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Surfer's Code: Twelve Simple Lessons For Riding Through Life
In Surfer's Code: 12 Simple Lessons for Riding Through Life, world champion surfer Shaun Tomson shares the life lessons he's gathered from decades of surfing-from his boyhood adventures in South Africa to the world tour in the late 1970s to the business world today. For Tomson, surfing is a hobby, a sport, a religion, an obsession and more-it is a way of life. Tomson's life lessons have guided his career to the top of both professional competition and the world of business. Now, he shares these powerful lessons, born on the world's best swells, with all people-including those who might never step on a surfboard. These lessons are born of the collective wisdom of the surf community and are a powerful source of inspiration in the face of extraordinary challenges of every day life. "I tell people that I didn't develop or create the code. I simply wrote down what was out there all the time in my heart and in the hearts of many surfers, always there but sometimes overlooked. I like to think the code was always there, a part of every surfer's life, unspoken maybe, but in our hearts, ever since the ancient Polynesians started surfing so many thousands of years ago." -Shaun Tomson
Just a few of the lessons shared in Tomson's Surfer's Code:
I Will Never Turn My Back on the Ocean
I Will Take the Drop with Commitment
I Will Never Fight a Rip Tide
I Will Always Paddle Back Out
I Will Watch Out For Other Surfers
There Will Always Be Another Wave
I Will Catch a Wave Every Day
All Surfers Are Connected By One Ocean
Just a few of the lessons shared in Tomson's Surfer's Code:
I Will Never Turn My Back on the Ocean
I Will Take the Drop with Commitment
I Will Never Fight a Rip Tide
I Will Always Paddle Back Out
I Will Watch Out For Other Surfers
There Will Always Be Another Wave
I Will Catch a Wave Every Day
All Surfers Are Connected By One Ocean
- GenresNonfiction
208 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2006
24 people are currently reading
137 people want to read
About the author
Shaun Tomson
10 books9 followersShaun Tomson was the 1977 World Champion on the International World Surfing Tour. A native of South Africa, he spent fourteen years on the Tour (1976-1989), nine of which in the top six. With twelve contest wins, including a record setting six year winning streak in the prestigious Gunston 500 in Durban, South Africa, he was considered one of the world's finest surfers.
He has been featured in more than forty surf videos, was profiled in an Outdoor Life Network (OLN) documentary series in 1998, and starred as a surf journalist in the major motion picture from TriStar/Sony Pictures 'In Gods Hands' in 1998.
Additional honors include nine appearances on the covers of Surfer and Surfing magazines, as well as being an inductee to the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame. He has most recently been listed as one of the 25 most influential surfers of the century by Surfer magazine(1999) and as one of the 16 greatest surfers of all time by Surfing magazine in 2004.
He is currently Chairman of the Advisory Board for The Surfrider Foundation and owns the apparel company Solitude in Santa Barbara, California. He lives with his wife, Carla, in Montecito, California and continues to travel the world, reaching out to surfers of all generations, with his innovative surfing and world renowned tube-riding style.
He has been featured in more than forty surf videos, was profiled in an Outdoor Life Network (OLN) documentary series in 1998, and starred as a surf journalist in the major motion picture from TriStar/Sony Pictures 'In Gods Hands' in 1998.
Additional honors include nine appearances on the covers of Surfer and Surfing magazines, as well as being an inductee to the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame. He has most recently been listed as one of the 25 most influential surfers of the century by Surfer magazine(1999) and as one of the 16 greatest surfers of all time by Surfing magazine in 2004.
He is currently Chairman of the Advisory Board for The Surfrider Foundation and owns the apparel company Solitude in Santa Barbara, California. He lives with his wife, Carla, in Montecito, California and continues to travel the world, reaching out to surfers of all generations, with his innovative surfing and world renowned tube-riding style.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
July 9, 2009
Why I Read this Book: Those who truly define their own success and then go on to realize it, are the ones who really inspire me. Shaun is just that type of person.
