- In general, any surf map's name will start with 'surf_...'.
- All surf maps have surf ramps: large triangular slopes that players can slide down.
- There are two styles of surf servers: combat surf and skill surf. This guide will focus on maps most commonly played on combat surf servers.
- Most combat surf servers will run surf maps that feature a jail, which is a place where any player who falls off of the ramps while surfing goes.
- In some maps' jails, you can find what's called a sniper box, which is a vantage point from which you can seemingly shoot from inside a wall.
- Most maps will have secrets hidden in them. Some have no point beyond amusement, and some give you a clear combat advantage upon completing them.
- A secret is any area or feature of the map whose location, purpose, function, solution, or destination is not immediately obvious.

To illustrate these components, I'll show you one of the most popular surf maps of all time, surf_utopia_v3.

Upon loading into the map, this is what you'll see.


This is Utopia's spawn. Iconic.

In most maps, you'll be presented with the surf course right in front of spawn.

This is a surf ramp. Check out the next section for a tutorial for surfing.


Touching the floor will bring you here:

This is jail. Jails can come in many shapes and sizes. As you play more surf, you'll become familiar with a wide variety of jails, though most have tiered layouts.

About a third of the way through the map, you'll see this:

This is not the end of the map. Some maps feature bonuses for partial completion of the surf. Taking the 'JAIL MID' teleport brings you here:

This can be considered as the first tier above the jail floor.

Near the end of the map, there's a teleport to 'JAIL TOP':

Taking this teleport brings you up here:

This can be considered the second tier above the jail floor.

Finally, the end of the map presents you with three separate teleports you can reach, depending on your speed.

The 'JAIL CENTER' teleport brings you here:

The 'JAIL BOTTOM' teleport brings you here:

And 'END' brings you here:


The arrows on the sides bring you to 'JAIL BOTTOM', the teleport in the middle brings you to 'JAIL CENTER', and the question mark brings you to a secret sniper box. I'm calling this a secret for example purposes, but in general surf maps' secrets will be a lot more hidden than a door with a big ? on it.

To surf, all you need to use are the A and D keys, as well as the mouse. Which key you hold down and where you look on the screen are the basic controls of surfing.

In addition, it's important to remember that when surfing, never hold the W key. It is actually feasible to surf with w, but if you actually want to surf well and beat the map you're trying to finish, don't use it.

When on the left side of a ramp, hold down the D key.
When on the right side of a ramp, hold down the A key.







In the third image, notice that the D key is being held rather than the A key, even though the player is on the right side of the ramp. This is because the player is surfing on a curved ramp. When you come to a curve, hold down the opposite key, and strafe smoothly along the curve.
For instance, if I am on a ramp that is curving towards the right, I will hold down the D key and gently turn my aim along with the ramp. If I am on a ramp curving left, I will hold down the A key and strafe with the ramp.

In terms of where you aim, just remember that you always want to look in the direction you want to be traveling. In addition, try to relax and make smooth movements with your mouse. The last thing that you want is to tense up and twitch around, which will just result in speed loss.

Many players wonder about the effect of crouching while surfing, and the answer is:
Crouching while surfing doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. You don't really need to worry about it.

So, to summarize:
- Never use the W key
- Use the A and D keys on the right side of the ramp and the left side, respectively
- Use the opposite key on a curve and strafe with the curve
- Crouching is optional

There's one secret on Air Arena.



Going in the door brings you to a room with health, ammo, and an option to be teleported to either red or blue spawn.

Like Air Arena, Snow Arena has only one relatively hidden secret.



You can also just surf directly into the fake wall.
Either way, going through this fake wall will bring you to the side sniper box.



Depending on which side you enter from, it will bring you to one of the two boxes.
Interestingly enough, its possible to simply enter the sniper box from the side by crouching and sliding into the windows on the sides, though going through the fake wall in the arena is probably easier.

Utopia is probably the most well-known surf map (along with Air Arena), at least in the TF2 surf sphere. It's also arguably the easiest.

Like Air Arena and Snow Arena, this map has one secret (although it is very, very hidden and out of the way).

Towards the beginning of the surf course, just where the course splits into two directions, there is a hidden teleport that brings you to a higher area in jail.

10x features a hidden music room with six different music tracks from

This map has so many secrets, that I might've atleast missed 1 or 2.
The map is traditionally a maze, meaning some of the content below might be a little confusing if you do not know what the map looks like. Therefore, before exploring below you might want to explore and surf the map. Maybe you'll find the secrets before you read below!

