John Philbin grew up surfing the rocky shorelines of Palos Verdes, California. One of his first jobs was working for Kip Jerger at Kanoa Surf in Rolling Hills and later atthe Manhattan Beach Kanoa store. John surfed competitively on the UCSB Surf Team, then later transferred to USC where he received his Bachelor in Fine Arts in Theatre. He has been fortunate to combine his two loves, surfing and acting, in Hollywood surf films The North Shore, Point Break, Blue Crush, Soul Surfer, Surf Skool, & Ride.
Between jobs, John has stayed active in the surfing world traveling to exotic locations. He has logged over 100 days in the G-Land surf camp in Indonesia and survived the three tsunamis which destroyed the camp in 1994. He now lives in Pacific Palisades, California and is Red Cross certified in Lifesaving and C.P.R.