Review:
About two weeks ago I had the true pleasure of meeting Shaun Tomson at a dinner party with group of colleagues as well as soon to be high school graduates. He was asked to say a few words to help prepare these kids for what was ahead in their lives. What a treat we all received.
Shaun stood up with his calm South African accent, jeans, flip flops and his long hair still slightly wet, no doubt from the break down at Rincon earlier that evening. To be honest, I was not expecting much. To my great surprise and inspiration, Shaun began to tell a story of success like one I’d never heard. Perfectly articulate and impactful as if his profession was an inspirational speaker and his hobby was surfing. As most of us should now know, professional surfing is what indeed lead him to the speaking.
In Shaun’s book as well as in person, he tells a brilliant story of success (and a true one at that). A story of going through with your dreams despite the doubt coming from just about every walk of life. A story of deciding that success meant something different to him than it did for just about anyone who had come before him. For him, success meant making a living from what he truly loved, surfing, despite the fact that had never been done in the past.
As Shaun realized his dreams, he learned a number of life lessons that, although they were learned on the water, he found they actually transcended all walks of life, and could serve anyone in their quest for success and for being a better person. That is where the Surfer’s Code comes from. Twelve simple, yet life changing principles, that are sure to get you living a richer and more successful life. The simplicity of Shaun’s lessons reminders of me some of Dale Carnegie’s principles from How to Win Friends and Influence People. So simple, yet life-changing when applied.
I have such great admiration for someone who, from such an early age, has the courage and wisdom to define success for himself and then to not let a single bump along the way discourage him. It is that refusal to accept anything but success that leads to true greatness. For those of you who have read a number of reviews on this website, you should know that defining one’s success is one of the core premises of ReadingForYourSuccess.com. You will see similar messages from Tony Robbins, Stephen Covey, Tim Ferris as well as many other authors featured on this site.
As I read through each of Shaun’s lessons, which included such things as “I will paddle back out” and “There will always be another wave”, I could really relate after having heard his smooth South African accent in person and after knowing his true story. His talk mentioned a few of these codes and after hearing it, the next thing I had to do was read through the book. I had it finished within a day. It is worth noting that the book reads incredibly quickly and the fact that it’s based on the life of a world champion surfer and is riddled with images of he huge waves he’s conquered, certainly helps with the entertainment.
The most powerful part about Surfer’s Code and Shaun is the fact that he wrote it as his way of giving back to the surfing community that had given him so much throughout his life. He is not only giving back to those who have made surfing their passion but to those who plan to make anything their passion. As we all should know by now, you only get out of life and success, what you put in. It would have been so easy for Shaun to go on living his life on the waves, running his businesses and staring in movies. Unfortunately that is what many famous individuals have done. For Shaun that would have been selfish. Instead he has chosen to spread his inspiration and lessons on success to as many people as possible. I saw him do it first hand to that group of high school kids as well as to myself. What an experience.
It is so rare to get the chance to meet an author in person. Especially one with such similar thinking to mine. I have had the great pleasure to meet a few authors since I have started ReadingForYourSuccess.com and I do hope to pass Shaun’s path again sometime soon. Who knows, maybe I will finally dust off the board that’s been sitting in my closet for the past couple years.
More than anything I hope that what you take from Shaun’s life and Surfer’s Code, is what it truly means to be successful. Shaun is one of the very best examples I’ve seen of this.
Review:
About two weeks ago I had the true pleasure of meeting Shaun Tomson at a dinner party with group of colleagues as well as soon to be high school graduates. He was asked to say a few words to help prepare these kids for what was ahead in their lives. What a treat we all received.
Shaun stood up with his calm South African accent, jeans, flip flops and his long hair still slightly wet, no doubt from the break down at Rincon earlier that evening. To be honest, I was not expecting much. To my great surprise and inspiration, Shaun began to tell a story of success like one I’d never heard. Perfectly articulate and impactful as if his profession was an inspirational speaker and his hobby was surfing. As most of us should now know, professional surfing is what indeed lead him to the speaking.