A well known secret, this will get you faster and through the surf much easier.


One the many false walls in this map, this will grant you health upon entering, and has a medium health and ammo pack.


Within the same original path most people take, this section is just another section of the surf which has a medium health pack and ammo pack, leads to the top of spawn, and Jail 2.

Another false wall inside the previous secret, which provides the same things just without the option to go to the top of spawn.



This is kinda tricky, I personally (against the best wishes of the guide) to w-surf into it. It seems like there's a door that opens first, making it hard to get into in the first place.


The highlighted area is breakable, and upon breaking leads to inside the fan rotors, there's a teleport directly under the middle of the fan and will bring you to the top of spawn.

In this little section here, behind the teleport there's a wall that if +use'd will open a door, allowing you to go through a false wall revealing a button,


Go back outside, and proceed along the edge where marked, and you'll be teleported to Jail 3.


+using on this door will open it, revealing a medium health pack and ammo pack. A nice room to chill in :)


This is located in the side surf by spawn. Becareful, if you do not jump on the platform there's a little gap that'll make you fall. The three yellow markers are buttons, when all three are pressed the highlighted door will open. Inside there's a full health pack and ammo pack.


There's a little extension before the actual wall that you can surf on before you phase through the wall. There is a button you can press,

And when pressed you'll have 12 seconds to jump into this big hole near the button. This'll take you to the true end of the surf.




Hole in the bottom is a little room with a medium health pack and ammo pack. Brings you to Jail 2.


I mean kingfin claims you can surf to the other spawn if you're clever enough but you know I can't do it consistently so be my guest.


First, you're going to want to jump into the highlighted section, you'll hear a door open and you'll have set amount of time to hop into the next highlighted section.

This spot can be achieved by finding a spot on surf that says "TOP", and with incredible speed surf into it.

I recommend this spot from earlier with the False Door.


When pressing this button, it will activate EVERY SINGLE SECRET.

You'll be able to do the next secret and the Hidden Button 1 secret.

After pushing the master button, if you hop into the highlighted area you'll land into this poorly lit hallway with a full health pack and ammo pack. The white section in the middle will push you out back into surf.

This is the most of what I know, if you do know more, feel free to comment on the guide.

A few notes on the video:

• Open the doors to the houses using +use
  
• The houses marked 1 and 2 will both bring you to the surf course, as long as you walk behind the plasma gate

Rainbow is a pretty simple jail map with a pretty short course.




The surf course is divided into color sections. In the first section (red), there is a secret door that can bring you to jail 1.




Other than this, there's only a few other secrets, in which this next one is very well-known.
At the end of the surf, behind the last platform brings you to a code room.




In this first room (the circle room), enter the dark blue/gray door.



In the second room (the star room), enter the yellow door.



In the third room (the square room), enter the orange/light red door.



In the last room (the triangle room), enter the light blue door.



So, the order would be:

• Dark blue/gray
  
• Yellow
  
• Orange/light red
  
• Light blue

After entering the code, you'll have access to all of the jails in the map, as well as the sniper boxes.
In addition, you can get to the end quickly but surfing onto the platform at spawn and entering the spotlight labeled "End."

There is one last secret that is not too well-known, which is the Gaben room.

To get here, simply +use the spot between the yellow and green door.

The first and most simple secret on Super Mario is in the jail. On the rock in the lake, there is a face that serves as a button that opens the escape route from the jail (the iron bars in front of the castle)



The other secret on this map is a little more complex than this one.

To activate the teleport to the secret, we'll need to +use a button in spawn.

As you can see, it's pretty easy to find, as it's just the corner of the window. This will work in both spawns.


This button activates two trigger_teleports, one being behind spawn that teleports you directly on to the other teleport.
To get to this teleport, simply get to the top by finishing the first section of surf and entering the "Top" pipe.

The only issue here is that the invisible ground above spawn is extremely finicky and can get you stuck really easily.


Instead of doing this, it's much easier to just finish the "Pro" surf and fly into the red ! box.

Going to the teleport behind spawn essentially just drops you onto this box, so you can skip that teleport and fly into this one at the end instead.


Either way, once you get here and are teleported to the main hall, you'll find a keypad.
However, this keypad will be initially disabled.

To activate it, drop down into the little pond below and +use the center of it.

Once you +use this spot, the keypad will be activated.


