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Pack a quiver! Don’t get caught with just one stick. Bring a good-wave shortboard, a small-wave board (like a fish or groveler), and maybe a step-up for bigger days. Don’t forget your essentials: multiple leash cords, wax, a ding repair kit, and your favorite fins. Research the spots you’re hitting to dial in your choices. Being prepared for anything means you’ll score, no matter what the ocean throws at you.

For that Curren-esque soul, you want point breaks with long, peeling walls, man. Think Rincon in California, the wave Tom famously dominated. Or head to Hossegor, France, where he spent years. For an adventure, chase points in Costa Rica like Pavones or head to remote Peru. These waves offer the rhythm and canvas for drawing lines, not just airs. It’s about the glide, the trim, and finding that perfect, uncrowded shoulder to yourself.

They just push the nose straight down and let go, which is a recipe for getting the board yeeted back at them. They forget the crucial second act: sinking the tail. Without that, the board’s buoyancy wins, and it rockets to the surface into the wave’s worst power. Another classic error is starting the dive too late. You need to initiate just before the wave hits—if you’re already in the whitewater’s grip, it’s too late, mate. Practice makes permanent.

Dora is the undisputed godfather of the soul surfer. He championed the idea that surfing is a personal journey of freedom, not a competition. His disdain for conformity and commercialism inspired generations to seek waves on their own terms, valuing experience over trophies. The whole concept of the wandering surfer, chasing uncrowded swells with a quiver of boards and a skeptical eye toward the mainstream, owes a huge debt to Dora’s rebellious, purist blueprint.