It meant that other ways to break world records were prominent. And almost 20-years-ago now, more than 6,000 people gathered in Cape Town in an attempt to get as many on the same wave as possible. They did it, 450 people in the water and 110 of them surfing one wave at the same time.

Now, the team behind that feat are attempting to break their own record. This time, not in South Africa, but in the south west of the UK, the surf town of Newquay. Specifically, on Great Western Beach, where some of the country’s first surfers ever paddled out back in the 60s.

The attempt will take place on September 19th and organisers need to get 111 people in the water, at the same time, on the same wave.

The event’s organised by the team at Earthwave, who will also put on afternoon celebrating the ocean as part of the record attempt. Dene Botha, organiser, said: “The record gives us something exciting to aim for, but Earthwave has always been about the people around it. Newquay has an incredible surf and beach culture, and we want to bring surfers, families, businesses and the wider community together to create something that genuinely belongs here. This is year one. We want Newquay to be able to say: we were there at the beginning.” Earthwave is calling for as many surfers as possible to smash the world record.

Earthwave was originally established in South Africa after founders Dene and Paul Botha heard that 40 surfers had ridden the same wave simultaneously in Bali.

Their first attempt at Muizenberg Beach in Cape Town saw 70 surfers successfully ride the same wave. That number grew to 77, 90, 99 and eventually 110 surfers in 2009, establishing the record that remains the benchmark Earthwave will attempt to beat in Newquay.

For those wanting to get involved with the record attempt, you will need to register in advance or, subject to availability, on the day. Softboard and wetsuit packages will also be available for those who want to participate but don’t have the necessary equipment.

The team has also marked off Sunday 20 September, which is reserved as the contingency day should surf, weather or water-safety conditions prevent the attempt from safely taking place on Saturday.

For more information and to register interest, go here. Businesses are also invited to get involved too.

What’s even more mind-melting; it’s now been revealed Kelly had hip surgery just nine months ago. And not just any hip surgery, Kelly’s was carried out by a robotic arm. Your typical surgery is there to get you up and mobile. Slater’s was there to defy the decades – or so it seems. Side note, does that qualify as being robotically-enhanced? Who knows.

Dr Jason Snibbe, who helmed the surgery, posted about the operation on social media.

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The caption reads: “Last week, at 54 years old, he pulled into two massive barrels at Teahupo’o and posted a 19.06 heat total — near perfect surfing at the most demanding wave on tour.

“The surgery was performed by Dr. Jason Snibbe using a robotic-assisted technique: a 3D surgical plan built from a CT scan, guiding the robotic arm to remove damaged bone and place the implant with a level of precision that simply wasn’t possible a decade ago.

“It’s a different category of procedure than the hip replacements most people picture — built for athletes who need their joint to hold up under real load, not just get them walking again.

“Nine months later, the results speak for themselves. This isn’t just a comeback story — it’s a look at how far joint replacement technology has come, and what “recovery” can actually mean when the surgery is this advanced.”

The advances in technology are vast – here’s hoping we can all continue surfing well into out 70s, 80s and beyond.

Related: 54-Year-Old Kelly Slater Goes Near Perfect at Psycho Tahiti

It’s also more likely that this strengthening El Niño could make next year one of the hottest in record for some parts of the world. Sea surface temperatures in the Pacific are forecast to rise to 3.5 degrees C above average – with the last strong El Niño seeing this number rise to 2.4 degrees C, a staggering difference.

So what does this mean for surfing? We already know El Niño’s impact on surf zones across the South Pacific; the warming sea temperatures helps incubate conditions that lead towards more powerful storms and in turn, larger swells. But add a stick of dynamite to them and what’s the result?

Mexico and the US west coast could see even more powerful conditions over the winter months, as the jet stream and storm track are flushed further south. But that doesn’t always mean it’s going to be brilliant, especially around areas that rely on beachbreaks. Larger storms and longer period swells mean you need an object to essentially cut that swell up. Pointbreaks and reefs will be ideal to lap up that swell, but for the humble beachie, you could be staring down more close-outs across the season.

Related: El Niño vs La Niña: How Pacific Mood Swings Reshape Surf Seasons

There’s also the case of erosion. Bigger swells means more impact on the coastline – and with this powerful El Niño all go, we could see coastal regions get chewed apart. Plus, your once consistent sandbar may get totally obliterated. The up side is, that could totally reshape your dormant beachbreak too – or ruin it for years.

We also know that Hawaii loves an El Niño season. If we look at other strong El Niño events like 1982-83 and 1997-98, these produced some incredible conditions. In January 1998, that historic El Niño swell forced North Shore authorities to issue the first-ever “Condition Black,” legally closing all beaches and canceling the Eddie. Here’s Ross Clarke-Jones talking about that exact day (yeah, he surfed anyway).

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With this record-breaking El Niño on the cards, that could effectively mean seeing even larger surf making a bee-line for Hawaii. The data is certainly trending that way, now it’s just a waiting to game to see what comes of the season. We’ll keep you updated throughout.

Related: El Niño 2026 Watch: Latest Updates As Historic Pacific Weather Event Ignites

Last year, I was there for what turned out to be the final WSL J-Bay Open. The contest and surrounding festival were a spectacle on the point. But it was what was happening on the fringes, in the township of Pellsrus, that rocked my world. An event called the Jeffreys Bay Community Lunch had grown out of the vision of local surfer Joshe Faulkner, a Pellsrus local, with widespread support and collaboration.

Last year’s event landed almost like a festival, with workshops with professional athletes and live sets from South African stars including DJ DooWap and Youngsta CPT.

Now in its second year, the event has evolved. This time around, Joshe, with support from his organizing team, including the Pellsrus Community School, House of Mandela, and a coalition of local businesses and organizations, moved the focus away from spectacle and toward the mission at its center.

“This year it was less about the spectacle and more about the people and food,” Joshe said. “We wanted to make sure we didn’t lose focus of what the heart of the vision has been and that is food access. Not as a tool to cultivate favor, but as a basic human right.”

Around the meal, the team organized a series of community conversations built around understanding and capacity . And because it is Pellsrus, and because South African culture insists on celebration alongside the work, there was a lineup of local DJs and artist performances, followed by a screening of the Springboks vs. Wales rugby match.

This year’s evolution reflects the needs of where the event should go next — less noise, more infrastructure, and the emphasis on food as a basic human right.

Joshe grew up in Pellsrus, and against the odds went on to become one of the best surfers from what is widely considered one of the world’s greatest waves. In his own words, surfing saved him from going down the wrong path in life. He won his first Qualifying Series event in 2019 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Surf Pro and took the South African Surfing Championships the same year.

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The Community Lunch is now a fixture on Nelson Mandela Day. It is an activation for an area traditionally overlooked and under-resourced compared to the wealthy enclave of Jeffreys Bay next door. And this year, even with Joshe sidelined by injury, it kept moving and set a tradition that will be hard to forget.

Related: On Nelson Mandela Day, The Spirit of Ubuntu Pulsed Through Pellsrus

Three miles beneath the North Atlantic, apparently, is one of them. The French research vessel Pourquoi Pas? recently returned from an expedition to one of the stranger, and more consequential, dump sites on the planet: a vast field of radioactive waste barrels abandoned on the deep-ocean floor by France and other European nations between 1950 and 1990.

During 20 dives conducted between May 27 and June 28, a team of roughly 30 scientists descended to depths exceeding 15,400 feet as part of a research project led by Clermont Auvergne University and École Normale Supérieure. Their mission: find out what nearly eight decades of sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic has done to the barrels, the seafloor, and everything living around them.

The answer, at least so far, is complicated. The barrels had been studied before, albeit from a considerably safer distance. In 2025, researchers identified 3,355 containers. What nobody really knew was how badly they had deteriorated, or whether their contents had begun migrating into the surrounding sediment.

Now we know at least some of them are in what scientists describe as “advanced decay,” with corrosion serious enough in places to suggest leakage. So, naturally: Yikes. But the deep ocean, being the wonderfully strange place that it is, had another surprise waiting.

Rather than finding a barren radioactive wasteland, scientists found life. Lots of it. Crabs, sponges, anemones, and other organisms were living not merely near the barrels but on top of them, turning decades-old radioactive waste containers into something resembling an extremely cursed artificial reef. That doesn’t mean anyone should start building a deep-sea aquarium out of nuclear waste. The researchers are still working to determine whether radioactive compounds are measurably affecting the ecosystem.

To get at that question, lead scientists Patrick Chardon of Clermont Auvergne University and Javier Escartín of École Normale Supérieure and their colleagues collected sediment, seawater, organisms, and microbial communities from around the barrels, then compared those samples with material from nearby rocky seafloor. The samples contained radionuclides including cobalt-60, niobium-94, cesium-137, and americium-241. Cesium-137 and americium-241 are associated with nuclear-weapons testing and accidents.

The barrels were never really intended to remain hermetically sealed forever. The thinking was that the material would gradually disperse into the deep ocean. In retrospect, that sounds like a particularly questionable sentence to have ever appeared in a government meeting. Still, the biological activity around the site is intriguing. Life has colonized the barrels, and that tells scientists something about the resilience and perhaps the adaptability of deep-ocean ecosystems. It doesn’t tell us that radioactive waste is harmless, but it does suggest that the ecological story down there may be considerably more complicated than “barrels bad, everything dead.”

The scientists are still studying whether the radionuclides have accumulated in organisms or otherwise altered the surrounding ecosystem, and the jury is very much still out on how significant the contamination may be. But there is something strangely hopeful about finding a living community in a place where humanity once decided, essentially, Eh, throw it in the ocean.

The deep sea has absorbed an extraordinary amount of our industrial history, sometimes literally. From discarded fishing gear and plastics, busted boards and fins included, lest we get too high on our horses—to shipwrecks, chemical waste, and radioactive material, the ocean floor has become the final resting place for an astonishing amount of stuff we didn’t know what else to do with.

And yet, down there in the darkness, life keeps showing up. That doesn’t absolve us of the mess. Quite the opposite. But it may offer a little encouragement for the enormous cleanup job ahead, and a reminder that the ocean is far more resilient, weird, and alive than we sometimes give it credit for. Hope? Forever and always, we’ll take it.

The research is ongoing, with the latest findings being published by the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).

After a potential start earlier this month was put on hold in hopes for better waves, Bali’s Bukit Peninsula came roaring to life on August 20. Twenty-four elite international invitees and local talents battled their way through the leaderboard format to earn a spot in the Finals.

The men’s Final was stacked, with Makana Pang, Rajo Saputra, defending Event Champion Westen Hirst, and Tosh Tudor in the water. But it was Saputra that put on an absolute clinic throughout the heat. After dropping a perfect 10 in Round 2, he shifted into another gear for the Final. Saputra locked in a second 10-point ride and backed it up with a 9.73, edging out Hirst. The emotional win brought the title home for Saputra, whose father finished runner-up in the same event 20 years ago.

“I can’t even talk right now, I’m so happy,” said Saputra. “I had a dream last night that I was going to win the comp. It’s crazy.”

In the women’s division, Darragh certainly had her work cut out for her, going up against defending Champion Jasmine Studer, fellow Australian Ruby Berry and Hawaii’s Vaihitimahana Inso.

Darragh set the pace early with an 8.13 and a near-perfect 9.93 in her opening heats. In the Final, despite a strong early challenge from Berry—who notched the women’s only 10-point ride—Darragh further sealed her championship win with a clutch 9-pointer in proper fashion.

“This is such a sick comp. I’ve been watching it for years, since I was a grom. I just can’t
believe I’ve won it,” Darragh said.

Event Director Harry Mann called the historic day “one for the ages,” celebrating an unforgettable chapter in the event’s storied history as both teenage champs stood atop the podium.

In case you missed it, you can watch the Full Event Replay Here:

According to Brazilian outlet Metrópoles, Bernardo was airlifted to the hospital and was preparing to undergo surgery. Johnni was transported by ambulance, with doctors working to stabilize her condition. The location of the crash and the circumstances that caused it have not been publicly released. The surf world was notified by a the below post from Logan Dulien, close friend of the couple and director of the Snapt series.

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Victor is well known in the Brazilian and California surf communities and has built a following of admirers around the world. Born in 1997, VB grew up in Guarujá, São Paulo, and chased the WSL Qualifying Series for a decade before stepping back from competition and relocating to California. He had a very humble start, washing dishes out in the high desert, working hard to earn enough money to go surf. He was soon picked up by Album where a steady string of clips and edits, plus a consistent presence at Lowers, cemented his status as one of the most talented and stylish free surfers in the world.

Although light-hearted and quick to smile, Victor’s commitment and drive is nothing but serious. He’s never been one who needs to drink much or party hard. Rather choosing to stay in shape and ready to surf — one of those bright souls who is able to gracefully thread the needle between work and play.

The surf community responded quickly with a large outpouring of love from across the spectrum and a huge show of respect from some of the biggest names in surf.

Comments came in from friends and fans like, including but not limited to: Mikey February, Italo Ferreira, Mick Fanning, Taylor Knox, Tom Carrol, and many more.

Recovery timelines for Victor and Johnni have not been shared publicly. Victor has been a fixture of SURFER’s coverage in recent years and we are praying for their recoveries. We will keep you updated as the story develops

Related: ‘Snapt5: The Final Cut’ Is An Unapologetic Ode to High-Octane Surf Cinema

“Thursday is shaping up to deliver a proper Padang Padang day, with a solid S/SW swell and favourable wind, swell direction, and tide conditions all lining up,” said Swellnet forecaster Ben Matson. “The swell is looking strong, the forecast is coming together nicely, and we’re expecting a pumping day at Padang Padang.”

The event was initially placed on high alert earlier this month, but an August 11 run day never materialized after the surf failed to produce the necessary size and consistency. This time, however, organizers have pulled the trigger, with all 24 invitees ready to put their tube-riding skills to the ultimate test. Defending champion Westen Hirst is among those looking to make another run at the title after getting a taste of the lineup during last week’s official warm-up session.

“I think we’re on for sure,” Hirst said. “The swell is looking super West and like a proper Padang Padang day. We had a super fun warm-up session last Tuesday, and it was epic to share the lineup with all the invitees. I’m feeling excited and ready to go.”

The Rip Curl Cup features an equal split of internationally acclaimed tube riders and Indonesia’s top local talent. The competition will use a leaderboard format, with each surfer competing in two non-elimination, four-person heats. Their two best scores will count toward their overall total, with the top four men and women advancing to four-person finals.

Related: Invite Only: The World’s Best Invitational Surf Contests

“I did it. That was crazy. I haven’t had a lot of time on surfboards since the injury and I was not feeling a lot of confidence in myself, so it was harder to catch waves and ride it as I felt like I remember my body doing,” said Shimizu after winning the Master Women final of the 2026 Vancouver Island (VI) Longboard Classic at Wickaninnish (Wick) Beach in the Pacific Rim National Park.

“I actually wasn’t going to enter at all. In my mind, I was going in with low expectations of myself. It had been just over two weeks that I’ve been back on my longboard,” said the hard working mom and co-owner of Howler’s Family Restaurant in Ucluelet.

But when she paddled out into tropical-like Canadian waters on June 14 for the finals heat, the stars aligned and the bubbles sprayed.

“Trust your body and really be so clean in your body and mind that you can feel your body. And have high goals,” she encouraged.

“I was told that more than likely that I wouldn’t be able to get back to surfing the same way I did. That really stuck in my mind and I really wanted to prove the surgeons wrong. But I also didn’t want to hurt myself, so I was just kind of going with the flow. We can set our own small goals and try to surpass them,” said Shimizu.

Or ask Emily Ballard what it’s like to return to competitive surfing after a leg break and she’ll gush about seeing butterflies and ladybugs out in the line-up.

“We’re surfing in a National Park. It’s a treasure. It’s incredible. It’s the best place to surf in the world, hands down,” said the Tofino-based longboarder.

Ballard narrowly nabbed the VI Longboard Classic Open Women title by a wee 0.33 points.

“So stoked. It was amazing. So much fun. I was in fourth and then all of sudden I bumped into first. I was so happy. I talked to one of the judges and he said a certain move that I did just blew everyone away, so I’m real happy,” she said. “It felt so good to be back in the water. I’ve been out of the water for a while, but I still got it.”