From my experience, this keypad is kinda broken, and sometimes just messes up.

As I said, this keypad is really bizarre, and sometimes when inputting the code correctly, the door just doesn't open.


Assuming the door does open, you'll find yourself in a strange looking room. You'll want to immediately run forward, to the left, and jump in the corner to avoid the incoming lasers.

Horizon, one of Kompile's maps, features a simple layered jail with a short surf with checkpoints.


At the end of the map, in the highest jail, you'll find a keypad that lets you access the sniper boxes peeking at the tops of spawn.



Another secret is the teleport a little over halfway through the surf that brings you to the other team's end.



Finally, there is a secret teleport at the bottom of the map between the two main structures.
It will teleport you behind the walls of the enemy team's spawn, allowing you to spawn camp the enemy team (assuming that there's no spawn protection :p)

Note

Arena based map with three secrets.



Actually really hard and needs intense speed, surf into the highlighted area and get rewarded with a trail.




The last two secrets are located in the two corner of the map where there's no spawn. When surfing there make sure you know this.

If you want the maze, surf to a corner and look back and make sure you see BLUE/RED

If you want the Sniper Box, surf to a corner and look for RED/BLUE


WARNING

Once completing the maze, it has 18+ content. Viewer discretion advised.




Once surfing into the correct corner, you'll be instantly teleported to the sniper box. There are two small health packs and ammo packs. The two teleports bring you back to spawn according to the color. Regardless of what team you're on, if you go into the opposing teams teleport you'll be sent to your spawn.

This map features an interesting trail (Frictional shares the same trail) that you can get pretty easily.
Here's how to get it:


Fire at the signature with hitscan/melee (explosions may work, but I'm not sure they do)



Make sure you hug the wall as you fall down, and make sure you are aligned with Felix's signature.
Doing this will grant you the map's trail.


In addition to the trail, you can also get an orb at the end of the map's course. The entrance is surprisingly well-hidden.





In this next secret, you'll find something that Felix loves to put on his maps.

Prelude's short surf course holds a few cryptic secrets.


Flying into this area will teleport you to a special room.


Next is the credits room and the bonus there.



Doing this will bring you to an empty room with a keypad.





Once you're in the room, you'll see a gate guarding Nappa's signature.

The first secret is easy to get to, and it's located fairly early in the surf course.

You'll find another lovely room of Nappa's.


The next secret is a little further in, at the second checkpoint.



Luckily it's not too difficult.


Finally, the last thing on this map is its code.



It's not a great explanation, but basically two of the buttons aren't used, and two are used twice.
+use them in that order to get the bonus.

Like the last map, this is much like Prelude but Zelda themed. It's also very dark and gloomy, as the name implies.


The first secret is quite obvious and easy to get to.



This will bring you to a Nappa room™.


After getting to Jail 3, you'll get the opportunity to get the bonus at the end, as well as Jail 4.
In Jail 3, go in the Credits door and you'll find yourself with a keypad.



As said, you'll get a bonus (an orb) and the access to Jail 4.


Trails:



As you can see, it's on the other side of the pillar that you surf towards.


During this section of the surf, where you are supposed to turn left or right, there is a small section of the back wall, just above the lamp, which is not solid.

Surfing through it lets you get the green trail and access to jail 2.





To get there, you need to surf to the very end of the map. Here is a top-down view of the final jump.

There is a light at the backside of the wall you normally surf over.
Going into that light brings you to your team's side of Jail 5.

There is still more to this map that I am not aware of yet.

Twilight, perhaps Nappa's most complex map, has a main area partway through the first area of the surf where most of the secrets are found (not activated, though).


Firstly, there is a keypad at the end of the map. However, it's opened by completing the short and easy bonus surf at the end. It's only opened for a few seconds before the door shuts on the keypad again, so make sure to type in the code quickly.





Alright, onto the trails.


This first one is very simple.




This will give you a lime green trail.


The second one is located on the course, outside of the cylinder you fall into doing the course normally.




This will give you a light blue trail.


The third button is located on the course, at the Jail 2 checkpoint.






This will give you a blue trail.


The last button is at the third checkpoint.






There are 2 bonus surfs on this map. The first bonus is located at the end, which is used to get the code door unlocked.





There is also one other bonus on the map, and it requires pressing 3 buttons in a certain order. Here's how to unlock the bonus.


The first button is quite easy to get to.

Once you've pressed this button, you'll have 2 more to go.