In Shaun’s book as well as in person, he tells a brilliant story of success (and a true one at that). A story of going through with your dreams despite the doubt coming from just about every walk of life. A story of deciding that success meant something different to him than it did for just about anyone who had come before him. For him, success meant making a living from what he truly loved, surfing, despite the fact that had never been done in the past.
As Shaun realized his dreams, he learned a number of life lessons that, although they were learned on the water, he found they actually transcended all walks of life, and could serve anyone in their quest for success and for being a better person. That is where the Surfer’s Code comes from. Twelve simple, yet life changing principles, that are sure to get you living a richer and more successful life. The simplicity of Shaun’s lessons reminders of me some of Dale Carnegie’s principles from How to Win Friends and Influence People. So simple, yet life-changing when applied.
I have such great admiration for someone who, from such an early age, has the courage and wisdom to define success for himself and then to not let a single bump along the way discourage him. It is that refusal to accept anything but success that leads to true greatness. For those of you who have read a number of reviews on this website, you should know that defining one’s success is one of the core premises of ReadingForYourSuccess.com. You will see similar messages from Tony Robbins, Stephen Covey, Tim Ferris as well as many other authors featured on this site.
As I read through each of Shaun’s lessons, which included such things as “I will paddle back out” and “There will always be another wave”, I could really relate after having heard his smooth South African accent in person and after knowing his true story. His talk mentioned a few of these codes and after hearing it, the next thing I had to do was read through the book. I had it finished within a day. It is worth noting that the book reads incredibly quickly and the fact that it’s based on the life of a world champion surfer and is riddled with images of he huge waves he’s conquered, certainly helps with the entertainment.
The most powerful part about Surfer’s Code and Shaun is the fact that he wrote it as his way of giving back to the surfing community that had given him so much throughout his life. He is not only giving back to those who have made surfing their passion but to those who plan to make anything their passion. As we all should know by now, you only get out of life and success, what you put in. It would have been so easy for Shaun to go on living his life on the waves, running his businesses and staring in movies. Unfortunately that is what many famous individuals have done. For Shaun that would have been selfish. Instead he has chosen to spread his inspiration and lessons on success to as many people as possible. I saw him do it first hand to that group of high school kids as well as to myself. What an experience.
It is so rare to get the chance to meet an author in person. Especially one with such similar thinking to mine. I have had the great pleasure to meet a few authors since I have started ReadingForYourSuccess.com and I do hope to pass Shaun’s path again sometime soon. Who knows, maybe I will finally dust off the board that’s been sitting in my closet for the past couple years.
More than anything I hope that what you take from Shaun’s life and Surfer’s Code, is what it truly means to be successful. Shaun is one of the very best examples I’ve seen of this.
September 19, 2011
Incredible. I'd recommend it to anyone, surfer or not. Part memoir, part self-improvement, part surf-story, this book of lessons learned through surfing can apply to anyone willing to take his lessons and apply them to their own life. And you're likely to come out of this with a much better appreciation for the things you have in life, especially your loved ones. Oh, and an overwhelming desire to head to the beach. Immediately. (Surf sesh, anyone?)
January 12, 2024
Great easy read. Being a surfer I liked his surfing analogy’s. Good life advice.
February 3, 2014
Shaun Tomson shares the lessons he has learnt in surfing and in life in a very personal way, passing along his stoke (lesson 9).
In very many ways, surfing resembles life and Shaun Tomson has managed to boil many of them down onto paper. 12 chapters with 12 guidelines for surfing as well as for life.
Being a surfer myself, I found myself taken back to the countless hours I have spent in the ocean around the globe, paddling out, becoming a part of the food chain, apprehensive, butterflies in my stomach from the anticipation of what might happen, but not knowing whether I will catch the wave of my life or take the beating of my life. Surfers spend most of their time in the water waiting, giving you lots of time to think and feel. That I, a simple amateur who caught my first wave at 20 years of age, could have learned some of the same lessons as one of the all time greats in surfing, who grew up in Durban, South Africa (one of the best surf spots in the World), a man who quite literally founded professional surfing, filled me with a sense of pride and reverence. Or, to put it in surf terminology, made me feel stoked.