Mackenzie Arndt thought she was in last place throughout her entire Nationals Longboard Women final heat, but then walked out of the ocean a champion.

“It was a really nice surprise. I wasn’t expecting that and a lot girls were surfing really well all weekend,” said Arndt.

“The cool thing about Canadian surfing is that so many of us really want it. I’ve surf travelled a lot, and a lot of other waves are a bit more consistent or a bit better quality, and it’s not like zero degrees in the winter. I think it’s cool how hardy and hardcore Canadian surfers are,” she said.

While VI Longboard Surf Classic founder David Schiaffino was second best beside Rusty Goyer in the Open Men and Nationals Men divisions, he cross stepped his way to glory in the Master Men.

“The vibe has just been amazing. I have so much gratitude for everything we have accomplished,” said Schiaffino.

“I surfed six heats today, so I’m destroyed. My arms are toasted. I think that’s like 60 waves, you know, 10 waves a heat,” he grinned.

Nursing a Lucky Lager with his parents after winning the Nationals Men crown and a ticket to World Championships, Goyer said the waves delivered. He rode a 9’8 Joel Tudor Springfield, shaped by the late Hank Byzak, to the top of the podium.

“That’s probably my last time surfing this board. It’s about to have a lot of stress cracks, so I was going to retire it after this competition. That board has really served me well. It helped me win the last two Nationals. Shout out to Mr. Hank Byzak. He’s a legend,” said Goyer.

Then there is Matt Westcott who proved that even when you lose, you can still kind of win. Westcott was eliminated in the first round of the Open Men, but surfed his way to the top of the Last Chance Champ leaderboard. A fan favourite and unique division to the VI Longboard Classic, the Last Chance Champ gives any surfer who loses in Round 1 a second chance to battle for a title without re-entering the main draw.

Related: Sneak Peek: Canada’s First Wave Pool Reveals One of the World’s Most Scenic Surf Parks

Consider all of the Ride of the Year nominees, both men and women, come to us from either Teahupo’o in the South Pacific or Mullaghmore Head in the North Atlantic. Traditional big-wave fields like Peah’i, Waimea, Maverick’s, Todos Santos, or even Dungeon’s didn’t factor into that specific category at all. To be fair, Todos is a player in the Paddle category, but you get the point. Girth, weight, and heaviness have taken over the spotlight, while sheer height does not always take the cake.

Of course, in the Biggest Wave category one spot is responsible for every nominee: Nazaré. Previous Big Wave Challenge winners Justine Dupont and Lucas “Chumbo” Chianca front the field, but there’s an interesting crew of young chargers and local legends hot on their heels, especially on the women’s side.

Now in its 26th running, the Big Wave Challenge awards ceremony, presented by Aquamar Seafood, will take place on Saturday, September 19, 2026, at the historic Lido Theater in Newport Beach, California.  With over $100,000 in prize money on the table, and fragile egos hanging in the balance, we’re officially a month out from learning who rode the biggest waves of 2026. Keep it locked here as things will surely continue to develop.

Men’s Ride of the Year

Matahi Drollet at Teahupo’o, Tahiti. Video by Maiko Mou
Natxo Gonzalez at Mullaghmore Head, Ireland.  Video by Clem McInerney
Tom Lowe at Mullaghmore Head, Ireland.  Video by Michael Darrigade

Women’s Ride of the Year

Justine Dupont at Mullaghmore Head, Ireland.  Video by Peter Clyne
Izzi Gomez at Teahupo’o, Tahiti. Video by Owen Milne
Aelan Vaast at Teahupo’o, Tahiti. Video by Kotaha Surfing Productions

Men’s Biggest Wave

Lucas Chianca at Nazaré, Portugal. Video by Rennan Chaves
Rodrigo Koxa at Nazaré, Portugal. Video by Mattias Hammar.  Photos by Jayden Cheo, Stephan Mathers and Ianco Rocha
Clement Roseyro at Nazaré, Portugal. Video by Arthur Picard

Women’s Biggest Wave

Michelle Des Bouillons at Nazaré, Portugal. Video by Rennan Chaves
Justine Dupont at Nazaré, Portugal. Video by Rennan Chaves.  Photos by Laurent Masurel and Aurnad Plas
Michaela Fregonese at Nazaré, Portugal. Video by Kaique Silva

Men’s Paddle

Grant Baker at Nazaré, Portugal. Photos by Peter “Joli” Wilson
Nic Lamb at Todos Santos, Mexico. Video by Thriller at Killers.  Photo by Frank Quirarte
Jojo Roper at Nazaré, Portugal. Video by Maria Fernanda. Photo by Arenui Frapwell 

Women’s Paddle

Zoe Chait at Todos Santos, Mexico. Video by Thriller at Killers.  Photos by Frank Quirarte and Billy Watts
Domi Charrier at Punta de Lobos, Chile. Video by Rodrigo Farias
Katie McConnell at Todos Santos, Mexico. Video by Thriller at Killers.  Photo by Billy Watts

Related: 25ft Todos Santos: Thriller at Killers Highlight Reel (Video)

Wipeout of the Year

Lucas Chianca at Nazaré, Portugal. Video by Rennan Chaves
Eric Nicholson at Maverick’s, California. Video by Jack Sandler
Alberto Truncer at Nazaré, Portugal. Video by Helio Antonio

Men’s Surfer of the Year

Grant Baker (Durban, South Africa)
Mason Barnes (Wilmington, North Carolina, USA)
Tom Lowe (Cornwall, United Kingdom)

Women’s Surfer of the Year

Domi Charrier (Pichilemu, Chile)
Justine Dupont (Seignosse, France)
Katie McConnell (Encinitas, California, USA)

Related: Meet the 19-Year-Old Woman Reimagining Northern California’s Big-Wave Scene

The single-day, tube-only contest will kick off with quarterfinal heats, alongside a special showcase heat with yet-to-be-announced guest surfers. Competitors are battling for a €10,000 prize purse sponsored by Cascais and a direct wildcard into the 2027 Capitulo Perfeito main event back at Carcavelos.

Eight elite surfers are officially on standby for a waiting period running September 1–15, with contest organizers keeping a hawk’s eye on the forecast and issuing a green-light call 72 hours ahead of (hopefully) a pumping swell.

The stacked roster features the four finalists from the 2025 Carcavelos edition—Balaram Stack, Noah Beschen, Cam Richards, and Pedro Calado—alongside Indonesian wildcards Sulaiman and Usman Trioko. Two final global wildcard invitations will be revealed soon.

Capitulo Perfeito is truly a unique event that you’re not going to want to sleep on. The upcoming show is positioned to be a roaring fireworks display, and the handful of stacked surfers on deck all have one very pointed goal on their minds: Find as much time behind the curtain as humanly possible. All eyes now turn to the Indian Ocean—standing by for the call.

The Surfing Super League (SSL) officially launched today, unveiling an eight-team format that aims to bring a faster, more television-friendly format to professional surfing. The SSL is built around a simple premise: surfing has plenty of athletes, waves and passionate fans, but it has never had a domestic professional league designed specifically for live television. In an open letter accompanying the league’s launch, SSL CEO Chris Mater noted that the lack of a broadcast-friendly format has been one of the sport’s biggest obstacles to building sustainable professional careers in Australia.

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“The world’s biggest sports all share one thing in common: they are built for live television,” Mater wrote. “Live broadcasts create appointment viewing, loyal fans, commercial investment and, ultimately, sustainable professional competitions.”

Mater, a lifelong surfer and former CEO of Surfing Australia who previously spent 19 years with Red Bull in Australia and the United States, said the SSL was created to address that gap. The league, he wrote, is “Australia’s first domestic professional team surfing league,” built around team surfing, fixed match times and continuous competition specifically for live television.

The concept represents a significant departure from the “man-on-man” format that has defined professional surfing for decades. Instead of surfers competing primarily for themselves, SSL surfers will represent regional franchises, with teams accumulating points throughout the season before the top four advance to a championship final.

Each 90-minute match will feature four surfers competing for each team in a relay-style format, with every wave contributing to the team’s overall score. It’s surfing packaged less like a traditional surf contest and more like a professional sports league.

“The Surfing Super League celebrates everything people already love about the sport while introducing the structure, rivalries and consistency that define the world’s great professional competitions,” Mater says.

The inaugural SSL season will feature eight foundation franchises representing some of Australia’s most significant surfing regions. Those teams will come from Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Sydney’s South, Newcastle, Northern Rivers, the Gold Coast (two franchises), the Sunshine Coast and Melbourne. The regular season will consist of seven rounds, with the top four teams qualifying for the inaugural Surfing Super League Grand Final.

The SSL isn’t positioning itself as a replacement for the existing individual professional surfing system. Instead, Mater describes it as a complementary format intended to create another pathway for Australian surfers, one that can provide professional contracts at home while also supporting clubs, coastal communities and athletes pursuing international ambitions.

SSL teams will combine Australian surfing legends, current professionals, international and out-of-market Australian athletes, and emerging talent. The stated goal is to create a domestic professional pathway while giving fans surfers and teams they can follow throughout an entire season. Importantly, the league says every contracted surfer will receive equal pay regardless of gender or playing tier. For surfers who aren’t currently earning enough from competition and sponsorship to make a full-time living, that guaranteed income could prove particularly significant.

The SSL is effectively betting that professional surfing can reach a larger audience if some of the uncertainty and downtime inherent in traditional surf contests is removed. A fixed 90-minute window gives broadcasters a predictable product. A team scoreboard gives fans something to follow beyond individual surfers. Regional franchises create the possibility of local rivalries.

The inaugural season is scheduled to kick off January 2028, with the league promising live television coverage across its eight-week season. Fans can register through the Surfing Super League website for announcements, team signings and ticket information.

“Surfing deserves its place as a leading Australian sport, and the time to claim it is now,” adds Mater.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/5JwBqPjpyVA

Filmmaker Taylor Steele came out, along with a slew of surf legends like Tom Curren, Peter Towned, Pat O’Connell, Matt Archbold, and many more. Beyond the stacked heats, the event further honored Gerry Lopez as the inaugural recipient of the Legends of Surfing Lifetime Achievement Award for his pioneering style and decades of influence on global surf culture.

The event took on an extraordinary nostalgic charge with a special reunion of a handful of the stars from the 1987 cult surf film North Shore. Cast members Matt Adler, John Philbin, Gregory Harrison, and of course, Gerry Lopez gathered on the sand and in the lineup, stoking out fans and rekindling that timeless spirit of the classic movie.

Further highlighting the artistic heritage of our beloved sport, La Jolla fine artist and surfboard shaper Tim Bessell served as the official event artist, unveiling a gorgeous custom board dedicated to his mother and lost friends impacted by the disease. The board was auctioned off for an impressive $11,000.

For many participants, including cancer survivors and those surfing in memory of loved ones, the friendly competition served as a powerful reminder of community resilience. The impact of their efforts was made tangible as researchers from Moores Cancer Center shared encouraging news on groundbreaking drug therapies targeting pancreatic cancer mutations—advancements fueled directly by community fundraising.

By blending classic surf nostalgia with life-saving science, the Invitational proved that the deep-rooted bonds of the surfing community continue to be a formidable force in the ongoing fight against cancer.

The attempt will go down September 19 at Tower 18 in Venice Beach, from 4 to 8 PM, right across from the Skate Park. It is free. Everyone is invited. Anyone who shows up counts toward the record.

Behind it: a coalition of ocean-minded LA founders — Deep Blue, StokedPlastics & Opolis Optics, Akasha Superfoods, OoMee, and KOOK — plus a growing list of nonprofits, brands, athletes, and creators. The event was already the #1 trending listing in Los Angeles on Partiful within two weeks of going public, before the full slate of music and programming had even been announced.

The timing is not accidental. Los Angeles is in the middle of an IRL renaissance. Run clubs are taking over the streets. Coffee shops open into morning dance floors at 9 AM. Thousands of strangers turn out in Glendale for lookalike contests and bald celebrations. Pandemic-era loneliness is giving way to something else — a recognition that community is worth showing up for in person, at a specific place, at a specific time.

Related: Can an Algae Problem Fix Surfboard Construction’s Oldest Paradox?

“There’s this incredible return to the real world happening right now. People want to belong to something again,” says Christina Kuklinski, founder and CEO of KOOK. “We just saw thousands of people gather in Glendale to celebrate being bald. Why can’t we create that same energy around taking care of the ocean?”

Which is where the beach cleanup slots in — same cultural energy, redirected. Venice Beach, the neighborhood that gave the world modern skateboarding, roller-skate culture, Muscle Beach, Dogtown, and half of what “California” means to the rest of the planet, could use the reciprocity.

“I believe what’s cool and what’s good for the planet don’t have to live in separate worlds,” says Brooke Buckman, founder and CEO of Deep Blue. “This event is proof of that.”

RSVP: partiful.com/e/L4vYZtFyudi1IkLsJiCS

Related: Dear Coca-Cola, Please Stop Trashing Our Islands. Sincerely, Samoa.

The proposed Cactus Surf Park, a 25-acre development adjacent to Gilbert Regional Park, has effectively stalled after its developer, Canadian-based White Water West Industries, walked away from the project, according to a new report from the Gilbert Sun News. The project dates back to 2019, when the Town of Gilbert approved a 50-year lease with The Strand @ Gilbert. The proposed $60 million attraction was supposed to feature a surf lagoon, water park, sandy beach and a collection of family-oriented amenities. Its original opening date was August 2020.

That, obviously, never happened. The project subsequently changed ownership and names. In September 2021, ACA Arizona purchased the development and renamed it Cactus Surf Park. The town then approved a revised timeline, with the project eventually targeting a 2025 opening.

As wave pools in the desert go, water became a central issue. The redesigned project was supposed to use roughly 60 percent less water than the original proposal, bringing projected annual consumption down to about 100 acre-feet. Rather than drawing on Arizona’s Colorado River allocation, Cactus Surf Park planned to purchase recovered water credits delivered through Gilbert’s potable water system.

The final concept featured a surf lagoon, standalone flow-riding pool, sand beach, inflatable water attractions, cabanas, restaurants, lessons, paddleboarding and kayaking. The Town of Gilbert promoted the project as a major family entertainment destination and expected it to generate significant economic activity.

By June 2024, five years after the original announcement, the project was still in the design-review process. The town said the developer was working on an updated design and expanding the project’s amenities and retail component. The developer’s website had apparently disappeared, while the planned opening date had already slipped multiple times.

In the end, it’s another reminder that wave pools may be booming globally, but building them is anything but easy. Land, financing, water, technology, permitting and operating costs all have to line up. In Gilbert, they never did.

Related: I Tested California’s Newest Manmade Wave: Is DSRT Surf Worth the Hype?

It was a  beautiful looking surfboard with a disfigured tail and mismatched fin set up. I couldn’t help but stare and think, wtf is that? Up until that point, I had never seen one up close. Simply put, it was an asymmetrical surfboard. Yes, an ‘asym’. 

A few months later at Seaside, another glimpse of a mutant blade. This time it was Ryan Burch on one of his early pickle forks. The weird tail and double-tipped nose providing yet another shock to my symmetrically conditioned system. I later learned that both boards were somewhat related since the surfer at Barra was also a San Diego local and they were made in the same shop, only by different shapers. 

What I didn’t know was just how big of an impact they were about to have on surfing — and how hooked on them I would eventually become.  It didn’t happen overnight. It took time. The better part of a decade.

At first, I couldn’t really wrap my head around the aesthetics. They just looked weird and I in no way could fathom how they would help my surfing.  For the longest time, I was under the common misconception that they were only meant for going one direction: left or right. I blame it on whoever it confidently explained it to me — they clearly didn’t know what they were talking about. I came away thinking that they were essentially point-break specific boards. Directionally shaped like a snowboard that was not meant to be ridden switch. 

Eventually, I was freed from my ignorance. A much wiser soul explained how they were stance-specific, meaning goofy or regular, not direction-specific, for only going left or right. 

