer and lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA. He met a who is now one of his best friends who is a surfer. He got my brother into surfing around 2004. Bud (my brothers friend) has a daughter who surfs she is now 14 and is one hell of a surfer. He brought her to Wrightsville Beach (my home beach) for a Wahinie contest. I went down and watched. He and my brother kept telling me to start again. It took 2 years of them egging me on before I went out and bought a used board. I was newly separated from my wife and I knew I had to find something.

In short I started last August and with my brother and Bud teaching me the 3 or 5 times a year when I see them and of course Surfing Waves web site and the advise I got from this board I have found my way to enjoying surfing and never to give it up as long as I can get out of my house, throw the board in my truck and walk on to the beach and paddle out.

So since 1963 or so I had a dream and now I am just starting to live it.