On a Rising Swell: Surf Stories from Florida’s Space Coast

Dan Reiter’s On a Rising Swell is not simply a collection of surf stories—it is a nostalgic, soul-stirring homage to Florida’s Space Coast and the culture, mythology, and quiet beauty of life in the lineup. Blending memoir, history, humor, and local lore, Reiter crafts a warm, vibrant portrait of a community where wave riding is both sport and spiritual practice.

At its core, the book celebrates transformation. Reiter recounts his own evolution from an anxious, landlocked Montreal transplant to a sun-bronzed, wave-chasing local. His first attempt at surfing at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach is vividly captured: “The wave threw me from my board, smashed me against the sand at the bottom… and I took in a full gulp of the foul, freezing water.” These moments of struggle and awe are sprinkled throughout the book, as Reiter finds his rhythm in Cocoa Beach, buys his first board, and learns the unspoken rules of surf culture.

Themes of identity, resilience, and place are woven throughout. The “surf lit” prologue is a smart, gently ironic survey of the genre, where Reiter nods to Jack London, Surfer magazine, and William Finnegan, noting, “Surfing has its own idiosyncratic language, a patois, and that it fully inhabits its own universe.” That universe, especially on Florida’s dribbly coastlines, is lovingly rendered with sensory detail: the coconut scent of surf wax, the crackle of a morning set, the hum of a rocket launch viewed from the ocean.

The book also dives deep—literally and historically—into the land itself. In “Beneath the Sand,” Reiter evokes Florida’s prehistoric and Indigenous past, describing the Ais people, “giants compared to the Europeans of the time,” who free-dived and harpooned whales. There’s reverence here for a vanished world, and subtle grief at what’s been lost.

Yet the tone is rarely somber. Even in the satirical essay “How to Be a Kook,” where Reiter lovingly mocks newbie surfers, there’s a humility and self-awareness that makes the reader root for every hapless wipeout. His advice to the aspiring kook? “Never hesitate—always go for it!”

This book is a gift to anyone who has stood at the edge of the ocean and felt it pull something awake inside them. You don’t need to be a surfer to appreciate On a Rising Swell, but by the time you’re done, you might be tempted to rent a soft-top and see for yourself what all the stoke is about.