The next button is located near the cylinder at the beginning



After this, there's one more.



Pressing this button will bring you to the bonus.


It can be a bit tricky getting to that button, so here's a video of me surfing there.
Basically, on last ramp you touch, you want to make sure you can set up a big jump, because you need a good amount of height to reach it.

Alright, onto Egan's maps. I think his are probably the most secret-dense of the surf maps that exist today, and Overlook probably has the most secrets of his maps.





(Just to be clear, cause a lot of people don't know this for some reason, but the surf course is located on the sides of the map - the big transparent circles [NOT THE GREEN ONES])


We'll start simple and cover the trails.



I believe the trigger is in all four corners of this big room, but it also might just be two. Either way, this one is probably the easiest to get.



Also very easy, and I'm pretty sure it's in both corners.



This one isn't too hard either, though it's directly under the very last ramp. Basically, the idea is to leave the last ramp as if you were making the jump to the end platform, but turn around mid-air and go back up the ramp.


Here is a very useful secret for this map that will take you to the end of the map (if you have already beaten it once before).



This map, when +used regularly, will take you to an arena. If you have beaten the map, then +using it will bring you to the end. From my experience, it's a bit finicky, and sometimes teleports you to the arena even when you've beaten the map. Most of the time, it works though. This map is also in both spawns.


Next, we'll look at some of the secrets at the end hub of the map.


This panel, when +used, makes something appear.

I'll leave you to find out what exactly it does.


Another secret lies in the left corner of the room, when coming from the teleport.

Something about this wall is that the place you're supposed to shoot at is a bit specific:
Make sure you're not aiming too high or low, and obviously it's not the whole wall either, just the area in the corner.
The circled area in the picture is roughly the place you want to shoot. You'll know it's working if the bullets don't leave bullet holes.
Oh, and this secret only works once.



So that's cool I guess, don't think it does anything though.


There is also a secret hidden on the ramp directly underneath both spawns.


Here's something a little more complex:


On this boat, +use this little decal on top.


+using this will activate these clips for a few seconds.




It should be pretty clear; the textures don't really align.


Finally, you'll be in the Game Grumps room (Rest In Peace).

This will bring you to the rest of the secret.



This will bring you to the Korra room, as well as the operating room for the arena.


Finally, here's the most popular secret on the map, the music room.


What a lot of people don't seem to know, however, is that you actually have to activate it beforehand.

Then, wait 3 minutes.



This will bring you to the music room.





There is a song that is playable outside of the music room, as well. Here's how to get it to play.





Once the time has passed, go to the balcony in blue spawn.



It's quite small, so crouch down to +use it. The song will play after a few seconds.


Up next is a bizarre secret that ultimately lets you get to the skybox without beating the map.



The trigger_teleports are specifically up against the wall, in the middle of the platform. It can be tricky to reach at first, but it's entirely doable.





I believe that is all the secrets to this map, but there are so many I may have missed one or two. Please comment if you know of any that should be added.

Entrance is a pretty simple arena map, with only two secrets.


The first one can be found in the credits room, after capping the point.



Next, you'll want to gain a ton of speed to fling yourself into the corner of the map. Only two corners will work. Both of them are to the left of spawn.

Doing this will grant you a trail.


The other secret is a little weird.



Try to +use in the area where the red line is. As you can see, it's on the right side of blue spawn, so it's on the left side of red spawn. That should make it easier to locate.


+using this button causes devastating things to happen. Be warned.

Swamp is a really strange map, and some of the secrets aren't actually accessible. And there's also one that's only accessible with noclip.


To get to the "end" of the map, there's a few things to do.



This house is behind the mansion.



This is behind the same house.


Once you're in the room, you'll find a keypad.



Immediately after you input the code, you'll hear a confirmation noise.

Soon you'll hear the door open behind you. Turn around and run into the room.


So, there's a lot to explain here. Essentially, there's this cool slideshow that updates the images on the wall every few seconds, and that's the only reward for this room.
However, there is a secret that's intended in here, but it doesn't actually work. I'll show it's supposed to work.



+using this first button will unlock another button...








+using that button will bring you to the skybox. However, the model blocks the button from moving, so it's not possible to do.





Note that the first button pressed essentially starts a 4 second timer. When that 4 seconds has passed, you will be teleported out of the room. Basically, you have 4 seconds to do the secret.



This shows up after correctly inputting the code.


Finally, the last secret is an admin hangout room of sorts, that's next to the skybox.