What are the chances of being bitten by a shark while surfing?

It depends on how you want to look at it. Raw statistics (looking at shark bites/per American citizen) will tell you that your chance of getting bitten by a shark are almost as rare getting struck by lightening twice. read more

My cousin has been surfing for nearly thirty years from Santa Cruz (his home break), to Hawaii and Bali. He has never seen a shark let alone been bitten by one. The odds of being bitten by a shark, according his surfing experience, are infinitesimal if not nil. read more

BUT remember, you have an immensly better chance dieing in a car accident on your way to the beach, being shot by a random gunman, having a heart attack out of the blue, choking on a piece of gum, or being pulled over by publisher's clearing house, than seeing a shark, let alone being attacked by one. read more

In fact, your odds of getting killed by a shark are 1 in 400 million. Over half of all of the world's shark attack takes place on the beaches of Florida. The chances of getting attacked by a shark at a Florida beach are 1 in 430,000 and the odds of getting killed are 1 in 36 million. read more