Originally developed decades ago by San Diego legend, Carl, Ekstrom, asymmetrical surfboards are designed to complement the natural asymmetry of our bodies when standing sideways and going down the line. Simply put, we have far more leverage under our toes than our heels. That is why asym boards have a longer rail line under the rider’s toe side (left on goofy, right on regular) and shorter on the rider’s heel side. The longer rail allows for more drive while the shorter rail grants a shorter turning radius and allows for easier turns.

This is why, when riding a standard symmetrical board, ripping frontside is typically far easier than ripping backside. Sure, it’s easier to see the wave going frontside, but there’s more to it than that. It comes down to the response under foot. Once I understood that (and after I broke one of my favorite all-around boards) I finally pulled the trigger on a Ah Vessels 6’8 Ordainer from the Wailua Surf Shop. 

Related: The Art of the Asym: Ah Vessels Lights Up The North Shore

If all you ever watch of pro surfing comes from the CT, you’d be liable to think that asyms are just a gimmick. Some hipster thing that just looks funky but doesn’t do much. That has started to change in recent years as surfers like Steph Gilmore, Caity Simmers, and Mikey Wright have all embraced aysm designs by Ryan Burch.

The CT guys and girls are also primarily riding boards that most people could never catch a wave on, especially in average surf. This is why many people mistakenly buy 5’10 thrusters and think they’re about to go all John John on whatever peak comes their way. 

This habit dies hard. Some people never find the right equipment before they relinquish their dreams of being a competent surfer. Others, who can ride equipment like that, often carry on and fight the inevitable onset of age, one Huntington hop at a time, until they finally swallow their pride and size up. 

Does that mean an asym is right for you? Maybe. Or maybe not. Like so much in life, it depends on where you are in your journey and what you’re after. 

In my instance, the Ordainer came at just the right time and helped me immensely, especially in good conditions. If up-leveling your performance in good surf is what you’re after, it could be a great call. If simply catching more waves is the goal, then a mid length or longboard may be a better option. 

Of the asym shapers of the world, which there are plenty, there are four who are really leaning into the design philosophy and turning heads in the process: Ryan Burch, Ryan Lovelace, Ashton Pickle (aka Ah Vessels), and Matt Parker at Album. 

Admittedly, this is a very limited list, that is also very US-centric. But it seems like a good place to start. They all make symmetrical models, too, but for the sake of this series, we’re going to focus on their asym models. 

We’ve done a couple stories on Ryan Burch and the growth of his label via the new Lam Line collection and continued refinement of asym shapes. This month, we’ll dive into Ryan Lovelace and his new shapes that are getting the royal tube treatment courtesy of Tosh Tudor. 

Stay tuned, it’s about to get weird. 

Related: ‘Reckless Speed and Tons of Excitement’: Ryan Burch on His Design and Philosophy

But which waves are the most consistent? The wave magnets that hoover up every inch of swell, the stretches of coast where offshores prevail, or, if they don’t,  can handle all kinds of winds. Just where are good waves guaranteed? 

Now this isn’t based on pure vibes, though; sure, they play their part. Some of the key surf forecast platforms have historic wind and swell data available. Surfline has data dating back to 2010, albeit only for premium members. Surf-Forecast goes back longer, covering 20 years, and has filterable swell and wind data by month and season for more than 7,000 spots, which is free on the net. Using these resources, we look at the five of the most consistent spots on the planet as summer fades to black.  

Cloudbreak, Fiji 

Cloudbreak is an austral-winter wave, with prime window running April through October. Yet for those who don’t need double overhead, macking ledges or Thunderclouds in their lives, the Southern Ocean and Tasman storm belt still delivers in Fall. Long-period south-southwest groundswell still motors up the Fiji corridor, into the coral catcher’s mitt that is the reef off the island of Tavarua. Even as late as November, the 20-year stats show there is swell 91% of the time, all be it with all winds. The percentage of days with clean waves is still a remarkably high 60%, with wave heights above four feet 25% of the time. When you benchmark the quality of the wave against its sheer quantity of surfable days, there’s a reason why Kelly Slater calls it the best wave in the world. 

Hossegor, France

Early autumn is peak season for France’s and arguably Europe’s most consistent mile of waves. North Atlantic provides NW groundswell; sandbanks tend to be replenished, and the reliable offshore morning winds start arriving before the sea breeze kicks in.

Surf Forecast has clean (so offshore, or light winds only) waves are typically found 48% of the time in October, and it’s only too small to ride for 6% of the time, though even those days may still be OK for beginners and groms at times. Add the fact that the rip bowls handle onshore breezes and the numbers keep stacking in surfers’ favour. This is a conveyor belt of good times and great waves. 

Peniche, Portugal

The North Atlantic delivers the same constant stream of swell to Portugal as it does to France, but it is met with more varied angles and vortices of coast: reef and beach, slabs and points. Peniche is a peninsula, with a north, south and west facing coasts, which adds to its all-rounder status. It’s flagstone; Supertubos, however, isn’t that consistent, needing a narrow set of swell and wind parameters. While you wait for those, somewhere on the Peninsula will have fun waves, whether its 20 foot and onshore or two-foot and clean. As an example, Praia do Baleal over the last 20 years registered swell above four feet 80% of the time, and above six feet almost 50% of the time. With protected corners for almost every wind direction, you’ll be getting in the water every day. 

Popoyo, Nicaragua

Nicaragua is known for its consistency of regular-sized swells and offshore winds, and a deep dive into 20-years of Popoyo Main Break’s stats proves the theory. In October, seen as the tail end of the prime season, the stats show clean, surfable waves 62% of the time. The wind stats are even more off the charts. Year-round, offshore easterly winds (clocked with mean direction 080 degrees) blew 78% of the time. That drops down a little through the fall months, but is still far higher than most locations on the planet. With a combination of fun waves and endless offshore that makes this part of the world truly unique and amazingly consistent. And unlike the first two, all surfing is done in boardshorts or bikinis. 

Uluwatu, Indonesia

The very tail end of the dry season (through Oct), or shoulder, still delivers strong SE trade winds, with consistent Indian Ocean groundswell often roping down the limestone cliffs. You can group most of the archipelago in this, but Ulus remains one of the most open to all swells in the entire chain. Sure, peak season is through the roof; during August the offshore ratio hovers around a perfect 100%. Yet in October, often overlooked as past the dry season prime, the ratio of clean waves is still 95%, and the 20-year data shows there are waves bigger than 1.5 metres or 4 feet 90% of the time and almost all came from the optimal SW, or 220-degree direction. The numbers don’t lie. This joint never stops. 

“Winter down here in the Southern Hemisphere has been a little slow,” Bonython tells SURFER. “A few hit-and-misses had me itching to get out there and chase something. Then the forecast for world-famous Bells Beach in Victoria appeared and I couldn’t ignore it.”

And like that, he hopped a plane and headed to the home of the world’s longest running professional surf contest. A seasoned traveler, it was a relatively easy jaunt to familiar territory. And did it pay off?

“Three days of pumping Bells. Well… Bells and its next-door neighbor wave, Winkipop, which actually features heavily in this edit. But this trip was about more than just chasing waves. Bells Beach is where my filming career with my first paid shooting which began back in 1981. My very first visit was 45 years ago, when Simon Anderson changed surfing forever by riding massive 15 to 20-foot waves at Bells on a revolutionary three-finned board that would become known as the Thruster. So there’s some history in this one.

The edit from the trip not only features pumping surf with notable performances by Laurie Towner and Torren Martyn, but also a nice chat with long-time Bells surfer Chris Ray, who has been a fixture along this iconic stretch of coast since 1962.

“This isn’t one of my crazy big-wave missions. It’s a revisit. A look back at where it all started for me, mixed with three days of beautiful Victorian waves, some serious surfing and a few stories from the people who have lived it,” Bonython adds. “Bells Beach. 1981 to 2026. Some places you never really leave behind.”

Related: Chaos and Carnage: ‘Best Day Ever’ at Sydney’s Psycho Slab Wave (Video)

On Monday, the spotlight got even brighter when Williams was welcomed into the Oval Office by President Donald Trump alongside 10-year-old Nathaniel Rai, the boy he rescued from powerful surf at Santa Cruz’s Seabright State Beach on July 25. The dramatic rescue was captured on video, went viral and ultimately caught the president’s attention.

“What you did was incredible, and everybody saw it. And you’d watch it over and over. I know when I first saw it I said, ‘Roll that back, I want to see that again. Is that really happening?'” Trump shared from the Oval Office.

A Rescue in Powerful Surf

The footage shows Williams battling through heavy, tropical swell-fueled surf to reach Rai after the boy was swept off his feet. Williams was eventually able to secure the child, holding onto him as waves repeatedly crashed over both of them. Fellow lifeguard Aaron Bohnen later joined the rescue, helping bring the pair back to shore.

Monday’s Oval Office meeting gave Williams and Rai an opportunity to meet face-to-face again under considerably calmer conditions. Trump praised Williams during the meeting, calling him a “real hero” and marveling at the teenager’s willingness to enter the dangerous surf. Rai sat alongside his father, Sumit, while Williams was joined by members of his family and Bohnen.

Related: Teen Lifeguard Ryder Williams Speaks Out After Viral Santa Cruz Rescue: “This Is My Job”

A Dangerous Day at Seabright

Waves at Seabright reportedly reached around 10 feet during the swell event, with powerful currents and shorebreak creating hazardous conditions along the coast. Williams later said the boy became limp in his arms, making the rescue even more difficult. The incident was part of an exceptionally busy day for Santa Cruz lifeguards. According to reports, Williams and his fellow lifeguards carried out dozens of rescues as powerful surf impacted the coastline.

Related: Heroic Teen Lifeguard Rescues 10-Year-Old Boy Drowning in Massive Santa Cruz Surf (Video)

Williams Keeps the Focus on the Job

Remarkably, Williams has consistently downplayed the attention surrounding the rescue.

“This is my job and I love what I do,” he said after the rescue, crediting his fellow lifeguards and emphasizing that rescues are part of the job.

That humility has become part of the story. While the viral video turned Williams into a national headline, the teenager’s actions represent something familiar to anyone who spends time around serious surf: when conditions turn dangerous, preparation, experience and the willingness to act can make all the difference.

Bidding is scheduled to open online September 3, with the auction culminating September 17. Starting bids are expected to be above $20 million. And while the property comes with plenty of the amenities you’d expect from a nearly $50 million California estate, horse facilities, avocado and citrus groves, ocean views and multiple potential building sites, it’s the surf access that makes Rancho Cariñoso particularly interesting to surfers.

The property sits directly adjacent to Loon Point, a stretch of beachbreak around the Summerland area. The estate also includes nearly an acre of private beach and direct access to the sand.

According to the property’s listing, the ranch is zoned for nine horses, with a private equestrian trail leading from the property to the beach. Residents can also launch kayaks and jet skis, access an ATV trail to a private beach cabana and anchor a yacht offshore. The existing single-level residence was completed in 2014 and includes three bedrooms, four bathrooms and approximately 2,514 square feet of living space. Multiple build-ready sites could accommodate additions such as a pool, guest house or other recreational facilities.

“The Southern California coastline has been developed for generations, and true beachfront ranch estates of this scale do not come to market anymore,” said Concierge Auctions CEO and co-founder Chad Roffers.

“Where else in Southern California can you ride horses directly onto the beach, anchor a yacht offshore, surf a private break, and retreat to four acres of complete oceanfront privacy?” asks realtor Barron Hilton.

The estate’s location also puts it within easy reach of Santa Barbara, the Santa Ynez Valley and the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club. For surfers, though, the selling point is considerably simpler: 4.2 acres, nearly a mile, actually nearly an acre—of private beach, as well as spots like Rincon and surrounding world-class points in the immediate strike zone.

That’s the thinking behind a new paper from Save The Waves Coalition titled “The Surf Ecosystem as an Emerging Framework for Managing Coastal and Marine Resources.” The paper formally defines the concept of a “surf ecosystem” and lays out a framework for how it can be used to manage and protect coastal resources.

Save The Waves CEO Nik Strong-Cvetich, along with co-authors Diego A. Sancho-Gallegos, Mara Arroyo, Cliff Kapono and Dan R. Reineman, argue that protecting individual waves isn’t enough. Instead, conservation needs to consider the interconnected physical, ecological and social systems that make surfing possible. Here are five key takeaways:

1. A Surf Break Is More Than Just a Wave

This is the basic premise of the paper. The authors define a surf ecosystem as an interconnected social-ecological system in which geophysical, ecological and social components interact to shape the breaking wave and the wave-riding experience. That’s a mouthful, but you get the idea.

Think about a classic pointbreak. The wave depends on swell arriving from offshore, the shape of the coastline, the underwater bathymetry, currents, sediment and wind. But there’s an ecological component, too, as well as the people and communities that use and depend on the place.

The paper argues that all of those pieces need to be considered when we’re talking about conservation. That also means the thing threatening a wave doesn’t necessarily have to be sitting directly on the beach. Offshore development, coastal engineering or changes to sediment flows can potentially affect the conditions that allow a surf break to exist in the first place. If we’re serious about protecting waves, we need to start thinking beyond the lineup.

Related: Atlantic’s Sargassum Problem Is Reaching Record Levels

2. Protecting Waves Can Also Mean Protecting Biodiversity

One of the most interesting aspects of the surf ecosystem concept is the overlap between surf conservation and broader environmental conservation. Surf breaks are often connected to ecologically important coastal and marine habitats. The paper points to research showing that 46 percent of nearly 4,000 surf breaks studied are located inside or within five kilometers of Key Biodiversity Areas, while at least 63 percent are not currently within protected areas.

That creates an opportunity. Protecting the physical and ecological systems around a surf break can potentially deliver benefits far beyond surfing. Healthy reefs, wetlands, forests, estuaries and other coastal habitats can support biodiversity, store carbon, influence sediment movement and contribute to coastal resilience.

The paper therefore positions surf breaks as potential gateways into broader conservation efforts, not competitors with them. Saving a wave can mean saving a whole lot more than the wave.

Related: Africa’s Surfing Movement Gets Another Boost From Zimbabwe

3. Surfing Has Real Economic and Cultural Value

There’s also a human side to the equation. Surf breaks aren’t simply natural features. They’re places where people build communities, businesses and cultures. The paper notes that growing recognition of the social, cultural and economic value of surfing is already helping drive efforts to protect surf breaks around the world.

That’s important because conservation decisions are often made by weighing competing economic interests. A proposed coastal development might be framed in terms of jobs, tourism or infrastructure. But what happens when the wave itself is an economic asset?

Surf tourism supports hotels, restaurants, surf shops, guides, instructors and countless other businesses. Beyond the dollars, surf breaks can also have deep cultural, recreational and community value. The authors argue that these social dimensions belong inside the definition of the ecosystem, not outside of it. A surf break isn’t just habitat. For many communities, it’s part of the local economy and identity.

Related: Interview: How Many Realtors Have a World Title on Their Resume? 

4. Not All Surf Ecosystems Are Created Equal

The paper also attempts to categorize the different types of environments that produce waves. The authors identify six surf ecosystem types:

• Coral reefs
• Rocky reefs
• Headlands and points
• Beach breaks
• River mouths
• Artificial structures

Different types of waves have different vulnerabilities. A river-mouth can be heavily influenced by what’s happening upstream. A beachbreak can depend on sediment moving along the coastline. A coral reef setup is intimately connected to the health of the reef itself.

An artificial structure introduces an entirely different set of questions about engineering, maintenance and ecological impacts. By establishing these categories, the authors hope to give conservationists and coastal managers a common framework for identifying what makes a particular surf ecosystem function, and what could threaten it. Protecting a beach break isn’t necessarily the same thing as protecting a reef break.

Related: What’s Killing Millions Of Marine Animals Down Under? 

5. Saving Waves May Mean Looking From the Mountains to the Ocean

Perhaps the biggest idea in the paper is that surf conservation can’t always happen at the surf break. The authors propose looking at surf ecosystems across multiple management scales, including watershed and regional, nearshore/local, nearshore marine and offshore environments. Consider a river mouth. Rain falls in the mountains. Water and sediment travel downstream. A river delivers that material to the coast. Currents move sediment along the shoreline. A sandbar forms. Offshore swell travels toward shore and interacts with that underwater structure.

