Greatest Surfers of All Time

These pioneers, innovators and legends elevated surfing into the cultural phenomenon it is today.

Greatest Surfers of All Time

Laird Hamilton surfing — Laird Hamilton, the master, at work.

Defining greatness in most sports is based on stats. But surfing is about much more than who racks up wins in competitions.

When it comes to pure excellence navigating the world’s most challenging waves, surfing has a long, proud history of soulful icons and fearless daredevils.

These pioneers, innovators and legends have transformed and elevated the sport into the cultural phenomenon it is today. They are the greatest surfers of all time.

30. Kathy "Gidget" Kohner Zuckerman

Kathy Kohner Zuckerman challenged societal norms and proved girls could surf.

Birthdate: Jan. 19, 1941

Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Kathy "Gidget" Kohner Zuckerman

Kathy Kohner is surfing’s cultural icon. Before Sally Field and Sandre Dee turned the iconic California surfer girl into a TV and movie celebrity, the real “Gidget” made surfing synonymous with California culture.

Kohner spent much of her childhood on the beaches of Malibu, where she started surfing at the age of 15.

Her father turned her journal documenting her surfing adventures into a best-selling novel, “Gidget: The Little Girl With Big Ideas,” which sold more than 500,000 copies and was translated into Japanese, Spanish, and Yiddish, among other languages.

Both the fictional and real "Gidget," as much as The Beach Boys or anyone else, helped put surfing on the map.

29. Mark Occhilupo

Birthdate: June 16, 1966

Birthplace: Kurnell, New South Wales, Australia

Nationality: Australian

Bottom Line: Mark Occhilupo

Call Mark Occhilupo the comeback kid. The Aussie boasts the greatest comeback story in the history of the sport.

After bursting to the top of the Association of Surfing Professionals rankings as a 17-year-old in the mid-1980s, "Occy" disappeared from the competitive scene for a decade, before rising to prominence again a decade later.

In 1999, he shocked the sport by winning the ASP world championship at age 33, ending the legendary Kelly Slater’s streak of five consecutive titles.

28. Mick Fanning

Birthdate: June 13, 1981

Birthplace: Penrith, New South Wales, Australia

Nationality: Australian

Bottom Line: Mick Fanning

Mick Fanning has overcome adversity on his path to greatness.

One of Australia's surfing legends, Fanning wracked up 22 Championship Tour wins during his career, 11 top five finishes and three world titles, most recently in 2013.

He also lost his brother to an auto accident, returned from a devastating injury in which his entire hamstring muscle was torn off his pelvic bone, and survived a great white shark attack.

27. Gerry Lopez

Birthdate: Nov. 7, 1948

Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Gerry Lopez

Gerry Lopez became "Mr. Pipeline" in the 1970s.

The surfing star earned his place in surfing lore for his mastery of the Pipeline on Oahu’s North Shore, winning Pipeline Masters titles there in 1972 and 1973.

One of the great tube riders of his era, Lopez also made a splash on the big screen, starring in several surfing films of the 1970s.

26. Sharron Weber

Birthdate: 1948

Birthplace: Virginia, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Sharron Weber

Sharron Weber was a pioneer in competitive women’s surfing.

A two-time world champion, Weber was among the first great women surfers, winning six Hawaii state titles during the late 1960s.

Yet she was overshadowed at a time when surfing was viewed as a man's sport and never was profiled in any of the surf magazines of that era.

25. Bernard "Midget" Farrelly

Birthdate: Sept. 13, 1944

Birthplace: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Died: Aug. 6, 2016, Sydney, Australia (age 71)

Nationality: Australian

Bottom Line: Bernard "Midget" Farrelly

Bernard "Midget" Farrelly was the sport’s first men’s world champion and a surfboard pioneer.

The Aussie won the inaugural World Championships in Sydney in 1964 and was considered the best competitive surfer in the world for much of the 1960s.

Farrelly also played a significant role in the evolution of surfboard design in the late 1960s, founding his own label, "Farrelly Surfboards," in 1965.

24. Tyler Wright

Birthdate: March 31, 1994

Birthplace: Culburra Beach, New South Wales, Australia

Nationality: Australian

Bottom Line: Tyler Wright

Tyler Wright is a champion in every sense of the word.

