Our Favourite Summer Surf Reads
Are you looking forward to reading in between wave catching and BBQing? We’ve rounded up 5 of our favourite summer surf reads so that you don’t have to! When we’re not surfing, we’re reading about surfing. As many ocean lovers and adventurers on the stay at home days, we love to inspire ourselves with tales of other’s journeys or plan our next trip. The 5 books we’ve chosen have helped us to do just that.
She Surf – The Surf and Travel Guide to Great Britain & Ireland – Swell
I Love The Seaside – The Surf & Travel Guide to Great Britain and Ireland – Alexanda Gossink and Gail Bernie
We’ve loved every I Love The Seaside guide, and this new release is no different. This amazingly well-researched guide took us through our coasts and showed us places we’ve never seen right on our doorstep. The Surf & Travel Guide to Great Britain and Ireland doesn’t just cover surf spots, we were immersed in the atmosphere of every location. Additionally, there were plenty of recommendations for places to eat and hang out and activities to do while you’re away. As a result, this guide made the journey from England’s East Coast all the way round to Country Kerry come to life and inspired us to pack up and get in the van. Filled with gorgeous images, we couldn’t wait to plan a trip after reading this. Perfect for your 2020 staycation inspiration. A must-read and our favourite surf guide to date!
I Love The Seaside: The Surf and Travel Guide to Great Britain and Ireland
She Surf: The Rise of Female Surfing – Lauren Hill
This book explores the history of women in surf and takes a close look at the relationships between surfing, gender and environmentalism. She Surf looks at 26 female surfers who have used surfing to change their lives and takes a look at another side of surf culture rarely written about. This is a great summer read, the stories and images in She Surf are diverse and rich, going all the way back to surfing’s Polynesian roots. Overall, She Surf takes an interesting look at the history of the art of surfing through a different lens. This book is not only a great read but visually stunning and would make a great coffee table book.
She Surf: The Rise of Female Surfing
The World Stormrider Surf Guide – Anthony Colas
This gem is a mammoth collection of every surf spot imaginable from the well known to the mysterious. In addition, this world guide details everything from swell forecasting, the weather, when to plan your trip for, culture and most importantly – the locals! The World Stormrider guide is filled with over 260 maps and 600 images – the detail is insane. We were left with seriously itchy feet and the thirst to plan a year-long surf trip after reading this! The World Stormrider guide is seriously comprehensive and is great for beginners to expert surf trippers. This one is the perfect pick for any bucket list surfer!
The Voyage of the Cormorant: A Memoir of the Changeable Sea – Christian Beamish
This awesome read tells of how formers The Surfer’s Journal Editor Christian Beamish went out in search of surf on the North Coast of America with a boat built by his own hand. This read filled us with the true spirit of wide-eyed adventure, we were captivated by this story of an epic journey funded only by a day job with nearly no gear. A beautifully written pick for surfers, adventure lovers and sailors alike. This book filled with the trials and tribulations of a solo adventurer made the world feel so vast, a great one if you’re looking for a read to strike a chord with the explorer in you. It’s now one of our all-time favourites!
The Voyage of the Cormorant – The World Stormrider Guide
Swell: A Sailing Surfer’s Voyage of Awakening – Captain Liz Clark
This gripping memoir has us right there sailing the high seas. Filled with details of heavy winds, surprise situations and feelings that the solitude of being out at sea evokes, we couldn’t put this one down! Liz Clark shows us the true spirit of adventure. We could feel every drop of rain and see every bolt of lightning. A beautiful, honest and at times harrowing look at a journey most would never take, we found this read evocative and inspiring. This account of swell chasing at any cost will have you daydreaming of your next adventure.
Swell: A Sailing Surfer’s Voyage of Awakening
Have you read any of the books in our favourite summer surf reads round-up yet? Let us know what you thought below.
