Yoni Klein Is The Best Israeli Doctor Expecting A Child You’ll See Surf Today

Surfing is an often joyous activity participated in by individuals from all over the world regardless of their nationality, gender, race, religion, fondness for SUPing, etc.

Professional surfing, though? Could probably still use a little international flavor. In over 40 years of existence, the men’s World Title has only been won by people hailing from four different countries (if you include Hawaii as an American State). And let’s just say there weren’t many Argentinians in Kai Neville’s latest flick. Plus, everybody hates SUPing.

The tides are swinging though — under the Marlon Lipke act of 2008, the WSL has employed a policy of allowing surfers to represent any country whose general direction they can point to on a map. And away from the tour, there are fellas like Yoni Klein getting around.

The Doctor is in. Photo courtesy Kandui Resort

Yoni’s a 28-year-old doctor from Israel who fucking rips. We’ll just let his surfing explain itself in this edit he just dropped. However, we’ll let him explain the rest.

Did you grow up in Israel?

Yeah, in Tel Aviv. I traveled a bit when I was young, but not that much. My dad surfs and he took me on my first surf trip for my Bar Mitzvah when I was 13. That trip made me realize how good waves can be.

What’s the surf scene like in Tel Aviv?

It’s cool, a lot of people surf here. It can go dead flat for like a month at a time — especially in the spring or the fall — but you also have months when you’re surfing nearly every day. On average, if you take the entire year, you can probably surf a few times a week. That’s with a lot of 1-2 foot waves though. It’s mostly beachbreaks in Tel Aviv, but there are some good reefs north of here.

“I graduated two years ago, but then decided to take some time to travel before I started working.” Yoni says. “I felt like I had a lot of boxes to tick in terms of waves I’ve always wanted to surf.” Photo courtesy Kandui Resort

Did you always know that you wanted to become a doctor?

No. Actually, it was the complete opposite. Both of my parents are doctors and I saw how much they had to work. I didn’t think I wanted that life. I wanted to surf. They ended up supporting that decision and I did the Juniors and everything when I was younger. But after a few years of that, I ended up going to med school in Prague. I felt like it came naturally to me and I enjoyed it. Plus, I was able to do strike missions from there — Portugal and Morocco are pretty close.

So are you a practicing doctor now?

I graduated two years ago, but then decided to take some time to travel before I started working. I felt like I had a lot of boxes to tick in terms of waves I’ve always wanted to surf. Some of the waves in Indo from this clip were on that list.

“Hopefully, I’ll still be getting a lot of waves. I’ll just be doing it as a doctor with a baby.” Photo courtesy Kandui Resorts.

What’s next for you?

I’m starting my internship next month, and I have to do that for one year to officially get my medical license. I’ll still be able to do some strike missions with my sick days. Also, my wife is eight months pregnant so life is caving in fast [laughs]. It’s cool though. My wife surfs too, so we’ll be traveling with our baby. A friend of mine has a surf camp in Indo and a lot of those places need to have a doctor on site, so I’ll probably try to lock into a few positions like that for a while.

Hopefully, I’ll still be getting a lot of waves. I’ll just be doing it as a doctor with a baby.