The wave that a surfer rides may therefore depend on processes occurring miles, or even hundreds of miles, away. That makes surf ecosystem conservation complicated. Different pieces of the system can fall under the jurisdiction of different agencies, governments or communities. The authors point to traditional Indigenous management systems, including the Hawaiian ahupuaʻa, as examples of approaches that have long recognized the interconnected nature of land, freshwater and ocean resources.

The challenge now is figuring out how to bring that holistic thinking into modern coastal management. Sometimes protecting a wave means protecting the watershed that feeds it.

Related: Ocean Temps Shattered Records Around the World in June

The Bigger Picture

Save The Waves has been using the term “surf ecosystem” for years. What’s different about this paper is that it attempts to formally define the concept and provide a framework that other researchers, conservationists, governments and surf communities can use.

That’s an important step. Surfers have always known that something bigger is happening when they paddle out. A reef, a beach, a river, an offshore swell and a community all come together to create that fleeting moment when a wave stands up. Now there’s a growing effort to put scientific and policy language around it. And if the idea catches on, the definition of “protecting a surf break” could get a whole lot bigger. Because sometimes, saving the wave means saving everything that makes the wave possible.

I’m 67 and still surf regularly. Last winter I paddled out on a day I would have considered ordinary twenty years ago. Halfway outside, I realized I was over my head. Nothing happened, I wasn’t hurt, I just turned around and paddled in. I’ve been embarrassed about it ever since. Was this an instance of knowing my limits or not pushing hard enough through them? – Turned Around in SD
Hey Turned Around in SD… Sometimes it takes more courage to turn around when every bit of your ego tells you to paddle out. There’s a difference between gaining judgement and losing your nerve. At twenty-five, we test ourselves because we don’t know our limits. At sixty-five, we’ve earned the right to know them. You didn’t fail that day, you read the ocean and yourself and made the educated decision to paddle in. That’s called Experience…

Hey Dibi… There were six of us who surfed together for nearly forty years. One moved away. Two can’t surf anymore. One died. Now most mornings it’s just me and another old guy sitting where our whole crew used to be. Sometimes I look around the lineup and feel like a stranger at my own beach. How do you keep the stoke alive when the people who made surfing great aren’t around anymore? – Last Man In the Lineup
Hey Last Man In the Lineup.. The circle of life that nobody warns you about. We think we’re attached places, usually we’re attached to the people who inhabited them with us. Keep paddling out with your remaining friend, learn the names of a couple of the kids sitting farther inside. Your old crew isn’t replaceable, but the circle doesn’t close because it seems to have gotten smaller, it’s just evolving.

Related: Hey Dibi: Why is Confidence in the Lineup Mistaken for Experience?

Hey Dibi… I’m no 63 and have been surfing since I was fourteen. When I was young, men in the lineup noticed me because I was a woman. Now they often paddle around me as though I’m not there. Funny thing is, I’m a much better surfer now. Why does becoming invisible bother me when I should be old enough not to care? – Still Here Aussie Gal
Hey Still Here Aussie Gal… Being overlooked doesn’t stop stinging just because you’ve accumulated birthdays. But there’s an upside nobody tells you about. A sense of freedom you never have when you’re young and being noticed. Now surf your waves, you know where to sit, you know which set is yours, you know what you’re capable of. Let them underestimate you, then take off deeper!

Hey Dibi… I was somebody around my local surf spot once. Not famous, but good enough people knew me. Now I’m 60 the kids paddle around me because they assume I can’t make the wave. Part of me want to tell them who I used to be. That’s pathetic, isn’t it? – Used to Rip
Hey Used to Rip… Not pathetic, just human. But don’t tell them. Nothing ages a surfer faster than constantly explaining how good they used to be. Your history belongs to you. It doesn’t require witnesses. Every once in a while, when the right wave comes… show them.

Related: Hey Dibi: Are Wave Pools In The California Desert Legit?

Hey Dibi… I’m 61 and realized recently that I’m now “the old guy” at my local break. The younger surfers re friendly enough, but sometimes I catch myself correcting them; etiquette, boards, history, everything. How do you become an elder without becoming the guy everyone wishes would shut up? – Enough with the Lectures
Hey Enough with the Lectures… Easy, wait till they ask. One of the privileges of age is having answers. One of the disciplines of age is not giving all of them. Young surfers deserve the same opportunity we had to make mistakes, develop terrible taste, think we invented everything, and eventually discover that we didn’t. Be available, be generous, and remember: wisdom offered at the wrong time sounds exactly like a lecture and puts you immediately in the old A-Hole category.

In 2013, after nearly two decades at the elite level, the 2001 World Champion saw the light beginning to fade on his competitive career. So when a chance to co-found Salty Crew presented itself, Hobgood jumped at the opportunity, even while he was still actively competing on the Championship Tour.

“The day before my heat at The Pipeline Masters was a layday, so I was calling around and booking appointments for Salty Crew at Surf Expo in Florida the next month,” Hobgood recalls of that whirlwind era. “I had calls with the buyers at Aqua East and Sunrise. And they were like, ‘Dude, what are you doing calling us right now? You’re still in the Pipe event!’”

Read on to hear Hobgood’s take on pivoting from professional surfing to building Salty Crew, and eventually finding a new competitive thrill in real estate sales. He stands as proof that it is never too early to start planning for life after a professional career. 

SURFER: In the early 2000s, when the surf industry was flush with money and you were competing for world titles, did you give much thought to what the next chapter in your life might look like?
CJ Hobgood: You know, I was always pretty realistic. I never thought I was going to come out on the other side of pro surfing and not have to work another day in my life. I had a good understanding that, eventually, I’d be doing something else.

I’m not the craziest freak of nature in any sort of discipline. My entire life I’ve always had that frame of mind that I have to work just a little bit harder than the next guy. And once you understand your work ethic, it’s easier to structure your days. As a pro surfer, you gotta be pretty self motivated, right? Like nobody is telling you what to do so it’s really easy to do nothing [laughs]. Self discipline is a really great skill that surfing taught me and I knew eventually I’d be able to apply it to a differences disciple. 

Like helping build Salty Crew, or selling real estate. 
Exactly. Surfing also taught me that everything in the world is hard until you do it over and over again. I remember towards the end of my career on tour, when Salty Crew was just getting going, I was competing in the Pipe Masters and I had a heat against John John [Florence] in the round before the quarters. The day before my heat was a layday so I was calling around and booking appointments for Salty Crew at Surf Expo in Florida the next month. I had calls with the buyers at Aqua East and Sunrise.  And they were like, ‘Dude, what are you doing calling us right now? You’re still in the Pipe event!’ I remember kinda laughing and telling them that surfing in the Pipe event was cool and all, but it’s not my future. My future was with Salty. That’s what meant the most to me at that point. And that’s what I was going to focus on.

What led you from building Salty Crew to transitioning to real estate sales? 
A couple of things: I’m still involved with Salty Crew, but the brand is based in California and we’re living over here in Florida. But really when the transition happened was during Covid. We were all stuck home and everyone was moving and buying new houses, and my wife, Cortney, encouraged me to join her in that world. She was like, “everything you don’t know, I’ll teach you.” So I was like, okay, cool. I just applied the same concept of everything’s hard until you do it. I just stacked days until I had a year under the belt, and that’s when I started to feel comfortable. And now here I am, 5 years down the road, and now I don’t even have to think, It’s just automatic.

I’m at the point now that one of the biggest challenges is quality of life. With sales you can just be so driven, that you just work your life away, you know? Now it’s a matter of just  recognizing that and not letting it take over our life. We went on a family trip in May, and then we came back and we were like, ‘dude, the market’s kind of hot right now.’So we just jumped straight back into it. Right now business is good. So we’ll just hunker down for the next couple of months and we’ll just work. But, when it slows up again, we’ll recognize that, and try to take advantage of it and go on another trip. 

Do you ever struggle going long stretches without surfing? 
It’s all about recognizing the different seasons in life. Like everyone we’re trying to find that balance. We want to take more trips. We also want to invest more. It’s always a moving target, but we’re constantly adjusting, calibrating, adjusting, and calibrating. There’s times I just want to be a kid and surf and be selfish but that’s not my reality, and that’s not healthy. But for all surfers, when you go from surfing every single day and having your entire life revolve around the ocean… it’s hard to give up that addiction. But I will say, after you let surfing go, when it comes back to you again, it’s like rediscovering it again for totally different reasons. I think that’s where I’m at now. I fell back in love with it. So now, when I get a freaking week where I can just go surf, I’m like, what? I’m a full on grom again [laughs]. I’m just so grateful for it. 

Has it been interesting selling homes to clients that were previously fans of yours while you were on tour? 
That’s really been a blessing to for me, as far as like, I don’t have to chase shiny objects. It’s just better to attract your tribe, right? When you attract your tribe, it’s easier, and I feel like when I show up to meet new clients, within the first couple of minutes, people already feel like they can trust me, because they already kinda know me. In sales, trust is the biggest hurdle. With trust, you can accomplish anything. 

But every deal is still challenging, no matter the client, and no matter the house. I’ve learned you just have to grow a turtle shell. There’s times when I would let the ups and downs of a deal affect me a lot. That’s where Cortney has helped me a lot, growing a thicker turtle shell [laughs]. 

Related: Canadian Teen Phenom Erin Brooks Earns Statement-Making Win in Pristine Tahitian Surf

And what was Burke referring to? Ancient Napalm deposits in Asia? Monsanto pesticide runoff in Maui? Nope, he was reporting on the growing issue of sargassum onshore buildup at his homebreak. Sargassum is a free-floating brown macroalgae that drifts on ocean currents in vast rafts, sometimes the size of football fields. The seaweed itself is native to the Atlantic and has always existed in the Sargasso Sea, and in the open ocean is a genuinely valuable habitat, providing nursery grounds for mahi mahi, sea turtles, and dozens of other species.

However, once on land, though, it decomposes and releases toxic gases including hydrogen sulfide and its distinctive rotten-egg smell.  In the water, the thick mats can slow or snag as surfers paddle back to the lineup. Burke recalled how face-planting into a mat at the end of an otherwise clean right-hander became a routine, if comic, and toxic hazard. It might be one of the biggest issues facing surfers and users of coastlines of the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and eastern Atlantic Ocean. 

Related: 2026 Outpacing Record For Category 5 Storms

The bad news is that this is a relatively new phenomenon. It’s called the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt (GASB), an interconnected mass of the stuff that’s been forming and growing since 2011. It now stretches across the tropical Atlantic from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico. 2025 set the biomass record at 37.5 million tons, and researchers expect 2026 to exceed it. By the end of May 2026, an estimated 28.9 million metric tons were already recorded across the Atlantic, with the largest concentration east of the Leeward Islands and significant coverage between Puerto Rico and South America. USF’s Optical Oceanography Lab officially classed 2026 as a “major sargassum year” with real potential to be the biggest on record.

Floridian and Gulf surfers won’t find that surprising. They are used to surf sessions involving paddling through mats, dodging decomposing piles on the beach on entry/exit, and dealing with the fart stench on the sand between sets. If that wasn’t fun enough, the mats often carry small stinging organisms like jellyfish larvae that irritate on contact, similar to the feeling of surfing in sea lice.

In Miami, sargassum removal is now a full annual budget line, accounting for $9 million of the city’s $11 million total beach maintenance budget every year. A Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution study estimated Florida alone loses around $5 billion a year to Sargassum’s impacts.

Local surfers will increasingly need to deal with the impact, while any visitors in the entire Caribbean-Gulf-tropical Atlantic corridor will need real sargassum-tracker checks before booking a trip. Protected, west-facing beaches tend to fare better than the trade-wind-exposed east coasts that catch the belt head-on, but with mats’ path dictated by ocean currents and wind patterns, it’s a fluid situation. And one that is going away anytime soon. 

Related: Ocean Temps Shattered Records Around the World in June

According to Brian McNoldy, a climatologist at the University of Miami, sea surface temperatures in parts of the Gulf of Mexico surged to near or above 90°F (32°C) and are currently the hottest in the modern satellite record. Surf-Forecast.com currently has water temperatures at Galveston at  86°F (30.2°C), which is 0.9° above average. Bathlike is an old cliché when it comes to surfers describing the water temp, but if you are paddling out at South Padre, it’s about as close to bang on as it’s ever been in history.

Gulf Surfers aren’t the only ones wanting to add some cold water to the tub. The first half of 2026 saw persistently elevated sea surface temperatures and widespread marine heatwaves across the Mediterranean. On August 5, 2026, the Sa Dragonera buoy off the west coast of Mallorca recorded a water temperature of 91.4°F (33.02°C), believed to be the highest value ever measured in the entire western Mediterranean. And this wasn’t a shallow bay or sun-warmed lagoon, but was recorded by a sensor sitting three meters deep. The same buoy had set the previous record on August 12, 2024, at 89.2°F (31.8°C) — meaning this year’s reading beat that mark by over a full degree Celsius (about 2.2°F).

Related: Ocean Temps Shattered Records Around the World in June

On the Atlantic side, with fires burning on land along the western-facing coasts, sea-surface temperatures in the Bay of Biscay also reached unprecedented levels for June. The surf spots of Hossegor, Biarritz, and Lacanau all ran hotter than ever measured for that time of year. At the time of writing in mid-August, Hossegor’s beachies was measuring 76.6°F (24.8°C), well above the long-term average peak for that day of 72.3°F (22.4°C).

The Scripps Pier in San Diego is probably the best bellwether. The Scripps Institute’s station there has continuous data going back to 1916. Between January 1 and late April, 36 separate days set records for the hottest water ever recorded on that specific calendar date. And while the famous all-time high mark itself, 78.6°F (25.9°C), set on August 1, 2018, hasn’t been broken, it seems only a matter of time.

And while surfing without a wetsuit is one of life’s truly great pleasures, surfers might be acting as the frogs in the boiling water metaphor. That fable has a frog that is dropped in boiling water, jumps out, but one placed in tepid water that is slowly heated will stay and boil to death. Scientists have actually debunked this; any live frog with half a brain will feel the discomfort and hop out to save itself.

What is provable science, though, and what surfers know themselves, is that the world’s oceans are on the very frontline of the effects of climate change. NASA and NOAA estimate the ocean has absorbed roughly 90% of all the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases. That’s why the ocean, not the air, is where climate change shows up first and hardest.

Related: Over 5,000 Stingray Wounds Savage Huntington Beach Summer Crowds

One of the most vivid and frightening examples was discovered at Australia’s Ningaloo Reef last year. The world’s largest fringing reef and UNESCO World Heritage Site is a frog being slowly boiled. “It’s like a raging underwater bushfire that has persisted for months now, wreaking harm right along the coast,” said Paul Gamblin, who heads up the Australian Marine Conservation Society. Of the 1,600 corals counted in last March, only 600 were still alive seven months later, a loss of over 60% in a single season. Or as one tourist put it bluntly, “It was like snorkelling on a corpse.”

Ningaloo isn’t an isolated example; from 2018 through 2025, 87% of coral reef areas worldwide experienced bleaching-level thermal stress. The numbers just don’t lie. 2026 marks the third year in the last four that global sea surface temperatures (SST) have broken records for the date, this time by about 0.1°C over the previous record. On 30 June 2026, the global SST anomaly hit +0.5°C above average — the highest value ever recorded for that specific date.

Surfers all over the world know this instinctively. The steamers are being put on later, the 4/3s are being downgraded to 3/2s, and the boardshorts and bikini tans are lasting longer into the Fall. That’s great for surfing, but fucking terrible for the planet.  

And it wasn’t a one-off: It was the second such rescue along Rockaway Beach this summer. In June, the Robotics Unit deployed drones to help two swimmers in trouble. Then, in July, another swimmer found himself at the mercy of the rip and swell. Once again, the robots went to work.

The playbook is becoming pretty compelling: Find the swimmer from above. Get something buoyant and fluorescent to them immediately. Keep eyes on the victim. Then let the human beings, the people who actually have to get in the water, finish the job. In the latest rescue, the drones dropped not one but two inflatable safety buoys into the water, buying precious time as NYC Parks lifeguards made their way through increasingly difficult surf.