A great little book for anyone interested in surfing and/or philosophy. Whether you are completely new to the sport, never tried it before, or if you have been cutting sick for decades, there is something to learn from it. Indeed, in this age, where practically every break on the globe is crowded, the codes in this book seem ever more relevant.
It's simplicity and depth reveals much about what surfing is about: It's so simple, yet so full of challenges and rewards. Very much like life itself.
Surfing truly is a sport of kings.
Fun fact: The word code comes from the Latin codex, which means trunk of a tree or block of wood, covered with wax that people used to write on.
In very many ways, surfing resembles life and Shaun Tomson has managed to boil many of them down onto paper. 12 chapters with 12 guidelines for surfing as well as for life.
Being a surfer myself, I found myself taken back to the countless hours I have spent in the ocean around the globe, paddling out, becoming a part of the food chain, apprehensive, butterflies in my stomach from the anticipation of what might happen, but not knowing whether I will catch the wave of my life or take the beating of my life. Surfers spend most of their time in the water waiting, giving you lots of time to think and feel. That I, a simple amateur who caught my first wave at 20 years of age, could have learned some of the same lessons as one of the all time greats in surfing, who grew up in Durban, South Africa (one of the best surf spots in the World), a man who quite literally founded professional surfing, filled me with a sense of pride and reverence. Or, to put it in surf terminology, made me feel stoked.
A great little book for anyone interested in surfing and/or philosophy. Whether you are completely new to the sport, never tried it before, or if you have been cutting sick for decades, there is something to learn from it. Indeed, in this age, where practically every break on the globe is crowded, the codes in this book seem ever more relevant.
It's simplicity and depth reveals much about what surfing is about: It's so simple, yet so full of challenges and rewards. Very much like life itself.
Surfing truly is a sport of kings.
Fun fact: The word code comes from the Latin codex, which means trunk of a tree or block of wood, covered with wax that people used to write on.
July 9, 2013
Good book. It is nice to know there are those looking for a means to set some guidelines in the water. I particularly enjoyed the chapter, 'there will always be another wave.' I'm a pretty courteous surfer, and I try to steer clear of crowds so getting waves is not a problem. I still see surfers, however, that go out there hogging all of the waves. It's their right I suppose if they can catch it, but they shouldn't get upset when someone drops in in front of them from time to time. Furthermore, the losers shouldn't grab all of their buddies and attack one guy. Their brave behavior of taking on the ocean is such a contradiction to their cowardice in catching waves and henceforth.
Read
November 12, 2013Surfers Code is Shaun Thomson's account of life through a surfers eyes. Using his life as a professional surfer to share his wisdom, he writes about pivotal times in his own life and what lessons he learned. I really enjoyed this book. As a surfer it's a great look at the history of the sport I love. As a senior in highschool, about to enter the adult world, Surfers Code is a great recource. Thompson does a great job of taking a watermans knowledge and applying it to every faccet of life. Values such as Passion, Determination, and Optimisim are laid out in an informative, fun to read book that I would recommend to anyone.
December 25, 2012
After spending a month surfing in Costa Rica, I fell in love with it as more than a sport. I love his code and deeply respect surfers and that culture. The book had a surprising and sad twist which made it deeply touching and it'll stay with me for a long time. Paddle out!
March 9, 2017
We are allowed inside the life of a surfing legend, although I don't believe Shaun Tomson would ever refer to himself as such. He gives us 12 life lessons that apply to everyone. Tomson gives us stories that illustrate his 12 lessons, including his mistakes.
Great read!
Great read!
February 15, 2014
Shaun is an awesome, funny, and humble person. It takes courage to share his life soo openly with audiences in such a communal way. He is definitely a modern hero and Good Samaritan. I met him at his book signing at the surf museum in Oceanside I plan on passing this book onto my nephews...
September 18, 2017
I read this in about one sitting back in 2012, I found it inspiring. I had never surfed when I read it, but I had lived with a surfer for years, so I understood the metaphors and felt they could be of value in all areas of life.