As a 14-year-old, she became the youngest surfer in history to win a Championship Tour event in 2008. After slumping following her runner-up finish at the 2014 worlds, the Australia native won the world's top prize in 2016 and defended her crown in 2017 when she overcame a knee injury to win the final two events of the season.

Now, Wright could be on her way to taking her place among the sport's all-time greats.

23. Michael Ho

Birthdate: July 13, 1957

Birthplace: San Mateo, California, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Michael Ho

Considered the godfather of Oahu's North Shore surf scene, Michael Ho won two Hawaiian Triple Crowns and appeared in five Pipe Masters finals, winning the title in 1982, during a sensational 25-year career.

He's part of surfing's royal family. His brother, Derek, was also a championship surfer, along with his daughter Coco and son Mason.

At only 5 feet 5 and 135 pounds, Michael Ho was considered one of the sport's great tube riders in the 1970s, helping invent a technique called the "pigdog."

22. Garrett McNamara

Birthdate: Aug. 10, 1967

Birthplace: Pittsfield, Massachusetts, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Garrett McNamara

Garrett McNamara loves riding the world’s monster waves.

One of the pioneers of tow surfing that enabled surfers to tackle giant waves once thought impossible to surf, McNamara entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2011 when he rode a 78-foot wave off the coast of Nazare, Portugal.

A year later, he conquered another monster off Nazare, this one estimated at close to 100 feet, but it was not entered for an official record.

Brazilian Rodrigo Koxa set the new Guinness record at 80 feet in 2017.

21. Gabriel Medina

Birthdate: Dec. 22, 1993

Birthplace: Sao Sebastiao, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Nationality: Brazilian

Bottom Line: Gabriel Medina

Gabriel Medina is one of the most popular competitive surfers in the world.

With his 8.4 million Instagram followers, the Brazilian has a global following on the Championship Tour today and has a tough time traveling anywhere in Brazil without being recognized.

Known for his high-flying acrobatics, the 26-year-old Gabriel Medina won the 2014 and 2018 world championship.

20. Lynne Boyer

Birthdate: 1956

Birthplace: Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Lynne Boyer

Lynne Boyer was the first woman to win multiple world championships, nabbing crowns in 1978 and 1979.

She also was a pioneer in the water and became known as the female Larry Bertlemann, the radical Hawaiian who took hotdog surfing to legendary new levels.

A Pennsylvania native, Boyer learned to surf at age 11 when her family moved to Hawaii in 1968 and made her first big splash by winning the Hang Ten Pro Championships at Malibu in 1976.

19. John John Florence

Birthdate: Oct. 18, 1992

Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: John John Florence

John John Florence is one of the top surfers on the men’s tour today. The two-time world champion, Florence has a chance to climb this list before all is said and done.

The Hawaiian is one of only five surfers in men's Championship Tour history to win his first two world titles in consecutive fashion (not even Kelly Slater can claim that feat). At 27, Florence is among the most dominant pipe surfers of his era.

He also is carving out a name for himself with his film projects.

18. Larry Bertlemann

Birthdate: Aug. 7, 1955

Birthplace: Hilo, Hawaii, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Larry Bertlemann

Larry Bertlemann did things on a surfboard that had never been done before.

Known as "The Rubberman" for his amazing flexibility and groundbreaking aerial moves, the Hawaiian was one of the sport's biggest stars of the 1970s.

Bertlemann graced eight surfing magazine covers and appeared in over 25 surf films with his dazzling style.

17. Wendy Botha

Birthdate: Aug. 22, 1965

Birthplace: East London, South Africa

Nationality: South African

Bottom Line: Wendy Botha

Wendy Botha was the ultimate winner.

The South African won four world titles (1987, 1989, 1991 and 1992) and three Surfer Poll Awards (1990, 1991 and 1993).

Born in 1965, Wendy Botha began surfing at age 13 and won four consecutive South African national championships from 1981 to 1984 on her way to becoming one of the sport's dominant surfers.

16. Nat Young

Birthdate: Nov. 14, 1947

Birthplace: Sydney, Australia

Nationality: Australian

Bottom Line: Nat Young

Nat Young helped usher in the shortboard revolution. In a career spanning four decades, the brash Australian cemented his place among the sport's great power surfers, and helped usher in the shortboard revolution of the late 1960s and early 1970s, winning a world title in 1966.