“As surf conditions deteriorated,” the New York City Fire Department reported on its Facebook page, “FDNY members, using drones, quickly located the swimmer and deployed two inflatable safety buoys, providing immediate flotation until NYC Parks Lifeguards reached the person and brought them to shore.”

There’s a certain elegance to that division of labor. The drone doesn’t get tired. It doesn’t have to fight its way through a rip current. It doesn’t have to make the very human calculation of whether it can safely reach somebody who may already be panicking, exhausted or disappearing beneath the next set.

It just goes. And once it gets there, those fluorescent-yellow floats do more than keep a swimmer’s head above water. They become highly visible targets in the chaos of breaking surf—essentially giant, floating exclamation points telling rescuers, There! Right there! That matters. In poor visibility, losing sight of a distressed swimmer for even a few seconds can turn a rescue into a recovery.

“The Robotics Unit is a force multiplier during water rescue operations,” the FDNY’s Lt. David Melendez said. “Our ability to quickly locate victims, provide real-time intelligence to the Incident Commander and deliver emergency flotation devices within moments gives responders valuable time and additional options when every second matters.”

Related: Over 5,000 Stingray Wounds Savage Huntington Beach Summer Crowds

Force multiplier is probably the right way to think about it. Because nobody is suggesting that a quadcopter is about to replace the lifeguard. Quite the opposite. The technology is useful precisely because it gives the humans doing the dangerous work a better shot at doing it successfully.

And that distinction is worth keeping in mind as drones, autonomous systems and AI increasingly worm their way into everyday life. We can roll our eyes at the machines. We can complain about how every new piece of technology seems to come with a camera, a microphone, a subscription fee and an app. We can wonder, with some justification, whether we’re getting a little too comfortable outsourcing our judgment to algorithms.

But then somebody gets caught in a rip current off Rockaway Beach. And suddenly a flying robot carrying a yellow life buoy doesn’t seem quite so ridiculous. It seems pretty damn useful. There’s also something reassuringly old-school about the way this particular technology is being deployed. The robot isn’t making the rescue. It’s buying time for the people who can. The lifeguards still swim out. The lifeguards still make contact and bring the victim back to shore. The machine simply gets there first. That may be the sweet spot for a lot of this stuff: not replacing people, but extending what they can do when circumstances get ugly.

Related: New York Board Riders Club Opens: “We Want You to Join”

The FDNY says the technology provides responders with “additional options when every second matters.” After three rescues this summer, that’s more than a theoretical proposition. It’s three very good arguments for keeping a few robots in the toolbox.

Still, there’s a catch, and it’s one the Fire Department itself is eager to emphasize. Technology is no excuse for getting cocky around the ocean.

“We remind New Yorkers and visitors to swim only when lifeguards are on duty, follow the posted safety signs, and to stay alert to changing water conditions,” the FDNY said in a statement after its most recent drone-assisted rescue. In other words: Don’t make the lifeguards (or the drones) work any harder than they already do.

Fair enough. For all the dazzling machinery, cameras, sensors and artificial intelligence now hovering above our beaches, the best rescue is still the one that never has to happen. So here’s to the lifeguards, the people willing to charge into the same water everyone else is being warned to respect. And, what the hell, here’s to their new flying sidekicks, too.

Let’s just hope we never get to the point where municipalities start figuring that they can replace lifeguards with drones altogether. Let the robots bring the flotation, but let the humans bring everybody home.

Now, the veteran journalist makes his literary fiction debut with Nearshore – a gripping, adrenaline-fueled thriller set against the cold, rugged coastline of Northern California.

The novel follows Jamie Palmer, a former World Tour professional surfer turned Half Moon Bay lifeguard, whose quiet life on the coast is upended when he inadvertently stumbles into a terrifying world of domestic nuclear terrorism and nefarious plots orchestrated by rogue Silicon Valley tech gurus. Through every pulse-pounding twist, Hawk masterfully ties the high-stakes thrill of the bombs and billionaires back to Palmer’s roots in the lineup.

Surfing’s resident historian Matt Warshaw called the novel:

“A smart, fun, thrilling read. The characters pop and the story moves like a barreling full-speed point wave.”

As Nearshore officially hits bookstores on August 18th – you can order your copy here – readers can dive into an exclusive sneak peek snippet from the book, a compelling monologue delivered by main character Jamie Palmer himself. Read on below for a first look at one of the summer’s most anticipated surf-inspired thrillers; glimpse photos of Hawk from famed surf artist Thomas Campbell; and keep scrolling all the way to the bottom for a list of meet-and-great events, celebrating the release of Nearshore.

CHAPTER 16

People ask if I’m scared of sharks. White sharks in particular. Every surfer around here gets asked that. For me the answer is no. Rather go out as part of the food chain than end up in a bed sucking ice chips while some nurse wipes my ass.

I’ll tell you what scares me. Boneyard used to talk a lot about something called superabundant data. How it changed the way people like him do their work. How if a social scientist these days wants to know what people are really thinking he doesn’t have them answer questions on some true-false questionnaire. That’s a slow way to gather data. And unreliable. Because most people fib when the questions get personal.

Instead researchers just track what people do online when they think no one’s watching. Write a program that noses through their social media and emails and browser searches and all the other digital footprints they leave behind all day every day. All that secret late-night web-crawling shit that shows you who they really are. What they jerk off to. What pisses them off. What scares them.

One time he grabbed my phone and said check this out. He opened some random news site and showed me how all the ads that popped up had been customized just for me. Wetsuits and binoculars and crap like that. All based on my search and email history.

I told him I already knew about that stuff and was pretty much okay with it. But here’s what I didn’t know. He said that right before the ads bubbled into my feed there’d been this hidden lightning-fast bidding war between all the companies that wanted to get my attention. And that’s how it works for everybody all the time. It’s this race for profits that happens in microseconds and finishes before the page loads so you have no idea it’s going on.

Already there are more bytes of information on the internet than there are stars in the universe. At least that’s what Boneyard told me and Boneyard knew his shit. Which is scary as hell if you think about it. All some evil asshole has to do is build the right program to suss out the right patterns and he’ll rule the world. Algorithms writing algorithms. Machines building machines. Keeping everybody angry and terrified all day every day so you never log off and the ad revenue flows on and on and on.

One fall I had a part-time gig skippering day charters out to the Farallones with these two scientists who were researching white sharks. This was on a Radon that a friend of mine kept at Pillar Point but almost never used. These guys had been studying the Farallon sharks forever. Like forty years. Smart motherfuckers and seaworthy as hell. We had some cold wet nasty days out there and the dudes never blinked.

We’d motor out of the harbor at first light and get home around sunset. Spend the day adrift near the islands watching this floating seal decoy they had tethered astern. Waiting for a shark to come investigate. They took photos and logged a record of every shark that showed itself. Used the notches on the trailing edge of their dorsal fins for identification. Some of those fish had been feeding at the Farallones for almost forty years. The researchers treated ’em like old friends. Even gave ’em names. Yvon. Duke. RBG.

Every now and then we’d see birds swarming in the distance and we’d speed over to catch the tail end of a predation event. That’s what they called it. An event. The word still makes me smile. An event is a wedding or a concert. It’s not when a white shark blasts up from the bottom and guts a two-ton elephant seal. Or takes a half-moon bite out of a snorkeler that goes from hip to breastbone. Which I’ve seen.

We’d be on the water from dawn to dusk and most days count only a handful of sharks or sometimes just one or maybe even none. Twelve or fifteen hours at sea for a single entry in their records. Once after a long bad day when we got back to the dock the older of the two dudes smiled at me and said he worked in a data-poor environment.

Turns out there’ve been more research papers written about whites than any other shark species but scientists still don’t know the answers to a lot of basic questions about them. No one’s ever seen a pair mate. No one’s ever seen a female give birth. No one’s even sure how long they live.

All of which means some random machine somewhere knows more about me and my private habits than anybody on earth knows about the ocean’s deadliest predator.

So no. Sharks don’t worry me. There’s nothing crooked or slick behind what they do. They’re just hungry and they don’t hide it. They come right at you.

But billionaires writing codes that worm through the personal lives of every person with a phone? Making sure we all stay angry and glued to our screens so they can quietly cash in on the rage? That’s the scary shit.

***

Meet and Greet Events:

AUGUST 18, 5 pm

Old Princeton Landing, Half Moon Bay, CA

Book launch party. In conversation with Ashley Gray.

***

AUGUST 19, 7 pm

Bookshop Santa Cruz, CA

In conversation with Charles Duhigg.

***

AUGUST 20, 7 pm

Black Bird Bookstore, San Francisco, CA

In conversation with Tony Andrews.

***

AUGUST 22, 1:45 pm

KPBS San Diego Book Festival, University of San Diego, CA

As part of a panel titled “Noir on a Sunny Day.”

***

AUGUST 25, 6 pm

Camino Books, Del Mar, CA

In conversation with Kem Nunn.

***

AUGUST 27, 6:30 pm

Rivian Theater, Laguna Beach, CA

In conversation with Ben Weiland.

***

SEPTEMBER 14, 6 pm

Pilgrim Surf + Supply, Brooklyn, NY

In conversation with TBD.

***

SEPTEMBER 18, time TBD

Atlantic Surf Park, Virginia Beach, VA

In conversation with Jason Borte.

***

SEPTEMBER 19, 5 pm

Swells’a Brewing, Kill Devil Hills, NC

In conversation with Matt Walker.

***

SEPTEMBER 21, 6 pm

Savard Beer & Board, Wilmington, NC

In conversation with TBD.

***

SEPTEMBER 23, 6 pm

Hed Hi Studio, Charleston, SC

In conversation with Chris Dixon.

***

SEPTEMBER 27, 4 pm

Chaucer’s Books, Santa Barbara, CA

In conversation with Chris Malloy.

***

OCTOBER 2, 6:30 pm

Fireside Books, Redwood City, CA

In conversation with Thomas Hayden.

***

NOVEMBER 7, time TBD

Florida Surf Film Festival, Brannon Center, New Smyrna Beach, FL

In conversation with TBD.

Order your copy of Nearshore here.

A Window Into El Salvador’s Waves

El Salvador has become one of surfing’s premier destinations over the past decade, thanks in large part to its long run of south-facing points and remarkably consistent exposure to Southern Hemisphere swells coupled with a much safer environment for travelers and locals alike.

The country’s surf coast includes some of Central America’s best-known waves, from the cobblestone right at Punta Roca to the long, user-friendly walls at El Sunzal, as well as El Zonte, K-59, Mizata, Punta Mango and Las Flores. Surfline’s current El Salvador network provides surf reports, forecasts and cameras at a number of those breaks.

Related: Surf Spot Mechanics: Punta Roca, El Salvador

More Eyes on Surf City

The free access is also another step in El Salvador’s broader effort to establish itself as an international surfing destination. Through its Surf City initiative, the Salvadoran government has invested heavily in surf tourism, infrastructure and events, helping put breaks like Punta Roca, El Sunzal and Las Flores on the global surfing map.

“El Salvador has some of the best waves in the world, and we’re excited that the surfers who live there can lean on our cams and forecasts to make the most of it,” said Surfline CEO Ross Garrett . “It’s also a great chance for travelers to get a closer look at all this coastline has to offer. We’re thrilled to bring this to life with Surf City El Salvador.” 

The timing is notable, too. El Salvador has continued to expand its profile as a competitive and recreational surf destination, while the country’s coastline was recently recognized as a World Surfing Reserve.

Related: Could Climate Crisis Insurance Save El Salvador’s Waves?

On the Big Island, Lala’s combination of moisture and dramatically colder temperatures at elevation brought snow to the upper reaches of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, creating the surreal image of a tropical cyclone simultaneously producing dangerous surf at sea level and winter conditions on two of the world’s largest volcanoes. Powerful winds at Mauna Kea’s summit reportedly reached extreme speeds as the storm passed the island.

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South Point Takes the Brunt

South Point and the exposed coastlines around Kaʻū saw some of the most dramatic storm impacts. Lala’s close passage generated large storm surf while hurricane-force winds turned the ocean into a chaotic mix of wind chop, spray and whitewater. Producing dangerous conditions compounded by coastal flooding, strong currents and rapidly changing water levels, authorities urged people to stay away from coastal areas as emergency crews dealt with storm waters, fallen trees and other hazards.

The Big Island also suffered extensive inland damage. Torrential rainfall triggered flash flooding and mudslides, while homes were reportedly swept away in communities around South Point. Widespread power outages and transportation disruptions further complicated the response.

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From Tropical Surf to Snow-Covered Volcanoes

Perhaps the most visually striking aspect of Lala’s impact was what happened thousands of feet above the coastline. While coastal communities dealt with wind, rain and powerful surf, snow fell across the upper elevations of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

Snow is not unprecedented on Hawaii’s highest peaks, particularly during winter storms, but seeing it associated with a mid-August tropical cyclone is an extraordinary reminder of the island’s dramatic elevation changes and microclimates. Mauna Kea rises nearly 14,000 feet above sea level, where temperatures can plunge below freezing even while tropical conditions dominate the coastline.

For a storm already producing everything from hurricane-force winds to dangerous surf and life-threatening flooding, the snowfall added another surreal layer to Lala’s legacy.

Related: 2026 Outpacing Record For Category 5 Storms

Maui Gets the Swell—and the Wind

As Lala moved west, the storm’s swell followed. Maui saw Lala-generated surf build significantly, with east-facing shores receiving the brunt of the swell. Exposed south-facing shores also saw an increase as the storm tracked through the island chain. Strong tropical winds, heavy rain and dangerous currents made coastal conditions hazardous, while flooding and storm damage disrupted access in some areas.

Impacts on Oahu and Kauai

On Oahu, Lala generated a short- to mid-period east swell. The North Shore’s orientation and the shadowing effect of the surrounding islands limited much of that energy, while strong easterly winds made for generally poor conditions. Elsewhere on Oahu, heavy rain and damaging winds created additional hazards as Lala moved west through the island chain.

As Lala continued westward, Kauai remained in line for heavy rain, strong winds and elevated surf. Lala may have generated waves across Hawaii, but hurricane-driven currents, storm surge, flooding, debris and unstable coastal conditions have made entering the water exceptionally dangerous.

From South Point’s storm surf to snow-covered Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, Hurricane Lala delivered one of the more visually and meteorologically bizarre reminders of just how much can happen across Hawaiʻi’s dramatic landscape during a single storm.

1997 record year produced 12 global Cat 5s — 10 Northwest Pacific super typhoons plus two off Mexico’s Northeast Pacific coast. However, in that record year, the first Cat 5 didn’t arrive until August. 2026 is running well ahead even of 1997’s own internal clock. The first hit in the Indian Ocean in February, while Super Typhoon Sinlaku, with winds of 185 mph and a minimum pressure of 890 hPa, formed off Guam in early April. 

Surf forecasters group 1997/98 among the small handful of truly generational El Niño winters, alongside 1969/70, 1982/83 and 2015/16,  that produced the biggest scientifically recorded waves since the sport began measuring them. It was the 1997/98 winter that the Biggest Wednesday swell went down at Outer Log Cabins, that Jaws first came into wider surf consciousness, and that Taylor Knox won the inaugural K2 Big-Wave Challenge with a 50-foot wave at Todos Santos. In 2015/16, you might remember Mark Healey pulling into a closeout what’s been called the biggest Puerto wave ever ridden, or an all-time Mavericks Super Bowl session that Surfline’s dubbed the “day of the decade”. 

2026 is shaping up to match or even exceed that historic year courtesy of another steroidal El Niño. The mechanism is straightforward: El Niño shifts the storm track south, meaning the cold storms that generate swell move down into California and Baja’s backyard rather than staying pinned further north. So spots away from the immediate storm center get huge, clean swell without the accompanying wind and rain that hits closer to the epicenter.

“The scientific driver is the same in both years, a very strong El Niño, but there’s some extra multipliers this time round,” said Surf-Forecast Chief Forecast Rob Davies. Davies pointed to reduced wind shear. El Niño suppresses vertical wind shear in the Pacific, which helps storms organize and intensify rather than get torn apart. The Atlantic gets the opposite effect.  

“We also have a warmer baseline planet, with decades of accumulated climate change, continued Davies. “Even the same level of El Niño intensity should translate into more energy available for storms than it did almost 30 years ago.” He says it’s difficult to predict, being uncharted territory in scientific terms, but could be significant in how the season will play out.

