The Smart Surfers Way

The ocean safety technique experienced surfers have used for hundreds of years — now available to everyone

The Smart Surfers Way is the world’s most intuitive rip current self-rescue technique. It is not new. It is not complicated. And it has been proven by experienced surfers for hundreds of years.

Every day, surfers around the world use rip currents to paddle effortlessly out to the waves — and then ride those waves back to shore. They do not fight the ocean. They read it, use it, and work with it. That knowledge has kept surfers safe for generations.

Think Waves Lifesaving Organization (TWLO) exists to take that knowledge out of the surf lineup and give it to everyone who goes to the beach.

Where the Smart Surfers Way comes from

The Smart Surfers Way was developed and taught by Milton and Michael Willis — identical twin brothers, world champion big-wave surfers, and officially recognized ocean lifesavers based in California.

Milton and Michael began surfing the ocean as young men and over decades became two of the most respected big-wave surfers in the world. In January 1998, during Hawaii’s historic “Condition Black” — when authorities closed beaches due to unprecedented surf — the Willis Brothers paddled into waves at Outer Sunset Beach estimated by eyewitnesses to exceed 100 feet. It is widely regarded as one of the most extraordinary moments in surfing history.

But the Willis Brothers did not just surf big waves. They paid attention to the ocean. They noticed that most drowning deaths at beaches — including lifeguarded beaches — were preventable. And they noticed that the knowledge to prevent them already existed, carried by surfers for hundreds of years.

As Milton Willis explains: “Experienced surfers have always used the natural occurring rip currents to get out to the surf and the waves to get back to shore. 99.9 percent of ocean rescues and drowning could be prevented if the general public only knew what experienced surfers have known for decades — rips go out, waves come in.”

In 2021, Milton and Michael founded Think Waves Lifesaving Organization to share that knowledge with the world.

The wisdom of Eddie Aikau

The foundation of the Smart Surfers Way traces back to advice Milton Willis received from Eddie Aikau — the legendary Hawaiian waterman, big-wave surfer, and Waimea Bay lifeguard who is celebrated across the surfing world with the phrase “Eddie Would Go.”

Eddie told Milton: “If you lose your surfboard, stay in the waves — they will bring you back to shore.” And when conditions turned dangerous: “Blue out, white in.”

Blue out: deep blue water with no breaking waves — that is the rip current pulling out to sea. White in: whitewater, breaking waves — that is the ocean’s energy pushing back toward shore.

The Willis Brothers heeded that wisdom. In 25-plus years of surfing big waves, they were never caught in a rip current and never needed to be rescued. They carried that lesson forward — and today, NOAA and the USLA have both incorporated the Surfers Way into their updated international ocean safety guidance, with pictographs now used worldwide showing swimmers moving toward breaking waves.

Rips out. Waves in. — the three words that could save your life

The entire Smart Surfers Way can be distilled into three words: Rips out. Waves in.

Rip currents flow away from shore — out to sea, past the breaking waves, into deeper water. Waves carry energy toward shore — in from the ocean, through the surf zone, back to the beach.

Every rip current is bordered by breaking waves. And every breaking wave is carrying energy in your direction.

When a swimmer is caught in a rip, the path back to shore is not straight back against the current — it is toward the nearest breaking waves. The waves are always there. The waves are always moving toward shore. Get to the waves and the waves will do the work.

This is what experienced surfers have always known. Watch Kelly Slater, Gerry Lopez, or Allen Sarlo paddle out at any beach with breaking surf — they find the rip, let it carry them effortlessly out past the breakers, then catch a wave back to shore. They are not fighting the ocean. They are reading it.

The Smart Surfers Way — step by step

The Smart Surfers Way has three steps. They can be learned in five minutes and remembered for life.

Step 1: Avoid rip currents — wade and swim in front of breaking waves

The best way to survive a rip current is to never get caught in one. To avoid rip currents, always wade, play, or swim in front of breaking waves. Waves push water toward shore — they will naturally keep pushing you back to the beach. Where there are no breaking waves, that is the rip. Stay in the whitewater.

Step 2: If caught — stay calm and flow with the current

If you feel a rip current pulling you offshore, do not panic and do not fight it. The current will not pull you under. Breathe, stay afloat, and let the current carry you. Every second you spend fighting it is energy you cannot get back. Stay calm — that calm is your most powerful tool.

Step 3: Swim toward the nearest breaking waves

Once you have stopped fighting and are conserving energy, look for breaking waves nearby. They will be on one or both sides of you, or ahead of you offshore. Swim toward them — calmly, steadily, at whatever angle gets you there. The moment you reach the breaking waves, their energy will begin pushing you back toward shore.

Rips take you out. Waves bring you back in.

If you cannot reach the waves, continue to float, conserve energy, and signal for help by raising one arm above your head. A resting swimmer stays afloat far longer than a fighting one.

Endorsed by lifeguards, validated by science

Lifeguard Captain Mike Hutchinson endorses the Smart Surfers Way as the world’s best intuitive rip current self-rescue technique.

Science backs it up too. Research by Dr. Jamie MacMahan of the Naval Postgraduate School, published in Marine Geology, found that 80–90% of rip currents flow in circular patterns — carrying swimmers offshore and then back toward shore if they do not fight the current. A swimmer who stays calm and flows with the current has an 80–90% chance of being returned to shallow water within three to six minutes.

Both the United States Lifesaving Association (USLA) and NOAA have updated their rip current guidance to reflect the surfers’ approach — move toward waves, use the ocean’s energy to return to shore.

This is not one organization’s opinion. It is what the ocean has always done — and what experienced surfers have always known.

Think Waves is bringing the Smart Surfers Way to the world

Think Waves Lifesaving Organization is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in California. Our mission is simple: to give every person who goes to the beach the same knowledge that has kept experienced surfers safe for hundreds of years.

Our team works with NOAA and the USLA to update international water safety policy. We run ocean safety education campaigns, beach outreach events, and a free online rip current quiz — and we never stop advocating for change.

Because every drowning death caused by panic in a rip current is preventable — and the knowledge to prevent it already exists.

Learn the Smart Surfers Way. Share it with your family. Take our free quiz. And the next time you go to the beach, read the ocean before you enter it.

Rips out. Waves in. The Smart Surfers Way.

How to spot a rip current →
Are rip currents dangerous? →
How to escape a rip current →
Take the free Rip Current Quiz →
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