A simple experiment on laser diffraction from a liquid surface wave (LSW) is described. The profile of the LSW is approximated as a traveling sinusoidal disturbance. High visibility and stable laser diffraction fringes from the LSW were gathered experimentally, and disappearance of the zero-order diffraction fringe was found in our experiment. In particular, the relations between the intensity distribution of the diffraction fringes and the characteristic features of the LSW are deduced. The theory of light intensity distribution agrees well with the experimental observations. On the basis of the experiment, the wavelength of the LSW can be measured.