It all points to 2026’s El Niño shaping up to be stronger than even 1997/98 and 2015/16, the most recent benchmark winters for big-wave surfing at California, Baja, and Hawaii. 

The Atlantic hurricane season, when hurricanes are most likely to form in the ocean, runs from June 1st to November 30th. Back in May, NOAA predicted a below-normal hurricane season due to a few competing factors. Firstly, El Niño in the South Pacific is due to intensify, which may have an impact on the Atlantic Ocean. El Niño shifts atmospheric patterns, so much so, it increases wind shear over the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean. Hurricanes need a stable, unsheared atmosphere to organize and intensify. Strong wind shear tears apart a storm’s structure. And this wind is likely to travel into the Gulf of Mexico from the Pacific, interfering with Atlantic hurricanes. So even if ocean temperatures in the Atlantic are warm enough to fuel a storm, El Niño’s winds can prevent storms from forming at all, or weaken ones that do form.

However, NOAA has noted there is still some remaining factors around the hurricane season. “Although El Niño’s impact in the Atlantic Basin can often suppress hurricane development, there is still uncertainty in how each season will unfold,” said NOAA’s National Weather Service Director Ken Graham. “That is why it’s essential to review your hurricane preparedness plan now. It only takes one storm to make for a very bad season.”

So far, NOAA’s forecast has held true, this season has been notably slow – with a couple of weak storms such as Tropical Storm Arthur and Tropical Storm Bertha. We are well behind schedule on where the season should be up to. There’s so much going on under the hood here, let’s take a look.

How Are Atlantic Hurricanes Formed?

Hurricanes form when warm ocean water evaporates. The rising warm air builds a low-pressure center and the Earth’s rotation spins this into a storm when wind shear is low. In order for a hurricane to form, ocean temperatures must reach 80F, to a depth of about 150 feet. This is what drives the hurricane and acts as its starting point. There also has to be high humidity in the lowest part of the earth’s atmosphere, which helps form thunder storms. The Coriolis effect, aka the rotation of the earth, helps with the spinning nature of the storm, which is why the strongest storms form away from the equator.

Related: El Niño 2026 Watch: Latest Updates As Historic Pacific Weather Event Ignites

How Do Hurricanes Create Waves?

The wind from a hurricane rips across the water’s surface across hundreds of miles. This energy then radiates outwards and by the time it reaches the coast, is organized into sets of waves. It may sound simple, but this is why proximity to storms and hurricanes are crucial – you do not want to be right in the path of a hurricane if it makes landfall. Ideally, you’d want a hurricane to form hundreds of miles away and the resulting energy travel hundreds of miles to reach your coastline. Sometimes, those waves reach land before the storm, known as the forerunners. And sometimes, after a hurricane has moved through, it can deliver swell again.

What Are There Different Stages of Hurricanes?

Before a storm to be classified as a hurricane, wind speed must exceed 74mph. But there are stages before a storm reaches hurricane strength. First, is a Tropical Wave, which is a band of thunderstorms that drift loosely together. Next, is a Tropical Depression, where warm rising air creates a low pressure center – wind speeds here remain under 39mph. Then, there’s Tropical Storms, which is when most surfers will start taking notice, wind speed is higher than 39mph and the storm is given a name. These can intensity and develop into hurricanes, of which there are five different classifications.

Atlantic Hurricanes Span Continents

The usual track for an Atlantic hurricane starts off the coast of Cabo Verde, near Africa. These then move westwards, until reaching the Caribbean. The hurricane can then intensity, spin up the east coast, reintensify under Greenland and then fan out over the North Atlantic, delivering swell to Ireland, the UK, into the Arctic and beyond. Atlantic hurricanes are extreme weather events, with the opportunity for thousands of surfers to score waves from the same system.

What Was The Biggest Atlantic Hurricane Ever?

Hurricane Wilma was the strongest Atlantic Hurricane on record, with wind speeds reaching 185mph. Wilma caused absolutely catastrophic damage across Mexico after it formed in 2005, costing around $20 billion in damages and dozens of fatalities. After setting record rainfall in Mexico, Wilma made landfall in Florida, as a Category 3 hurricane, causing the largest power outage in Florida’s history. More than 20 years later since Wilma, it still stands as one of the most destructive weather events in history.

Where To Surf During Atlantic Hurricane Season?

Cape Hatteras in the Outer Banks sticks out into the Atlantic and is a great place to lap up those hurricane swells. New Jersey and New England can pick up that same swell as the storm moves northwards. Florida can also cop the brunt of a gigantic hurricane, as they track through the Caribbean, which can also come to life under a hurricane, as well as cause intense flooding, damage and huge amounts of destruction. Perhaps lesser-known, is swell from a hurricane does make its way over to the other side of the Atlantic too. Some of the best sessions out of Ireland, the UK and beyond have been down to long period energy from hurricanes that started off the coast of Africa and boomeranged back toward the top half of the Atlantic after the US. The travelphilic surfer could, theoretically, surf the same storm in Cabo Verde, the Caribbean, US east coast, Canada, Ireland, UK and potentially over to areas like Norway too, if the storm is big enough. Has it been done before? Not to my knowledge.

When Were The Best Atlantic Hurricane Sessions?

Remember the Quiksilver Pro in New York, back in 2011? The first east coast CT event in 22 years was also powered by Hurricane Katia. Thanks to the hurricane, it was also the biggest payout, not to mention in historical context, as Quick ponied up the first $1 million purse ever for a single event.

Related: El Niño vs La Niña: How Pacific Mood Swings Reshape Surf Seasons

Surfers like Matahi Drollet, Kauli and Aelan Vaast, and Eimeo Czermak represent just a small fraction of the incredible depth of surf talent found on the islands. Filmmaker David Biner has captured some of the magic in his new film that will make you want to drop everything and book a flight to Papeete ASAP.

Biner, an Indonesia-based filmmaker who goes by @indo.eye, spent a month in French Polynesia — long enough to move past the Teahupo’o strike-mission playbook and get inside something closer to the daily rhythm of the place. In a recent Tracks interview, he described the visual saturation that had drawn him there in the first place.

“There are so many different hues of blue across the lagoons and outer reefs, and the clarity is unlike anything I’d ever seen,” Biner said. “Combine that with the thriving life of the reefs, the quality of the waves and the surrounding landscape, and you’ve got a photog’s goldmine.”

South Pacific celebrates that goldmine and the distinct surf culture found there. Tahiti gets hundres of thousands of tourists a year, and surfers arrive as a subgroup inside a population that may just be coming for a tropical vacation sans cultural appreciation. Biner’s experience was different, he came as a grateful visitor and savored every experience that makes Tahiti unique. Every paddle-out at every lineup, he noted, still involves shaking every surfer’s hand before you take a wave.

“Respect gets respect, period,” Biner said. “They really do show outsiders respect on land, and they will show you that in the water as long as you show the same.”

That ethos runs through the film alongside the water shots. The Tahitian talent pool, including heavies like Matahi Drollet, Kauli and Aelan Vaast, and Eimeo Czermak, is deeper than you can imagine and Biner captured it up close over his month-long stay. “Teahupo’o is one of the heaviest tubes in the world, so having that as a training ground naturally produces local talent who are incredibly comfortable slab surfing,” he said. But the versatility is what surprised him. A river-mouth beachbreak on Tahiti, he added, functions as a de facto training gym for aspiring CT surfers, “it’s like a skate park for performance surfing.”

The time allowed him to move at an intentional pace, unlike the sometimes frantic energy that can come with strike missions. He go to venture past the transactional-tourist dynamic that comes with short trips. He describes an afternoon at a French-style bakery near where he was staying when his order of an almond croissant was upgraded to three, no charge, with a smile from the woman behind the counter. All just because he had been coming in every morning for a week.

“That small act of generosity really did pull at my little heartstrings,” he said. “I had arrived as an outsider, possibly perceived as a weirdo that was fair-skinned with a shaved head and a beard. But that little gesture made me feel, even in a very small way, like I belonged there.”

Don’t miss South Pacific, do yourself a favor and watch it on a big screen, and be sure to follow @indo.eye on Instagram.

Related: 54-Year-Old Kelly Slater Goes Near Perfect at Psycho Tahiti

A Life Built Around Surfing

For more than half a century, Rainbow Fin Co. was much more than a fin manufacturer. It was a living link to surfing’s past, and Glen De Witt was one of the people who kept that connection alive.
Rainbow Fin Co. traces its roots to 1968, when a group of young Santa Cruz surfers began building fins to supply the growing surf industry. Over the decades, the company evolved along with surfing, producing everything from early shortboard fins during the twin-fin revolution to longboard templates that became synonymous with the classic single-fin experience.

Glen eventually became the face of the company and helped transform Rainbow into one of the industry’s enduring independent manufacturers. While the surf world became increasingly dominated by large international brands, Rainbow remained a family operation rooted in Santa Cruz. Rainbow fins were recognizable from across a lineup: colorful, carefully crafted and built with an appreciation for both function and aesthetics.

“I want to personally thank each and everyone one who has bought a RFC fin over the last 50 years. I love what I do and I am proud to share my quality products with you,” wrote Glen in 2018 when Rainbow celebrated its 50th anniversary.

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More Than Just Longboard Fins

The company’s history stretched well beyond longboards. Rainbow manufactured fins for shortboards, windsurfing, kiteboarding, wakeboarding, kayaking and stand-up paddleboards, and even produced components for sailboats and research submarines. But it was in the longboard world that Glen and Rainbow became particularly beloved.

As surfing rediscovered the beauty of traditional single-fin boards, Rainbow’s templates found their way beneath the feet of surfers who valued trim, glide and the subtle art of positioning a board on a wave. Glen also understood that a surfboard fin could be more than a functional piece of equipment. Rainbow’s colorful designs became part of the visual language of classic surfing, with vintage templates continually being brought back to life.

Keeping the Family Business Alive

Through it all, Rainbow remained a family affair. Glen and his wife, Kathy, worked alongside their daughter, Sarah, continuing to manufacture, test and develop fins around Santa Cruz. In an industry that has changed almost beyond recognition since 1968, Glen De Witt represented something increasingly rare: a surf-industry lifer who stayed close to the craft, the customers and the culture. Rainbow Fin Co. wasn’t simply his business. It was his contribution to surfing, and a reminder that sometimes the smallest pieces of equipment leave the biggest impact.

“On the morning of August 13th, 2026, around 12:50 a.m., a call was received at Santa Cruz Regional 911 for a report that a vehicle had driven off a cliff on West Cliff Drive near Steamers Lane,” reads a statement from the Santa Cruz Fire Department.

“All five units from Santa Cruz Fire (four engines and a ladder truck, plus a Battalion Chief), three units from Central Fire District, a Battalion Chief from Scotts Valley Fire, and the Santa Cruz Police Department responded to the call.”

While the drive was able to free themself from the scene, rescue swimmers had to retrieve the passenger, who remained trapped in the submerged vehicle. Emergency aide was rendered to the victim, who was rushed to a nearby hospital, where they eventually succumbed to their injuries. The driver sustained minor injuries. No official cause of the accident has been named at this time.

“The first victim who self-extracted only sustained minor injuries. The second victim pulled from the vehicle was transported by AMR to a nearby medical facility, with life-saving measures provided en route. The individual later passed away at the hospital,” continues the Santa Cruz Fire Department statement. “The incident remains under active investigation as investigators work to determine the circumstances and cause of the crash.”

Authorities from the University of California, Santa Cruz notified and arrived on the scene when it was learned she was a student at the nearby college.

“We were heartbroken to learn that the victim was a UC Santa Cruz student,” university spokesman Scott Hernandez-Jason said in a statement to The Pajorian. “Our deepest condolences go out to the student’s family and friends during this difficult time. We are providing support resources to those affected by this tragedy.”

Our thoughts and condolences go out to the victims and their friends and family at this time.

OCEARCH, a shark tracking and protection company, has been tracking Breton since 2020, when he was tagged off the coast of Nova Scotia.

Since then, Breton’s been on a bit of a tour of the east coast and up into Canada, taking a six year trip along the right side of the coast.

Earlier this week, Breton’s tag showed he was about 70 miles off the coast of South Carolina, making him the southernmost tagged shark on OCEARCH’s database. Usually, sharks migrate northwards with the warmer waters.

It’s not known why Breton decided to start heading up with the other sharks but scientists have begun speculating. “Sharks don’t always follow the rulebook,” OCEARCH Senior Data Scientist John Tyminski said after Breton’s brief break off Florida in late July. “Breton’s unexpected journey reminds us that the factors driving white shark movements are complex, and we’re still uncovering the secrets behind these remarkable migrations.”

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Breton was named after the place he was tagged at Cape Breton. He is 13 feet, 3 inches long weighing 1,427 pounds and went viral for accidentally mapping a self-portrait of a shark along the east coast with his GPS pings, earning him the esteemed title of the Leonardo Da Vinci of the sea.

Since being tracked, Breton has swam over 50,000 miles from Canada down to the Gulf of Mexico and the Bahamas. His satellite tag has lasted over five years, providing scientists with rare, long-term migration and deep-dive behavior data.

On the OCEARCH tracker, Breton is larger than many young or medium sharks, though researchers have handled or tracked a few larger great whites reaching up to 17 or 18 feet. So although Breton is big, he’s not the absolute max size for his species.

🦈 Breton’s latest movements have scientists asking one big question…

While most white sharks head north for summer, Breton is swimming south. Every unexpected movement helps unlock new insights into shark behavior. pic.twitter.com/RHWeAGfaZh

— OCEARCH (@OCEARCH) July 23, 2026

Related: Why Great White Sharks Are Suddenly Haunting Safe Coastlines

Given its current trajectory, Lala is on a direct path with the Big Island – with a warning in place across the region and a Tropical Storm watch in place for Maui County. Should Lala make landfall here, it will be the first hurricane to do so in 34 years.

Right now, a combo of swells are currently hitting the Big Island, with the forerunners from Hurricane Lala in the mix as well. The bulk of the swell and wind is set to arrive on the south east side of the island, but there will be widespread rainfall throughout.

According to NOAA: “Large and dangerous waves, especially on the Big Island are expected this weekend, with the greatest impacts along exposed windward and southern shores. This prolonged period of heavy surf may cause localized coastal flooding and significant beach erosion.”

The warning continued: “Heavy rainfall associated with Tropical Storm Lala will begin to impact the Big Island Friday, spreading westward across the remainder of the island chain during the weekend. This rainfall may produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain.”

Hawaii Governor, Josh Greene, declared a statewide emergency today, which allows officials to activate the National Guard and access emergency funds as the state prepares for Lala.

At the moment, Lala’s sustained wind speeds have increased to 60mph as the storm moved WNW, around 500 miles off the coast of Hilo. The forecast has Lala potentially making landfall by Saturday. But keep in mind; hurricanes are notoriously difficult to track, even this late in the day. If the track shifts be a metre, that’s a butterfly effect for the rest of the forecast, wildly swinging the storm’s path and trajectory.

Tropical Storm Lala formed under El Niño conditions in the South Pacific. But it’s important to remember that the storm wasn’t caused by the climate event, it’s more that El Niño helped the storm to form. This is due to the warmer Pacific waters providing more energy for tropical cyclones to shape up, with reduced winds meaning storms can stay organized.

Hawaii is particularly vulnerable to storms formed under El Niño conditions, given its location on the storm track. During strong El Niño years, the Central Pacific becomes way more favorable for storms approaching the islands. Which means; we could be in for a wild season. We’ll update this article as Lala plays out.

Facing longtime friend and occasional sparring partner Griffin Colapinto in the final, things started a bit on the slow side before both surfers ratcheted up the tension. Colapinto found his flow early and tried to turn the heat into a wave-catching contest, but locked in, Moniz was able to put himself on the bigger, heavier, hollower waves. Finishing the final with a pair of nine-point rides in his scoreline, it was a demonstrative performance by the 28-year-old Hawaiian.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” Moniz said from the channel after. “I put a lot into this. Surfing’s a hard sport. Only one guy wins at a time. I put so much into this good, it feels good that it paid off.”

