If you don't know already, science shows that being near, in—or even on—the water can make you happier, healthier, more connected, and better at what you do. At least that’s the theme behind marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols’s book, Blue Mind. So it’s no surprise that surf vacations are on the rise ( the current global surfing population is estimated to be about 23 million—and that number is skyrocketing by 12% a year). We caught up with our traveler community to find out about some of their best surfing trips, from simple staycations to epic bucket list journeys.

Philippines-born Mark Hernandez used to live a nomadic lifestyle, working as a travel nurse and hopping from one assignment to the next in the Caribbean, Florida, and more. “I was a gypsy with a stethoscope,” he says. “It’s a great gig for someone who wants to see the world.” A few years back, he was offered several different posts in Canada and chose a three-week position at a hospital in Tofino on Vancouver Island—the country’s surfing capital.

“Tofino is like Baywatch, where everyone goes surfing after work to connect with the ocean and decompress,” says Hernandez. “I’d always wanted to learn to surf and figured this was an opportunity to have fun and get work to pay for it.”

When he wasn’t making his medical rounds, Hernandez was taking lessons with Surf Sister Surf School, run by twins who wanted to encourage more women to surf. Hernandez fell so in love with surfing—and with Tofino—that at the end of his three-week assignment, he decided to buy a condo there, which he now rents out. “I loved the vibe and the West Coast Canada lifestyle,” he says. His top spots in the area: for lunch, the seasonal SoBo (“the Key-lime pie is legendary”) and whale watching with Jamie’s Whaling Station.

During the pandemic, 53-year-old Myrdith Leon-McCormack decided to pursue a lifelong dream: She learned how to swim. In the fall of 2022, she took that newfound skill to the next level and planned a staycation in The Rockaways, known for its local surf scene and beginner-friendly waves.

“I’ve always wanted to surf. I’m fascinated by surfers. I loved the movie, Blue Crush, with Michelle Rodriguez. I always love to see women in male-dominated sports,” says the New York-based entrepreneur who has had many lives, going from the finance industry to being a celebrity manicurist to founding World Bride Magazine, which celebrates inclusivity in weddings.

During lessons in the Rockaways with New York Surf School, she not only found her inner surfer—she found her tribe. “A young Black woman, Autumn Kitchens, was one of my teachers. I loved that she looked like me and belongs to Black Girls Surf, a club that teaches Black women how to surf,” says Leon-McCormack. “The fact that there’s a whole group of people doing this who look like me empowers me. It excites me. It makes me think I can do it, too. And it makes me proud.”

Leon-McCormack was also blown away by the Rockaways. “I always thought you had to go someplace tropical like Costa Rica to surf,” she says. “But the waters were wonderful, the people were wonderful, and the beach was clean. I was just shocked.”

Another thing she loved: all the places to shop, eat, and stay, including Cuisine By Claudette (run by a Moroccan-born, French-Israeli chef), Station RBNY (where you can buy suits and boards), The Swellife (a surf-inspired fashion boutique), and The Rockaway Hotel (“a hidden gem with a great restaurant”). “I love being able to support local small businesses,” says Leon-McCormack.

“Now I am hooked and have surf trips booked to Dubai and Qatar, where there is a whole division of Arab surfers,” says Leon-McCormack. “I've decided I am going to keep working on surfing—especially in unexpected places.”

“Every time I catch a wave by myself, I have this freak-out moment and think, ‘I can’t believe this is happening,’” says Katherine Beattie, who was born with cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. “Then it’s just about going with the flow and feeling the power of the ocean propelling you forward. It’s such a freeing feeling because on land, you’re struggling against the elements—but out in the water you’re gliding and not facing barriers.”

Katherine Beattie doesn’t let a wheelchair hold her back—in any way. In addition to surfing, she’s a top TV writer and producer in Hollywood, an advocate for people with disabilities, and a motocross rider who was the first woman to land a backflip using a wheelchair.

Beattie discovered surfing through a California organization called Life Rolls On that helps disabled people learn adaptive action sports; she was later invited to join the USA Para Surfing Team, where she won a copper medal for women’s prone surfing at the 2021 World Para Surfing Championship.

High on Beattie’s bucket list was taking a trip Down Under, so earlier this year, she went to Adelaide to ride the waves with an Australian surfer who she had met at the championship. “It was really nice to go somewhere off the beaten path and feel like I was experiencing the country the way locals do,” says Beattie.

Beattie spent most of the trip surfing and eating. “I’m a vegan and it’s a paradise for vegans,” she says. Some of her favorite discoveries included Daughter In Law in Adelaide (“it’s billed as an unauthentic Australian-Indian bar and restaurant”) and Fourth in the suburb of Glenelg (“their sweet potato and falafel dish was excellent, and they make a great Old Fashioned”).

But the main reason she was here was for the surfing—which delivered. She surfed The Dump (“a beautiful, consistent reef break, with nice long lefts”) and visited Victor Harbor, an accessible beach with fun-sized waves and plenty of shops and restaurants. “While you’re there, I recommend stopping by The Surf Shop for all your surfing needs, and Mums Beard Cafe for a relaxed post-surf meal and coffee,” she says.

The best part, according to Beattie: “In Los Angeles, where I live, the water is freezing and cloudy. In Australia, it’s just warm water, beautiful waves, and nice people. If I could surf there for the rest of my life, that would be the dream.”

It used to be that Piyushi Bishnoi, a Santa Monica-based investment banker, went on trips centered around landmarks and museums. But as the 27-year-old got older, she had taken up running and was yearning for a different kind of travel experience. “I wanted to be a more active traveler, but I was nervous doing an active trip by myself,” says Bishnoi. “I wanted to find people with a similar mentality—people who like to have fun and see new countries on a wellness-focused trip.”

Bishnoi discovered Surf Yoga Beer, a group travel outfitter that combines adventure with a good time. After taking a trip with them to Croatia that focused on kayaking and running, she signed up for a surfing safari in Nicaragua in December 2021. “Everybody’s saying Nicaragua is the next Costa Rica, but I’d never been to Central America and Surf Yoga Beer had an itinerary that would help me maneuver my way around the country and surf every day,” she says.

The group stayed in the tiny surf town of Playa Maderas, hidden in the jungle, and took side trips to nearby San Juan del Sur. Most everything was included in the rate, including lessons, yoga, accommodations, parties, and more. What she appreciated about the experience: “There were other people like me who were relatively new to the sport. Also, in Playa Maderas, the waves were consistent and approachable. I had surfed before in Portugal and the waves were too tough to handle.”

Bishnoi loved her room at Villa Playa Maderas (“it had views of the beach and a sunrise that you won’t see anywhere else”) and spent time at the Maderas Sunset Bar (“I couldn’t get enough of the shrimp quesadillas”) and Tacos Locos (“amazing fish tacos”). In nearby San Juan del Sur, she ate at El Buen Gusto (“an open-air spot known for its ceviche”) and shopped for woven headbands and bracelets in local crafts markets.

The trip was everything she was looking for—and then some. “It doesn’t matter what your background is, it doesn’t matter where you live, it doesn’t matter how old you are,” says Bishnoi. “Every day we went surfing together, did yoga, danced, and explored. I met some of my closest friends on that trip.”

Also known as “World Wide Nate,” Los Angeles-based Nathan Fluellen is the founder of A Great Day in the Stoke, the largest gathering of Black surfers in history, and owner of Kavata Swimwear, the first Black-owned surf performance swimwear line. He has traveled around the world surfing—from Costa Rica to Mexico, the Bahamas, the Maldives, Senegal, and more.

“I call surfing ‘saltwater therapy,’” says Fluellen. “It’s therapeutic being in the water and every wave is different, so it’s always a new experience or a new challenge. And once you catch that wave, it’s pure joy.”

After a recent accident where he was injured in an outdoor fireplace explosion, Fluellen headed to Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of Oahu to get his groove back. There, he signed up for a lesson with the James O’Brien Surf Experience, which brought him to a calm beginner wave in an enclosed bay. “Hawaii was my first trip after the accident,” says Fluellen. “It was very easy and very smooth on a longboard. It felt good to be back in the water.”

It wasn’t Fluellen’s first time in Oahu: He had previously surfed off Waikiki Beach. What attracted him to the North Shore: “People say it’s the best surfing in Hawaii, and it’s more laid back than Waikiki, which is very tourist heavy.”

Fluellen enjoyed checking out local restaurants like the Hukilau Cafe (“it’s where the locals go”), taking a dip in natural wave pools formed in the volcanic rock, riding a bike around Turtle Bay Resort, and floating in the infinity pool and watching the sky turn shades of orange and purple and pink as the sun dropped into the ocean. “There’s something magical about being in Hawaii. It’s so beautiful,” he says.

But the highlight was, of course, the surfing. “The air and water temperature was perfect,” he says. “Hawaii truly is the ideal place to surf.”

Shanon Jensen lives in San Diego and works at Ski.com, where she books winter adventures for other travelers. But when she was looking for a new challenge for herself a few years ago, she signed up for a weekend clinic with La Jolla, California-based Surf Diva. Founded in 1996, it’s the first all-women’s surf school.

“I am always up for an adventure,” says Jensen. “I love the ocean and thought it would be fun and challenging to learn to surf.

She chose La Jolla for simple reasons: “It’s one of the most beautiful places on the planet,” she says. “The waves are gentle and the beach has a nice sand texture with no rocks or reefs. Plus, there is the opportunity to see lots of ocean life, like dolphins and seals.”

Jensen says she loved the fact that Surf Diva was women-focused. “It’s owned by twin sisters who live and breathe a cool coastal vibe,” she says. “I felt confident they would be patient, compassionate, and helpful.”

During the clinic, she stayed at La Jolla Shores Hotel and did lots of shopping and eating in the area. “Not only is Surf Diva a full-service surf shop, it has a lot of cute clothing that had me geared for the beach, plus perfect outfits for dining out,” says Jenson. She went to Osteria Romantica (“I loved their spinach salads”), Isola Pizza Bar (“delicious sandwiches”), and Shore Rider Bar (“great sangrias and street tacos”).

When Jensen and her fellow surf divas weren’t learning to ride the waves, the company organized other engaging excursions. “We went paddleboarding to the caves at La Jolla Cove and saw the leopard sharks,” says Jensen.

Above all, the surfing was top-notch. “Learning a new sport later in life gave me a huge new appreciation for the ocean,” she says. “Now I recommend Surf Diva to all my friends.”