Then, in the 1980s, he helped bring the longboard back into vogue, winning four longboard titles.

He also was featured in a number of 1960s and '70s surf films.

15. Frieda Zamba

Birthdate: Oct. 25, 1965

Birthplace: Flagler Beach, Florida, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Frieda Zamba

You only get one chance to make a first impression, and Frieda Zamba made one for the ages.

A four-time world champion, Zamba is one of the few great American surfers not to hail from California or Hawaii.

The Florida native learned to surf in the less-than-ideal conditions on the East Coast, becoming the youngest woman to win a pro tour contest and youngest female world champion ever.

14. Tom Carroll

Birthdate: Nov. 26, 1961

Birthplace: Newport, Australia

Nationality: Australian

Bottom Line: Tom Carroll

The Aussie first made a name for himself at age 15 when he won the inaugural World Pro Junior Championships.

Tom Carroll later bounced back from reconstructive knee surgery to win world titles in 1983, 1984 and 1985, followed by the Pipe Masters in 1987, 1991 and 1992.

He also is known as the sport's first millionaire.

13. Tom Curren

Birthdate: July 13, 1964

Birthplace: Santa Barbara, California, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Tom Curren

Tom Curren ended the Aussie's long dominance of surfing.

The first American to win an ASP men's world championship, Curren claimed world titles in 1985, 1986 and 1990.

From 1982 to 1992, the Santa Barbara native racked up 33 victories and cemented his place as the top surfer in the world.

12. Andy Irons

Birthdate: July 24, 1978

Birthplace: Kauai, Hawaii, United States

Died: Nov. 2, 2010, Grapevine, Texas (age 32)

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Andy Irons

The Hawaiian great won three consecutive world titles from 2002 to 2004, and for a time, it looked as though he might eclipse Kelly Slater as the sport's brightest star.

But Irons died tragically in a Texas hotel room in 2010 when he was only 32, following struggles with bipolar disorder and drug addiction.

Irons was the first surfer to win a title at every venue on the ASP calendar.

11. Margo Oberg

Birthdate: Sept. 8, 1953

Birthplace: La Jolla, California, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Margo Oberg

A dominant surfer for three decades, Margo Oberg (born Margo Godfrey) won her first world title in 1968 at age 14.

After high school, she moved to Hawaii in 1972 and took a break from competitive surfing, before returning to the top of the sport in the late 1970s, winning world crowns in 1977, 1980 and 1981.

She is considered the first woman pro surfer.

10. David Nuuhiwa

Birthdate: July 23, 1948

Birthplace: Oahu, Hawaii, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: David Nuuhiwa

David Nuuhiwa changed surfing.

Considered by many the greatest surfer of his era, the Hawaii native helped turn the sport into a cultural phenomenon in the 1960s after he relocated to Southern California.

Nuuhiwa was known for his rock star-like persona and pioneered the "noseriding" technique, and his duels with Corky Carroll at the U.S. Championships at Huntington Beach became the stuff of legend.

9. Mark Richards

Birthdate: March 7, 1957

Birthplace: Newcastle, Australia

Nationality: Australian

Bottom Line: Mark Richards

The Aussie great, dubbed the "Wounded Seagull" for the unique way he held his arms while on the board, helped take the sport to a new level of excellence and notoriety.

Mark Richards won his first world title in 1975 and remains the only men's surfer other than Kelly Slater to win four consecutive world titles, a feat Richards accomplished from 1979 to 1982.

In 1994, Richards became the first "surfing champion" inductee into the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach.

8. Lisa Andersen

Birthdate: March 8, 1969

Birthplace: Ormond Beach, Florida, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Lisa Andersen

Lisa Andersen dominated women’s surfing in the 1990s and became the first surfer since Mark Richards to win four consecutive professional world championships, taking home titles from 1994 to 1997.

In 1996, the Florida native became the first female surfer in 15 years to be featured on the cover of Surfer magazine.

Also known as the only mom on the pro circuit, Sports Illustrated named her one of the 100 "Greatest Sportswomen of the Century."