Related: Canadian Teen Phenom Erin Brooks Earns Statement-Making Win in Pristine Tahitian Surf

Prior to Tahiti, Moniz hadn’t finished better than 17th all season. Thanks to the result, he climbs 12 spots up the leaderboard and now sits at 19th. Perhaps even more important, it gives him momentum and confidence as he looks to the back half of the season with an upcoming event in Fiji, as well as the return of the Pipe Masters in December.

Colapinto’s runner-up finish moves him four spots up the leaderboard. He now sits eighth in the world and will be looking for some late-season magic to get him in the world title conversation. Brazil’s Italo Ferreira leaves Tahiti ranked number one haver his third-place finish. The race for the 2026 world title is officially on now.

“I’m so happy right now. It’s been a tough year so far, I haven’t made many heats, so this feels really good,” Brooks beamed afterwards.

Brooks road to the top of the podium was anything but easy. Facing a torrent of wind, rain, swell, and savvy competitors, Brooks got passed 15-year-old Tya Zebrowski in her opening heat. In Round 2, she picked off five-time world champ Carissa Moore, then dispatched 2025 world champ Molly Picklum in the quarters. Rolling into the semis, Brooks made short work of Aussie vet Isabel Nichols to earn a spot in her first final of the year.

This marks the second Championship Tour victory of Brooks’ young career. Her first win came as a wildcard in Fiji in 2024. And by happenstance, the tour now heads to Fiji, where the teenager will look to keep her momentum going and turn her season around.

Related: Hawaii’s Seth Moniz Claims First Championship Tour Win

Today, a positive spin whirs across our desktops: Not all coral reefs the world over are doomed to succumb to the pesky rash of marine heat waves that just doesn’t seem to abate. Thanks to hidden ocean currents, select reef habitats, such as a nameless one in the Andaman Sea in the northeastern Indian Ocean, get regular-enough infusions of cool, clear water when and where climate conditions dictate.

At least that’s what decades-long study by researchers at the University of Bremen’s Center for Marine Environmental Studies (MARUM) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in collaboration with Thai marine scientists found and published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The researchers measured conditions over time while using forensic evidence entombed within coral skeletons to trace a wider story of the reef’s trials and tribulations. Brief marine-biology lesson, for no one in particular: Corals exist on a foundational level due to calcium carbonate deposits. Minerals beget life, too—sort of. As corals grow, and as calcium deposits build, they trap chemicals, or at least chemical information about the aqueous solution in which they dwell.

The researchers employed a strontium-to-calcium (Sr/Ca) ratio to chart subsurface water temperatures while also tracing the corals’ nutrition using carbon-isotope (variations of a chemical element) ratios. Plainly, the study found that a reef’s cooling (and health) depends on subsurface ocean currents, which is probably no surprise to anyone who’s plunged a few feet below the surface of even a swimming pool.

But things are a little more complex in the deep blue sea, where internal waves and thermocline changes take place with nuance. Different climate cycles—see the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), where this reef is concerned—have bearings upon wind, ocean circulation, and the depth of the thermocline. All of the aforementioned, naturally, affect a reef’s temperatures.

The study’s most significant finding relative to today’s concerns is that the reef in question showed its most intensive natural cooling cycle during the “extraordinary” El Niño event of 1997 and 1998, when the IOD came very strongly into play.

The thermocline was found to be abnormally shallow at the time, and lent a cool flood of relief to the beleaguered reef. Elsewhere, that El Niño led to some of the most prolific cases of coral-bleaching on record.

Another quick marine-biology lesson: Coral reefs build on calcium-carbonate deposits, but the living parts—and the tiny algae that live within the corals’ tissues—photosynthesize in order that corals might flourish and grow. When water gets too warm, that relationship fails, and the corals kick the algae out of home and hearth. This is what is colloquially known as “bleaching.”

The records developed by the research suggest that when the Andaman reef in question becomes stressed, its corals generally respond by engaging in heterotrophy, or catching food particles from the surrounding water, a strategy corals resort to when they lose their primary energy source (from algae).

During the 1998 El Niño, however, the corals’ heterotrophic activity did not increase, and the researchers concluded that extraordinary cooling must have led the corals to keep their little busy-bee algae within and resumed their normal operations, despite the marine heatwave.

While this is an encouraging finding for coral reefs the world round, the researchers’ findings also stress that such naturally-cooled reefs don’t necessarily have permanence. As climate conditions change a reef that survives one heatwave might not necessarily ride out the next.

Still, cool water continues to circulate, and studying those shifts and their impacts may play bigly into marine biologists’ understanding of which reefs are likely to withstand impact ahead of marine heatwaves.

That knowledge may inform protection and conservation efforts, but all in all, lest we need reminding: It just goes to show that mother ocean takes care of herself and her own—and that she needs us far less than we oh-so-gravely need her.

Considering a new Skip Frye will run you close to $5K regardless (if you can even get on the list), and this one is inspired by Sprout, one of the most influential surf films of all time — well, you get the idea. Sure, it’s out of reach for 99.9% of us, but if you know a wealthy surfer with a taste for refined surf culture, you should probably send them here. According to Campbell, the value is likely closer to $15,000.

We caught up with Ken Lewis of The Surfboard Rack to learn more about the history of this board, which is on consignment, and his expertly curated selection of foam and fiberglass.

Skip Frye x Thomas Campbell

Ken Lewis: Sprout was one of those films that is a fork in the road. If Curren riding a Frye fish at J-Bay in the mid-’90s got us looking at alternate shapes, Sprout got us all buying and ordering those boards, and it changed the landscape of garages and lineups everywhere.

This 6’9″ Frye long fish, from 2003, was one of the first longer fish shaped off the new Rawson-Clark foam blanks at the time. Skip’s version set the tone that other shapers spent years designing their own versions off of.

That scene of Joel Tudor, Skip Frye, and Rob Machado surfing together in Costa Rica — filmed by Thomas Campbell — was a high point of the film and the era. Thomas ordered a few Fryes and went to work on them, applying his signature artwork. Apparently this board was ridden during the promo tour for the film by some of the guys in the film. Then Thomas gave it to The Surfer’s Journal as a gift for their partnership on the project. It sat on display at the Journal’s offices for years before it was sold to the current owner, who has never waxed it. It has a few heel dents in the deck, but otherwise it is very clean.

Its significance transcends the shaper and the artist. It encapsulates an era that ushered in a whole new generation of people opening their minds to new shapes and new ways of riding waves — an influence still present in the sport today. According to Campbell, the value is likely closer

The specs: 6’9″ Skip Frye Fish (circa 2003–04) · Art by Thomas Campbell · Gloss polish · Fins by the legendary Larry Gephardt

The Surfboard Rack

Ken Lewis: I started The Surfboard Rack after I had a stroke. While I was healing at home on disability, with my benefits running out, I needed to figure out what my life was going to look like next. With a new appreciation for health, and wanting to reconnect with my love for surfboards, I decided to start an online shop from home during my recovery.

I wanted to focus on what I know and what I ride: San Diego shapes, made by people I have known most of my life. Every surf shop has its lane dialed in — I wanted to offer the boards you would not normally find far and wide. I also wanted to be able to give a little more history on the boards I sell, and to spend real time with my customers, offering them a deeper background on what they are buying.

I started selling surfboards in 1988 for Bird at Windansea Beach Surf Shop, and I still shoot his Surf Shed videos today. I have worked as a boatman in Tavarua, and I have put in time with Rusty, Transworld Skateboarding, Fallen and Zero skateboards, Circa Footwear, and others along the way.

Related: 11 Years In The Making, Thomas Campbell Reveals His Magnum Opus

Greg Wilfert, 71, was swimming around buoys with other lifeguards on Saturday, said he thought he’d been pulled by a boat, or caught up in a propeller, as he was taken around five feet under water. “That’s the only thing I could think of until I realized there was no boat,” he told CBS News.

Greg managed to remove his strap and swim back to shore, but said the encounter was frightening.
“I just swam as fast as I could to the surface, and then I just was hoping it wasn’t behind me. I could’ve beaten  Michael Phelps.”

He then warned beachgoers about the encounter as another lifeguard took over – before shutting the beach down for an hour.

Jet skis and drones have since been deployed to monitor the situation. “I’m taking it seriously. I won’t be swimming the buoys for a while,” he told Fox News.

Maine lifeguard dragged underwater by great white shark during routine patrol pic.twitter.com/KKMAwPhuuD

— What’s the Word? (@wtwmass) August 11, 2026

Shark migratory patterns are shifting across the globe, as the population moves into warming waters and chase prey closer to shore. Even last week, at least a dozen sharks have been spotted close to where Greg had his encounter.

Daryen Granata, Scarborough’s marine resources officer said: “Usually we’ll see one or two here and there. This is a large volume, larger than I’ve seen, and I’ve worked this area for 30-plus years.”

There has been a surge in shark sightings across the southern and midcoast of Maine this month, sparking beach closures and heightened public safety notices.

Meanwhile, great white patterns in Southern California and off the coast of Australia have also shifted, given the need to find warmer waters. Shark encounters in the south of Australia have seen an uptick while the migratory pattern of shark nurseries is starting drift northwards across California.

California is now set to see one of its sharkiest summers in a decade, with large numbers of juvenile great whites moving progressively north.

Related: Why Great White Sharks Are Suddenly Haunting Safe Coastlines

Stingrays have always been problematic in Southern California when the water warms up during the summer months, but with record-breaking ocean temperatures up and down the coast, the aptly nicknamed “devil fish” has been on a rampage the last few months.

The stats tell the story. The Associated Press reports that lifeguards at the California State Parks at Bolsa Chica and Huntington Beach have already reported 3,100 stingray “incidents” his year. And while we’re still only halfway through August, that’s more than double the total number reported in 2025. In the three and half miles of shore that is managed by the City of Huntington Beach, they’ve seen more than 2,000 incidents. Further south, San Diego beachgoers have suffered over 900 stingray wounds in the first six month of 2026.

Related: Ocean Temps Shattered Records Around the World in June

It’s worth noting that these numbers are probably fairly conservative because they only record the wounds that lifeguards have responded to, the number of people that limp off the beach on their own accord is likely much higher. For example, Seal Beach, where I served as a lifeguard in the late ’90s, is reputed as a hotbed for stingrays due to the warm, sometimes hot, water flowing out of the San Gabriel River (dubbed “Ray Bay”). Their stats for this summer have to be through the roof. Dr. Chris Lowe, director of the California State University, Long Beach’s Shark Lab, has studied the stingray population there for years and once told me the population is pretty much “infinite” and blankets the bottom.

So, why the uptick in stingray wounds this summer? Warmer coastal waters are likely the culprit. The stingrays love warm water and sandy bottoms, and with ocean temps reaching 80 degrees at one point this summer, the stingrays have moved in closer to shore. And with sweltering summer temps on land, there’s also been an uptick in people seeking respite in the sea. It’s a recipe for disaster.

Stingrays feature a serrated barb on their tails that is coated with a neurotoxin. When the fish are stepped on or threatened by predators, they defend themselves by whipping their tail at the threat. When the barb pierces the skin, more often than not on the foot or around the ankle, the neurotoxin is absorbed into the bloodstream, unleashing immense pain.

What To Do If You’re Stung By A Stingray

Should you be unlucky enough to get zapped, the first course of action should be to submerge the affected area in hot water as quickly as possible. The hotter the water the better. It will begin to breakdown the neurotoxin and the victim should start to feel some relief fairly quickly. But don’t be fooled when things start feeling better, the affected area needs to stay in that hot water for a significant period of time to really be effective. Take it out too soon and the pain comes roaring back.

Depending on the severity of the wound, going to see a doctor is also advisable. Due to the serrated barb, the wounds can bleed a lot and sometimes require stitches. And you’re definitely going to want to avoid infection. A doctor will be able to properly clean out the wound and potentially prescribe antibiotics. As a cautionary tale, I got stung on my big toe a couple of years ago, didn’t go to the doctor and the recovery process took weeks and my toe looked like it was rotting. Don’t be like me, seek help.

How To Avoid Stingray Wounds

Stingrays thrive in the shallows of flat, sandy beaches. The warmer the water the better. Whether you’re paddling out or just going for a swim, the “stingray shuffle” is a must. Instead of taking big steps through the water, shuffle your feet along the bottom. This will prevent you from stepping down on them and, hopefully, scare them off.

Related: Juvenile Great White Shark Launches Behind Bodyboarder in Newport Beach (Video)

In the latest release from Foamballed, Fancy Footwork, Tosh shows that he can work the North Shore on small days, with a longboard, just as good as he can work the big days, with short boards. When it comes to a ride-anything approach, the world’s premier tube hound is as solid as can be.

The eight-minute film opens with stint of magical conditions, where fun-sized waves roll through translucent blue water shimmering under the tropical sun. Tosh puts his trusty Thomas log through the paces on lefts and rights in the kind of conditions that scream log me, please.

Sure, you could try and grovel and hop your way through the two-foot peelers, but , why? Tosh’s surfing looks effortless, poised and balanced from the peak to the beach, as he walks, noserides, and goes switch foot up down the beach at Elukai Beach Park.

The first track is an ambient and meditative groove, perfectly suited to the graceful surfing and tropical vibe. Tosh, being Tosh, still manages to find some shade. Well, more so a shampoo head-dip, but still. He knows how to find the inside of a wave — and the exit — as good as anyone.

Appropriately so, in the interlude between tracks, we see the young Tudor on a rope swing where he’s interviewed by the camera man, “What’s your name?” he asks.

“Tosh Tudor.”

“What do you do?”

“I get barreled b*&%h”, Tosh says as he laughs and jumps off the swing. Then it’s into the second track, “.38 Special” by Rattlesnake Milk, where an upbeat western riff sets the tone for more traditional longboarding with timeless finesse. He’s simply got it in his blood and in his soul.

Given the epic run of south swell this season, there’s no doubt Tosh has been scoring world-class tubes in Indo and beyond. It’d be safe to say that his next release will be another masterclass in high-stakes tube-riding. Whatever it is, we’ll be stoked to see what he does next.

Related: Invite Only: The World’s Best Invitational Surf Contests

But this year, there’s a new wrinkle: For the first time, the public will get a chance to see it all unfold in person. The event will open Waco Surf to spectators on Saturday, October 10, for the inaugural Swatch Nines Surf & Skate Public Day. Details on tickets and access are expected in September.

A Different Kind of Action-Sports Event

The Nines operates less like a traditional contest and more like an action-sports laboratory. Rather than building a course and asking athletes to figure it out, surfers, skateboarders, BMX riders, designers and builders collaborate months ahead of the event to dream up features specifically designed to encourage new approaches. This year’s concepts began during the annual Swatch Nines Creative Cabin workshop in Encinitas, California, before moving from sketches to blueprints and, eventually, actual structures at Waco.

“One of the most special things about Swatch Nines is the workshop,” surfer Zoë McDougall said. “Swatch and the Nines bring all the athletes together with our big, wild ideas and then we see what’s possible.”

New Features, New Lines

Among the more ambitious additions this year are new elements built around the Krane and Flying O, including what organizers are calling the longest rail ever constructed for a Swatch Nines event. A skatepark suspended above the water will create new lines and approaches, while a large-scale mirror installation and a collection of Rampmobiles are intended to further scramble the conventional relationship between rider and course. The goal, as always, is progression without the pressure of a podium.

Become A Nine Returns

That philosophy also extends to the return of Become A Nine, the event’s wildcard program. Four emerging riders, two surfers and two skateboarders, with one man and one woman in each discipline, will earn the opportunity to join the established Nines roster. Selection is based on creativity, style and progression rather than conventional competitive results.

Previous winners have included surfers Hughie Vaughan and Zoey Kaina and skateboarder Skai Suitt, with Vaughan famously landing the first-ever stalefish backflip at the Nines. Applications for the 2026 Become A Nine program are expected to open this weekend through the Nines’ social channels.

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Who’s Riding in 2026?

The first wave of confirmed athletes for 2026 includes surfers Noah Beschen, Coco Ho and Zoë McDougall, along with skateboarders Andy Anderson and Kevin Peraza. More athletes from both surfing and skateboarding are expected to be announced in September.

