Whether your ride a shortboard, a long board, a bodyboard, or even a goat boat, there is no experience in life quite like grabbing your board of choice and paddling out at your favourite break. The sweet smell of surfboard wax as you open your boardbag mixes with the salty aromas of the ocean spray triggering memories of those perfect sessions and hours spent in euphoric bliss, taking part in the World’s greatest sport.

To many, giving surfing this tag would be considered blasphemy, so let’s take a look at some more popular sports to see why surfing truly is “the best sport in the world”.

Football (all codes)

All codes of football are reasonably cheap for a participant getting started. At the most basic level all you really need is a ball, a bunch of mates, and a playing field. Each code can be exciting and fun, and at the professional level attract millions of supporters all over the world. But all codes of football share similar problems.

It doesn’t matter whether you are talking about Soccer, Aussie Rules, Rugby League, Rugby Union, or even American Football, all codes of football have the same fundamental issue of only being played with groups of people. You can train by yourself, but to actually play any of these games you need at least a small group of people.

Spectators are also at a disadvantage as live tickets to big matches are often unobtainable to many due to demand and price. Even watching your favourite team on TV or online might not be an option as broadcasting costs often see matches only shown by pay TV providers like Foxtel.

The problems in participating in football are echoed in most sports that where teams are mandatory.

Golf

Undoubtedly a fantastic sport, golf has many similarities to surfing. It can be played solo or as part of a team, socially or competitively, and harnesses the unpredictability of Mother Nature to further challenging participants and ensure that “no two shots are ever the same”. But like football golf has some problems.

First and foremost golf is prohibitively expensive for many people. You can pick up an average set of clubs and second hand balls cheap enough, but even then membership fees, green fees, and competition fees make golf one of the more expensive sports in the world.

Golf is also extremely time consuming with full rounds regularly taking in excess of 5 hours.

Skateboarding

Skateboarding ticks a lot of boxes in the search for the world’s best sport. Once you have a board all you need is a surface to ride on. It is relatively cheap to get started and can be enjoyed alone or as a group. Not needing the ocean, skateboarding is more accessible to the masses than surfing. But once again, there is a fundamental issue with skateboarding. Longevity of participants.

Whilst it is not uncommon to find a 50 or 60 year old participating in surfing, football, or golf, the participation rate in skateboarding is decreases dramatically as the participant’s age increases.

Surfing requires agility, power, precision, and speed. It is a sport that takes place in some of the most beautiful settings in the world and can be participated in at any age. Surfing is a progressive sport with surfers constantly evolving their styles and moves. It requires the participant to constantly be assessing and adapting for Mother Nature. And after a relatively small setup cost, surfing can be social or competitive, and can be enjoyed solo or as part of a team. These are just a few of things which make surfing the best sport in the world.