7. Laird Hamilton

Birthdate: March 2, 1964

Birthplace: San Francisco, California, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Laird Hamilton

One of the sport's transcendent figures, Laird Hamilton makes our list not for his individual surfing honors, but for his role as a pioneer of the sport.

Hamilton is known as an inventor, innovator, author, stunt man, model, producer, television host, and fitness and nutrition expert.

He helped usher in a new era of big-wave surfing by co-inventing tow-in surfing, most notably at the reef known as "Jaws" off Maui.

He also helped grow popular crossover sports such as stand-up paddleboarding and hydrofoil boarding.

6. Joyce Hoffman

Birthdate: 1947

Birthplace: Dana Point, California, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Joyce Hoffman

One of the first dominant female surfers, Joyce Hoffman ruled the sport in the mid-1960s.

In 1965, the Californian won the U.S. women's championship, world championship and International Women's Surfing Championship. Not surprisingly, she was named the Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year that year, the only surfer to ever win the honor.

Hoffman was among the first inductees into the International Surfing Hall of Fame, and in 1968, she became the first woman to surf the legendary Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii.

5. Stephanie Gilmore

Birthdate: Jan. 29, 1988

Birthplace: Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia

Nationality: Australian

Bottom Line: Stephanie Gilmore

The Aussie has a chance to finish her career as the most decorated women's surfer in history.

Stephanie Gilmore won the first of her seven world titles in 2007, becoming the first surfer, man or woman, to accomplish the feat as a rookie. It was the first of four consecutive world titles as she took total command of the sport.

Gilmore also has topped $1.1 million in career earnings.

4. Corky Carroll

Birthdate: Sept. 29, 1947

Birthplace: Alhambra, California, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Corky Carroll

Corky Carroll revolutionized professional surfing in the 1960s as the first person to be paid to surf and the first to receive endorsements.

From 1959 until his "retirement" in 1972 at age 24, the Surfside, California, native won five U.S. championships, three International Professional Championships, one International Big Wave Championship and one World Small Wave Championship.

Carroll was named "best surfer in the world" in a Surfer Magazine readers poll in 1968.

3. Layne Beachley

Birthdate: May 24, 1972

Birthplace: Sydney, Australia

Nationality: Australia

Bottom Line: Layne Beachley

The first seven-time women's world champion, this Aussie is the one of the most accomplished women in the history of the sport.

Layne Beachley won six consecutive world titles from 1998 to 2003 — the only time that has ever been done by a man or woman — and added her final one in 2006.

In 2004, she competed against men at the Australia Open, one of the few times in history a woman competed in a men's surfing event.

2. Duke Kahanamoku

Birthdate: Aug. 24, 1890

Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Died: Jan. 22, 1968, Honolulu (age 77)

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Duke Kahanamoku

The undisputed father of the sport, Duke Kahanamoku is to surfing what Abner Doubleday is to baseball or James Naismith is to basketball.

An Olympic champion swimmer, Kahanamoku practically invented modern surfing in the 1920s on the North Shore of Oahu and is responsible more than anyone for turning it into a worldwide sport.

The Hawai native established the first worldwide surfing contest (the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational). But his fame went well beyond sports (he was voted sheriff of Honolulu 13 times), and his funeral in 1968 was the biggest ever seen in Hawaii.

1. Kelly Slater

Kelly Slater Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast 2010 — Kelly Slater, at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast in 2010, is most dominant competitive surfer ever.

Birthdate: Feb. 11, 1972

Birthplace: Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States

Nationality: American

Bottom Line: Kelly Slater

Kelly Slater at Manly Beach in Australia — Kelly Slater. The GOAT.

In terms of individual accomplishments, Kelly Slater is hands down the greatest surfer of all time.

Perhaps only swimmer Michael Phelps has so dominated an individual sport the way Slater has. He won an unprecedented 11 world titles during his career, becoming both the youngest and oldest men's champion in history, to go along with his 55 career victories. He revolutionized the sport with aerial moves the likes of which had never been seen before.

But Slater's legacy extends beyond individual achievements. He also pioneered a wave pool technology that creates manmade waves suitable for surfing, with the potential to expand the sport beyond the oceans.