August 7, 2009
12 simple lessons for riding through life, value of thinking through difficult situations with patience and common sense, while respecting others
June 10, 2012
It was an enjoyable read by an amazing surfer and role model!
May 3, 2022
At first, this is a light little volume with 12 lessons for surfers. These seemingly simple lessons reveal so much more about Tomson's remarkable life as a surfing champion and icon. And, of course, apply in a very deep sense to life in general. After a pleasant excursion through his stories, the ending and additional essays after the book was published, are devastating. Tomson and his wife are flattened, but survive together. They must be extraordinary people.
September 29, 2025
surfing lessons from a world champ perspective and experience
Great book, easy read and very good basic lessons for surfing and life from a world champion! I recommend it to everyone who is interested in surfing in general. And is a must read for all surfers at any level. One book to have in the library for sure!
Great book, easy read and very good basic lessons for surfing and life from a world champion! I recommend it to everyone who is interested in surfing in general. And is a must read for all surfers at any level. One book to have in the library for sure!
June 8, 2022
Just finished reading it for the second time. Solid insights. Explains an aspect of surf culture that is far too overlooked.
October 23, 2011
The author seems like an amazing man with experiences most can only dream of but in all honestly there was nothing special or new about the 12 simple lessons. These are lessons one should have learnt as a child. This book is better suited for young teenagers 10 - maybe 16 at a push.
While reading the book, I often felt most of the chapters and paragraphs were put in to be fillers, as the original text/draft wasn’t long enough to fill a small book.
The only reason this book is getting 2 stars is because Shaun Tomson comes across as someone I'd like to be friends with - genuine, honest, hard working, empathetic, caring an all round NICE guy.
While reading the book, I often felt most of the chapters and paragraphs were put in to be fillers, as the original text/draft wasn’t long enough to fill a small book.
The only reason this book is getting 2 stars is because Shaun Tomson comes across as someone I'd like to be friends with - genuine, honest, hard working, empathetic, caring an all round NICE guy.
June 28, 2012
Felt like there were several things missing from the book. I liked it for being informative and it gave me some new tidbits about surfing and history. The book felt a little unfinished because there was so much blank space at times... it was like he was intentionally desperate for extra pages by quoting himself in bold and larger letters for emphasis right after that same sentence. Not bad, not great.
September 8, 2015
This book was lent to me by my surfing mentor (a 70+ year old surfer, now long boarder) who got me "stoked" on surfing. It was a sweet and easy read and an inside look into the surf culture, which is far deeper and wider than most would think. Makes me feel like I know how my mentor ticks now! A special read.
March 19, 2020
I loved this book. Having met the author, Shaun Tomson, at my office and getting to know him a little in person, he is a gentleman, and a bright spot in this world after personal tragedy, and committed to making a difference where he can. The book is easily written, positive and personal. I would even recommend this book to preteens.
March 10, 2010
I really good book for surfers (especially new ones, but old ones too). My main complaint about the book was the large print sections that just repeated the text, sort of like you'd see in a magazine. As if the author is trying to convince you to read the book by giving you little snippets.
September 14, 2020
Brilliant... Highly recommended for surfers and non-surfers alike. I can't thank Shaun Tomson enough for sharing so much of himself and the wisdom he's gathered along the way. Warm and engaging, earnest and instructive, Surfers Code is a guide for life in and out of the water.
April 5, 2008
one of my all time favorite books! great lessons
July 23, 2011
Another self help type of book with a nice beachy twist. Good advice.
May 10, 2012
I just started surfing this year and this book was a nice way to think about business in terms of surfing ethics. A nice read
September 3, 2012
Very practical tips told in the relaxed surfers style.
Read
November 9, 2015It was a great book, by far one of my favorites. The lessons relate to real life situations.
April 21, 2015
No spoilers, but I wasn't anticipating the ending. Good book.
Read
October 18, 2022Great book for teens, especially teenage boys. Shaun provides valuable perspective about life now and beyond, and with the cool ethos of a world champion surfer.
September 16, 2019
lessons I should adapt to my own life
April 13, 2020
Beautiful
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews