Surfing Life

Waves, they bring our tribe together. They mystify, they exhilarate, they frustrate. They provide release, they feed our stoke, they calm and they mesmerise. They take us around the planet; we search for them and we yearn for them. As surfers, we are

It’s a privilege to sit and chat with influential people. Sometimes they’re famous, most times they’re more knowledgeable than us, and often they give a glimpse into what’s up ahead… lines on the industry’s horizon. This issue, we caught up with Occy

What more can be said about Mick Fanning that hasn’t already been plastered across the internet and splashed across the pages of magazines the world over? Probably not much at all…and the media coverage and outpouring of support for Australia’s most

By the time you read this it might seem like old news, but the ramifications round the WSL cancelling the 2018 Margaret River Pro due to safety concerns might linger on for some time to come. Discussion is still rife around whether the decision was r

Jet-skis — are they acceptable in crowded, urban lineups? Or have they gone too far in modern day surfing. Recently, a couple of cyclones of note brought pumping swells into Queensland and Western Australia and the jet-skis swarmed. Experienced drive

Is surfing on the verge of another revolution? Change in the surf industry hasn’t been this massive since the seventies with the huge transformation in board design. The ocean is a supreme metaphor for change. I expect the unexpected but am never ful

Unless you’ve tried it, floating face down on an empty lung, holding your breath for minutes at time, will be daunting, if not impossible. At least that’s what your mind might tell you. If you have achieved an ideal state where you’re almost devoid o

Big wave surfing is not always about the glory and nailing the clip or the money shot. It’s not always about wrangling the bull successfully and being spat out into the channel giving you bragging rights to your mates. Sometimes things go wrong. A co

Here is a pretty typical checklist for today’s big wave charger. If you’re ready, then you already know all this, but beginners beware! SURFBOARD If it’s 25ft+ then you’ll typically see crew riding anything from 9’6” to 11’0”. Paddle powered beasts a

What do two world championship tour surfers, a free surfer, a big wave charger, and a young QS warrior all have in common? Quite a lot we’d imagine, but if we had to narrow it down to one common denominator – they all ride waves for a living. Malia M

Capturing the fleeting moments of a wave’s journey to dissipation, Ray feels more at home floating in saltwater with his camera than anywhere on land – reads the opening line on Ray Collins’ website. Shooting for the relative short time of 11 years,

The art of wave riding tunes us into the cyclical patterns of the planet – seasons and weather systems, swells and tides – that is essentially the earth’s natural pulse. And because of that we’re among the first to notice the changes first-hand, the

We asked 4 of the world’s most highly respected surf photographers to pick one wave and reveal why it lights their respective artistic fires. One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in my adult life was going snorkelling on a beautifully-flat morning a

In the great, early, 70’s, surf movie Big Wednesday, the film shows its provenance when the voice-over gravely intones that, “No one knew from where the big swells came.” Well, we all know now. Modern forecasting and modern understandings of storms,

It’s a surreal experience, arriving at the scene of your finest hour and not being able to recognise it. Nikkos, a right-hand reef break, on Bali’s east coast, used to do a fair impression of Desert Point (in reverse) when the conditions aligned. An

The thought of cyclone season approaching conjures up a mixture of feelings in most surfers; from excitement to apprehension, even fear — to heightened feelings of FOMO, to I wish I had a jet-ski and how-the-hell-am-I-going-to-get-out-of-work-for-thi

Putting this issue on WAVES together was one crazy ride. There’s nothing quite like the process of pulling a magazine together; a million moving parts, all rapidly marching towards an immovable deadline. It’s like attempting to coordinate the tentacl