CLICK HERE to download a sample chapter from Surfing * Covers gear, fitness, safety, lingo, and rules of the water * Includes basic to intermediate techniques, surf culture, and competitive surfing * Author is an award-winning journalist and life-long surfer Surfing's not just for rebels anymore: anyone with the desire to ride a wave is grabbing a board and heading to the beach. Each year, this artform-cum-sport gains popularity as business executives, grandmas, teenagers, coastal dwellers, and adventure travelers get stoked to catch swells. This new guidebook by sports writer and waterman Elliott Almond is a primer for the uninitiated as well as a handbook for the experienced ready to build on their fundamental skills. Covering topics ranging from basic surfing techniques to surfing fitness prep (including exercises to get your arms ready for all that paddling and stretches to keep you limber) and from history, surf culture, and a complete explanation of gear, to how to find the right board for you, this book also features insights from industry leaders, pro surfers, and instructors. With more than three decades of surfing experience to share, Almond offers clear, authoritative guidance to help those venturing into uncharted waters find their way safely and confidently.

Surfing, Jack London remarked, is “a royal sport for the natural kings of earth.” The greatest of those natural kings grant readers an audience in this glorious celebration of the world’s best surfers. Part exquisite picture book and travelogue to the top of the world, part biography and reference guidebook, Legends of Surfing profiles one hundred great surfers, men and women, from throughout the world. In life stories, and in exclusive interviews--which only the surfing icon Duke Boyd could have pulled off--stellar surfers such as Wayne Bartholomew, Tom Curren, Andy and Bruce Irons, Duke Kahanamoku, Dave Kalama, Gerry Lopez, Rob Machado, Mark Occhilupo, and Kelly Slater give us a rare firsthand look at what it’s like, in this crowded world, to “seek and find the perfect day, the perfect wave, and be alone with the surf and his thoughts.” (John Severson, Surfer magazine, 1960)

THE SURFING YEAR BOOK OFFERS the complete package of news, features, results, opinions, and photography, providing an insider's view of everything that matters in each of the world's surfing regions-Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia and Japan, South and Central America, United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. An extended Surfing Year Book awareness campaign is underway at Surfersvillage.com, the world's biggest surfing news Web site, with more than twenty-two million visitor sessions a year. Surfersvillage will also utilize its large family of publishing partners around the world to advertise the book's arrival in all surfing markets. With each regional section offering text in English and language of origin, the book will have broad appeal in all world surfing markets. Photo essays from the best surf photographers around the world; profiles of all the leading surfers of 2008. Ocean environmental issues, weather, and swell reports. The only global directory of surfing products and services. International sponsors include: O'Neill, Quiksilver, Vans Europe, Oakley Europe, Solitude, Billabong, Hurley, Rip Curl, and Body Glove. Online marketing and promotions. Print and web advertising campaign. Co-op available. For years, Surfersvillage has led the world in providing the most comprehensive online information about the sport, culture, and industry of surfing, from the biggest swell events and contests to the tiniest club meets on the back beaches of the most remote coasts.

As the official counterculture sport of the 1960s, surfing was not just a sport but a lifestyle, one long, sun-drenched beach party with endless waves and music, as well as an unapologetically masculine culture. This notion has since been disproved by generations of amazing female surfers who have made an indelible mark on the sport. Surfing: Women of the Waves highlights some of these extraordinary women of surfing, from Linda Benson and Joyce Hoffman in the 1950s and 1960s to Layne Beachley, Sofia Mulanovich, Bethany Hamilton, and the great Lisa Andersen, four-time women's world champion. Today, women of all ages and skill levels have taken their place among the waves-longboarders, shortboarders, goofyfooters, hotdoggers, young girls, and surfer moms-these are the women of the waves!

Matt Warshaw knows more about surfing than any other person on the planet. After five years of research and writing, Warshaw has crafted an unprecedented history of the sport and the culture it has spawned. At nearly 500 pages, with 250,000 words and more than 250 rare photographs, The History of Surfing reveals and defines this sport with a voice that is authoritative, funny, and wholly original. The obsessive nature of this endeavor is matched only by the obsessive nature of surfers, who will pore through these pages with passion and opinion. A true category killer, here is the definitive history of surfing.

A follow-up to the classic "Surfing in South Africa", this is a new book, completely revised and updated. Written by Spike (Steve Pike), founder of the cult surfing website Wavescape.co.za, it comprises chapters on history, big waves, spots, culture, travel, oceanography, sharks (including a timeline of shark attacks) and a hilarious 'Surfrican' slang glossary. The book is illustrated with 180 graphics, cartoons and photographs. You will find quirky descriptions of surf spots along almost 3,000 km of coast (watch out for the razor-toothed tortoise), a photo essay of surfing personalities by acclaimed photographer Harry de Zitter, as well as colourful journalism from top writers covering subjects connected to the surfing lifestyle. The full-colour book, which is 110 pages bigger than the previous book, is an indispensable resource. Images come from top South African photographers, such as Barry Tuck, Tom Peschak, Michael Dei-Cont, Andy Mason, Lance Slabbert, Brenton Geach, and Pierre Marqua. The contributors of words added spice to an eclectic mix of culture and science. An original piece by Paul Botha forms the backbone to a much-expanded history chapter. Tom Peschak adds gravitas to issues around sharks and conservation. The brave life of John Whitmore is poignantly remembered by Tony Heard. Ross Frylinck gives gritty insights into the forlorn splendour of the Diamond Coast. Tongue in cheek, Gideon Malherbe uncovers our surfing addiction. Henri du Plessis provides a profile of a committed exponent of that addiction. Tony Weaver eloquently tackles the challenge of sharing the sea with sharks. Ben Trovato romps through issues around surfing evolution and lifeguards in skimpy Speedos.

A guide to surfing offers information on the origins of the sport, essential equipment, techniques, and the best surfing locations in the United States, Hawaii, Australia, and Europe.