The invention discloses an electromagnetic ultrasonic surface wave transducer and a design method thereof, and belongs to the technical field of electromagnetic ultrasonic. The invention aims at solving the problem of low efficiency of the existing electromagnetic ultrasonic surface wave transducer. According to the electromagnetic ultrasonic surface wave transducer, the size of a magnet and the structure of a coil are changed, and a zone with higher magnetic induction intensity and more horizontal components in a magnetic field is fully utilized, so that the working efficiency of the transducer is improved, and the amplitude of signals exciting surface waves is improved. Due to the complete design thought, the parameters of the magnet in the transducer do not need to be determined by multiple trials; and the efficiency of the transducer and the amplitude of the surface wave signals are further improved through the new structure of the zigzag coil. The invention can be widely applied to an electromagnetic ultrasonic device for detecting with the ultrasonic surface wave.