Is Surfing Dangerous? The Stats Don’t Lie…

You’ve probably seen footage of big wave surfers getting crazy wipeouts and thought to yourself:

“If that surfer, falls on that wave, at that moment… they’re definitely dead.”

Only for them to pop up a moment later without a scratch.

So how is that?

I mean, how dangerous is surfing, really, or is the fear all made up in our heads?

Let’s find out.

table of contents

HOW DANGEROUS IS SURFING

WHAT MAKES SURFING DANGEROUS

1. PRE EXISTING CONDITIONS

2. BLOWS TO THE HEAD (UNCONSCIOUS)

HOW DANGEROUS IS SURFING

Is surfing dangerous, let’s take a look at some stats:

There are approximately 25 Million surfers on our little planet.

And of those 25 Million people, roughly 10 die per year from surfing.

Put another way, the odds of dying in the surf are 1 in 2,500,000 or a probability of 0.00004%.

In other words, very unlikely.

But you don’t have to die for surfing to be considered dangerous, injuries are a concern too.

According to the American Journal of Sports Medicine, the approximate rate of injury for surfers is 6.6 injuries per 1000 surfs.

So you can expect to get injured in the surf once every hundred and forty(ish) times you go in.

Don’t know about you, but I’ll take those odds.

WHAT MAKES SURFING DANGEROUS

1. PRE EXISTING CONDITIONS

The most dangerous thing for surfers in the water is pre existing medical conditions - above everything else.

Why?

Well, when an emergency happens you’re surrounded by water, you’re often alone, you’re getting bashed by waves, and all in all it’s not a good situation to be in.

Even something as innocent as a blackout can be fatal in the surf.

2. BLOWS TO THE HEAD (UNCONSCIOUS)

Second to pre existing conditions is being knocked unconscious.

Either knocking your head on the bottom, or your board hitting you in the head.

Getting knocked unconscious is not a good idea in the water.

3. DROWNING

Occasionally drownings do occur in the surf, but they’re very rare for surfers.

4. SHARKS

The thing that people fear the most in the surf, is sharks.

But here’s the thing, they virtually never attack surfers.

Yes, there’s the odd incident here or there, but the dangers don’t warrant the associated fear.

Surfers and sharks live harmoniously 99.999999% of the time, so it’s not something to really concern yourself with.

COMPARISON TO OTHER SPORTS

We’ve established that surfing is dangerous, but perhaps not quite so dangerous as it might first appear, but how does it stack up against other sports:

Surfing - Fatality rate: approx 1 in 2,500,000.
BASE jumping - Fatality rate: approx 1 in 60 jumps.
Bull riding - Fatality rate approx 1 in 15,000 rides.
Wingsuit flying - Fatality rate: approx 1 in 500 jumps.

Stacks up pretty well to these other sports I reckon.

HOW CAN SURFERS MITIGATE THE RISKS

I see surfers getting wipeouts on massive waves and just can’t fathom how they can survive, but they do.

How?

They mitigate their risks wherever possible.

Let’s take a look at how you can do the same:

NEVER SURF ALONE

Big wave surfers almost always surf with water safety present to help out if/when needed.

You can do something similar by always surfing around other people, preferably with friends.

LEARN HOW TO HOLD YOUR BREATH EFFECTIVELY

Big wave surfers train so that they can hold their breath underwater for longer, with many of them having underwater breath hold times of 4 minutes plus.

You don’t have to go to the same extreme, but if you can’t hold your breath for over a minute you need to sort it out.

This course here will do that for you.

KNOW YOUR LIMITS

Sure, big wave surfers are pushing their limits, but they know where their limits lie too.

Never push yourself too far out of your comfort zone, as this is when accidents happen.

MANAGE RESOURCES

Big wave surfers know how to manage their fear responses in the surf, and they’ve trained to minimise its effects.

They’ll have a pre determined hold down routine to follow when they’re put in a heavy situation, and this routine will help to keep them calm, and manage their resources.

You should do the same.

Here’s a course built for everyday surfers like you teaching just that.