It was only a few months ago when Sunny Garcia got to try some "other" sports like tennis, racquetball and soccer.

He even ran laps around a track, and lifted weights.

But the one sport he loves most — surfing — was forbidden for nine months.

Prison walls and house arrest tend to make it difficult to reach the beach.

Garcia, 37, is back in Hawai'i this month after serving three months in a federal prison followed by six months of house arrest in California for tax evasion.

For the next two months, he will celebrate his freedom by doing the things he couldn't do earlier this year — surfing on O'ahu's North Shore, and spending time with his family.

"When I came out of prison, I was in the best shape of my life. There's a lot of sports and training you can do in there," Garcia said. "But not being able to surf ... that was one of the hardest things I had to deal with."

Surfing, after all, is the sport that defines Garcia. He surfed nearly every day while growing up in Wai'anae. By age 16, he was good enough to turn professional.

Throughout the 1990s, he was consistently one of the best surfers in the world. In 2000, he won the world championship.

But surfing is also the sport that played a role in his prison stint.

Garcia pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges in July 2006 after failing to report more than $400,000 he received in prize money between 1996 and 2001.

"I take the blame for that," he said. "You live and learn. I know this much — I'm going to pay more attention to every detail of my life from now on, and I'm going to enjoy every day I get to surf."

Garcia arrived in Hawai'i two weeks ago for the first time in almost one year. Apparently, the time away from the ocean did nothing to diminish his trademark powerful surfing style.

He won his first three heats in the Xcel Pro at Sunset Beach last week, and is still in contention for the final day of competition (which is expected to run today or tomorrow).

After the completion of the Xcel Pro, Garcia will enter the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. He already owns a record six Triple Crown championships, and has a burning desire for seven.

In the sponsorship-driven world of professional surfing, Garcia is almost sponsor-less right now.

"A lot of people gave up on me because I did go to prison," he said. "That's fine. I understand it's a business and all that. But at the same time, that's why I really want to prove something to a lot of people this year."

If the first two days of the Xcel Pro were any indication, Garcia is just as good now as he was before any of the tax charges came to light.

"I think he appreciates what he has now, and he has a real positive attitude," said Randy Rarick, the executive director of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. "I think that attitude, combined with his experience, makes Sunny a definite contender again."

Garcia was allowed to enter the Triple Crown last year, even though he had already pleaded guilty to the tax evasion charges. He also happened to be going through a divorce last winter.

"To be honest, I can't even remember what happened last year," he said. "My mind was all over the place with the divorce, and I knew I was headed to prison. It was my worst Triple Crown ever."

In January of this year, he started serving his time at a federal prison in Bakersfield, Calif.

"I actually had a cousin and some friends in there, and I met some Hawai'i guys," he said. "We would train together, and those guys helped me out a lot. It ended up OK. I learned a lot in there."

Then came the six months of house arrest in San Diego. While under house arrest, Garcia had to wear a tracking device on his ankle, and was not allowed to surf.

"It was kind of inhumane to have something like that on," he said. "I can see if I was a murderer or something like that. The house arrest was harder than prison because I couldn't do anything."

The one thing he did get to do was establish a relationship with Colleen McCullough, who was introduced to him through a friend. They plan to get married in 2008.

"I'm very much happy with her," Garcia said.

He's even happier now because he gets to spend time with his three children — Kaila, 16, Logan, 15, and Stone, 13.

"I didn't want them seeing me like that in prison, so it was a while before I got to see them," Garcia said. "We're spending a lot of time just hanging out now, and that's cool."

Garcia, who can be an intimidating figure in and out of the waves, even allowed Kaila's boyfriend to hang out with the family.

"I thought I would be overprotective," he said. "But my kids are all good kids, and I need to show that I trust them."

Garcia is hoping a strong finish in the surf for 2007 will help usher in a memorable 2008.

In addition to getting married, Garcia said he will attempt to get a wildcard spot on the 2008 World Championship Tour.

His last year on the elite WCT was 2005.

Part of the reason for his return is restitution-related. Garcia said he will owe "probably something like $1.5 to $2 million."

"I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go," he said.

What's more, Garcia still has four weeks of house arrest to complete. He was allowed to travel to Hawai'i this winter, but only under the condition that he return to San Diego to complete his house arrest and probation.

But even if every paycheck he earns for the rest of his life is turned over to the government, Garcia said he'll be fine.

"I didn't have anything when I started surfing, but I grew to love it anyway," he said. "That's not going to change. As long as I can surf and have my family by my side, I'm happy."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.