With surfing, skating, art and BMX once again sharing the same playground, the 2026 Swatch Nines looks less interested in defining what action sports are than figuring out what they could become. And for the first time, the public will get to watch that experiment unfold from the sidelines at Waco Surf.

Related: ‘I Don’t Want To Stop’: A Sore Matt Meola Is Still Sending It to the Flats

With support from Brazilian brand Mormaii, the Big Wave Alliance event, which was conceived by California legend Gary Linden, opened its waiting period July 29th and runs through November 30th. The big wave showdown will unfold at the rocky reef about 5 kilometers off the coast of Jaguaruna, in the state of Santa Catarina. The setup is basically perfect but also very fickle. It takes a huge long-period swell, ideally from the SSE to light up when it hits the shelf 2 meters below the surface. The wave can break in either direction but, given it’s offshore location, is very exposed and needs light or offshore winds and good visibility.

The roster Linden has assembled is no joke, all heavies. On the men’s side, Grant “Twiggy” Baker, Kai Lenny, Lucas Chumbo, Billy Kemper, Nathan Florence, Russell Bierke, and seven others. The women’s draw includes Justine Dupont, Paige Alms, Bianca Valenti, and Catarina Lorenzo. Twelve men, six women, one day hopefully soon. Winners take the title of Paddle-In Big Wave Alliance World Champion, a title that’s been vacant since the pandemic and adds much needed support to the realm of big wave surfing.

Linden, the founder of the Big Wave Tour and former president of the ASP (now the WSL), has been pushing for a structured world title in big-wave surfing for decades. “By recognizing the best of the best, we capture the interest of audiences worldwide,” he said at the event launch. The format is simple: invite the best surfers from the top big-wave events around the globe, bring them to one location for a final showdown. The location will rotate annually.

The event will also carry more significance than just competition. It’s being held in tribute to Zeca Scheffer, one of the first guys to surf Laje da Jagua in 2002 and organized Brazil’s first tow-in championship there in 2006. He died later that same year at 32 in a car accident on the way to surf the wave. The wave he gave his life to will now host the most prestigious paddle event in big-wave surfing in his honor.

Since Laje da Jagua breaks five kilometers offshore, spectators won’t be able to watch from the beach. The organizers are setting up large screens onshore and everyone abroad will be able to watch streaming live on YouTube. Stay tuned for updates.

Related: Lucas Chianca Surfs Biggest Wave Ever Recorded (48ft) In Brazil

The Padang Cup is one of the more entrenched events that has added serious heft to the Invitational’s role in surf culture. Back in 1965, the  Malibu Surfing Association Invitational ended up with Finalists Mike Dora and Johnny Fain aiming lethal kick-outs at each other’s heads. Its safe to say the format evolved. But which invitationals have had the biggest impact? We investigated 

Rip Curl Cup Padang Padang

When: A month-long waiting period, usually August. 
Where: Padang Padang, Bali, Indonesia. 
Format: One-day, one-swell invitational pairing Indonesian locals against the world’s top tube riders. 
History: Debuted at Uluwatu in 2004; from 2007 it began inviting international surfers alongside Padang’s own talent, becoming Indonesia’s longest-running surf competition.
Winners: Made “Bol” Adi Putra (2004, 2005), Jamie O’Brien (2009), Mega Semadhi (2013, 2016), Jack Robinson (2018), Clay Marzo (2022), Westen Hirst (2025).
Legacy: A rare event where local Indonesian surfers regularly beat the world’s best on home reef; the international/local title split sits close to even after two decades.
Jackpot Moment: In 2012, Chris Ward won on a last-second perfect 10 barrel, then proposed to his girlfriend on the podium. Not a bad mic drop. 

Natural Selection Surf

When: 10-day road trip this September.
Where: South Africa (inaugural event was held in Micronesia).
Format: Natural Selection Surf is billed as an “off-the-grid expedition format” with no priority and no traditional numerical scores, instead judging elite freesurfers across multiple wave types using a holistic impression system.
History: Kicking off in 2025, Natural Selection Surf is an extension of the highly successful snowboard and ski events pioneered by Travis Rice.
Winners: Soli Bailey and Milla Coco Brown (2025)
Legacy: In the spirit of the Billabong Challenge or OP Boat Trip Challenge (see below), Natural Selection Surf was created to put the best freesurfers in the best waves without limiting their potential by conventional scoring systems and formats.
Jackpot Moment: Kicking off last year in heavy, slightly terrifying slabs at Captain Martin Daly’s Micronesian reef of choice. If 2025 was anything to go off, we’re in for a hell of a show this year.

Related: 12 Surfers, 10 Days, South Africa: Natural Selection Surf’s 2026 Lineup Is Here

The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational

When: A three-month waiting period, typically December to March, run only when 40ft-plus faces arrive. 
Where: Waimea Bay, Oahu, Hawaii. 
Format: Around 40 surfers invited by peer vote and the Aikau family; no rankings, no sponsors’ pull (in theory), just entry gained on respect.
History: Named for lifeguard and big-wave pioneer Eddie Aikau, who saved hundreds of lives at Waimea before dying during a 1978 rescue attempt. Founded in 1984 at Sunset Beach, it moved to Waimea in 1985.
Winners: Denton Miyamura (1985), Clyde Aikau (1986), Keone Downing (1990), Kelly Slater (2002), Greg Long (2009), John John Florence (2016), Landon McNamara (2024).
Legacy: Regarded as surfing’s premier big wave event in terms of cred, it’s run only 11 times in 41 years, and making its invitee list remains one of the most exclusive honours in the sport.
Jackpot Moment: So many epic moments from Clyde Aikai’s win in 1986, Flea’s famous pin drop wipeout, local on-duty lifeguard Luke Shepardson’s win in 2023, but we will go for Bruce Irons packing a closeout on the way to his win in 2004. 

Capítulo Perfeito (The Perfect Chapter)

When: A waiting period running mid-November to the end of January. 
Where: Has rotated between Portugal’s best barrels, Carcavelos, Supertubos, and Nazaré, but calls Carcavelos home. 
Format: One-day, invite-only tube-riding contest; a mix of local and international surfers partly chosen by public vote, called with as little as 72 hours’ notice.
History: Launched in 2012 as a local Portuguese event before opening to international names in later years, built entirely around waiting for one perfect barreling swell.
Winners: Nic von Rupp has won multiple editions and become the event’s defining face; other winners have included Clay Marzo, Pedro Scooby, and Balaram Stack.
Legacy: Modelled loosely on The Eddie’s “only run when perfect” philosophy, it’sbecome one of Europe’s most respected speciality events, prized for its purity, single swell, a small invited field, no filler. 
Jackpot Moment: The event’s tenth edition drew back nearly every past champion for a reunion of winners, cementing its reputation as Portugal’s signature surf gathering.

Op Pro Boat Trip Challenge

When: 2000 and 2001 editions. 
Where: Mentawai Islands, Indonesia
Format: Six men and four women, non-world-tour, chasing uncrowded remote breaks rather than surfing a fixed venue; total purse of $102,500, including a $65,000 men’s winner-take-all prize (the largest ever offered) and a $35,000 women’s purse, the biggest in the sport at the time.
History: A spin-off of the long-running Op Pro Huntington Beach (1982–1998), sponsored by Ocean Pacific, blending elite competition with genuine surf-travel adventure.
Winners: Mark Occhilupo won both the 2000 and 2001 editions, beating fields including Sunny Garcia, Andy and Bruce Irons, and Shane Dorian; the women’s field featured Layne Beachley, Serena Brooke, Rochelle Ballard, and Megan Abubo.
Legacy: Short-lived but influential, it captured the early-2000s boom in surf travel and helped popularize the Mentawais as surfing’s premier destination.
Jackpot Moment: In the flawless 2001 final at Macaronis, the finalists agreed to surf switch-foot in solidarity — until Occhilupo broke the pact, riding two waves goofy-foot to win. He and Ballard then split their winnings evenly among all ten entrants.

Billabong Challenge

When: 1995 to 1998. 
Where: Gnaraloo, Western Australia and Jeffreys Bay in 1996 and the South Coast of NSW in 1998. Events in Sumbawa and Gnaraloo were skunked by waves.  
Format: Eight elite surfers, remote location, a swell-dependent format designed to reward pure surfing over tour politics.
History: Conceived by Billabong founder Gordon Merchant, filmmaker Jack McCoy, and Wayne Bartholomew as a deliberate alternative to the “bloated” bums-on-beach approach of the world tour of the era.
Winners: Rob Machado, Kelly Slater and Shane Dorian.
Legacy: Its format, chasing quality waves over fixed venues with a two-week waiting period, is often credited as a forerunner to the ASP/WSL’s later “Dream Tour” concept.
Jackpot Moment: The inaugural 1995 event endured 10 days of storms at a remote, centipede-infested bluff before conditions turned perfect. Jack McCoy’s resulting film The Psychedelic Desert Groove won Surfer Magazine’s Video of the Year. This event wasn’t live-streamed; the first anyone knew of the comp was when McCoy’s films came out on VHS about six months after the event finished. 

Red Bull Cape Fear

When: Sporadic, with long waiting periods between March–August; but gets its place for the 2016 event/massacre. 
Where: Cape Solander (“Ours”), Sydney, and Shipstern Bluff, Tasmania. 
Format: Four-man heats, half paddle-in, half tow-in, chasing the heaviest slab waves in Australia.
History: Co-founded in 2014 by big-wave surfers Mark Mathews and Ryan Hipwood as a made-for-broadcast, heavy-water speciality event.
Winners: Ryan Hipwood (2014), Russell Bierke (2016), Nathan Florence (2019).
Legacy: The 2016 event held in a 10-foot, straight east swell is considered among the most dangerous surf contests ever staged; it pushed slab-riding into the mainstream and elevated the tow/paddle hybrid format.
Jackpot Moment: In 2016, 18-year-old Russell Bierke won after nearly drowning mid-event — knocked briefly unconscious and rescued by jet ski — in what many call the wildest 48 hours in surf contest history. Though wipeouts by Justin “Jughead” Allport and Richie Vaculik come a close second. 

Da Hui Backdoor Shootout

When: A two-week waiting period each January. 
Where: Pipeline and Backdoor, North Shore, Oahu. 
Format: Eight teams of five, non-elimination rounds, top individual and team barrels scored across the waiting period; no jerseys, and local run broadcast.
History: Grown from Hui O He’e Nalu (Da Hui), founded in 1975 to protect Hawaiian surfers’ access to their own waves; the Shootout has run since 1996 
Winners: Jamie O’Brien (2008, 2018), Billy Kemper, Koa Rothman (2017, 2025).
Legacy: A deliberately anti-corporate event — brands pay $10,000 just to field a team — that’s become one of the most culturally significant surf contests in Hawaii. 
Jackpot Moment: In 2025, Koa Rothman won with a 12-point ride almost exactly a year after nearly drowning at the same reef, in front of his father, Da Hui co-founder Eddie Rothman.

Related: Photos: Pipeline Pumps For Backdoor Shootout’s Opening Salvo

The Zimbabwean federation will operate through the Rowing Association of Zimbabwe, an established national sporting body recognized by the Zimbabwe National Olympic Committee. The immediate goal is to send a team to the 2026 ISA World Junior Surfing Championship, with Zimbabwean surfer Marcello Zedde (below) expected to be among the country’s first international representatives.

Zedde and his father, Mario, helped establish a pathway for Zimbabwean surfers to compete under their national flag. Based in South Africa, the pair have trained and competed throughout the region, while other Zimbabwean surfers regularly travel to neighboring Mozambique and South Africa. There is even a river wave on the Zambezi offering a distinctly Zimbabwean version of home-field surfing. But Zimbabwe’s arrival isn’t happening in isolation. It’s part of a larger shift in African surfing.

Africa’s Competitive Surfing Footprint Is Growing

South Africa has long been the continent’s competitive powerhouse. It hosted the ISA World Championships in East London in 1978, the first African nation to do so, and later hosted the World Surfing Games and World Junior Surfing Championships in Durban.

Morocco, meanwhile, has emerged as one of Africa’s most compelling competitive surf nations. Its national teams now include established international competitors and a growing crop of young surfers. At the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games, Morocco fielded athletes including Olympic surfer Ramzi Boukhiam and teenage standout Ranya Squalli.

West Africa is developing its own competitive identity, too. Senegal has become an important center for youth development, while national championships and organized surfing programs have expanded across countries including Ghana, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and São Tomé and Príncipe.

The ISA formally recognized the African Surfing Confederation in 2023, creating a continental body designed to coordinate development and competition across the region. At the time, the ISA cited 19 recognized African national federations and had already conducted 10 development programs in eight African countries since 2018.

That development pipeline is increasingly youth-focused. An ISA program in Senegal brought together young men and women from 10 African countries for coaching, judging, tactical and technical training.

Why Zimbabwe’s Inclusion Matters

The timing is particularly important as surfing settles further into its Olympic identity. The qualification system for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics maintains continental pathways for Africa and Oceania through the ISA World Surfing Games. The 2027 World Surfing Games will award direct continental qualification spots, giving athletes from developing surf nations a legitimate route to the Olympics beyond the WSL Championship Tour.

That makes national federation status more than a ceremonial flag. For Zimbabwe, it creates an official pathway for young surfers to represent their country. For Africa, another federation means another potential pipeline of athletes, coaches, judges and administrators. And for international competitive surfing, it pushes the sport farther away from its traditional centers of power.

Surfing has always been defined by its relationship with the ocean. Zimbabwe’s inclusion is a reminder that its future may be defined by something broader: who gets the opportunity to participate once they find a way to the water. And as the road to LA28 begins to take shape, Africa is increasingly becoming part of that conversation.

Related: Luke Thompson Is Raising Money to Send Durban’s Street Kids to the ISA World Games

After a statement-making outing in the opening round, in Round 2, Kelly found himself matched up against three-time Brazilian world champ Gabriel Medina. If there’s anyone on tour that Kelly would consider a rival, it’s Gabby. A rematch of their 2014 final at Teahupo’o, the heat started with a flurry of heavy haymakers. Gabe opened with a 6.50, while Kelly absolutely ate shit on his first two waves.

Settling down with a short but potent seven-point right, after another beating and a broken board, Kelly recomposed himself, refocused, and scratched into a hell pit that was anything but perfect. Being the GOAT, he made the late drop, stalled deep, and came out with the spit. The judges threw him a 9.73 for the effort

The biggest score of the event so far, with 18 minutes left in the heat, Gabe, who’s in the world title conversation this year, found himself needing a combination of two scores to claw out of the hole he found himself. But Kelly was having none of it. With six-minutes later he dropped a 9.33 for a near-perfect 19.06 heat score.

“There’s some big lumps coming in,” Slater said after the heat. “It was fun, a lot of fun.”

Strider Wasilewski described Kelly as a “possessed demon,” which pretty much sums it up. Given his age and how much time away from competition he’s taken, not to mention a hip surgery and two young kids, it’s fair to say we’ve never seen a performance like this at Teahupo’o.

But few locations have taken a beating as severe as the narrow stretch of sand in San Clemente, located just south of the iconic surf break at Cottons Point toward San Clemente State Beach.

Here, giant ocean swells combined with ultra-high tides are crashing directly into the coastal rail corridor, causing significant service delays for Metrolink and passenger trains. Check out the scenes of chaos here and below.

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As sea levels rise and sand disappears, transportation agencies have routinely dumped thousands of tons of heavy boulders—known as riprap—along the shoreline to armor the tracks. However, local advocacy groups and environmentalists argue that hard armoring is destroying the very beaches and surf breaks it aims to defend.

Related: Cliff Jump Goes Horribly Wrong in San Diego, Hospitalizing Teen (Video)

One vocal advocacy group, Bring Back Our Beaches, is raising alarm over the endless cycle of emergency rock placement. Addressing the worsening situation, the organization stated:

“None of this is a surprise. This stretch of railroad was identified as vulnerable more than twenty years ago. And yet here we are again, heading into another winter without the recurring nourishment program that would maintain that buffer. The riprap is doing what it can. But adding more rock without restoring the beach isn’t just failing to solve the problem. It’s making it worse — for the coast and for the very rail line it’s supposed to protect.”

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Environmental advocates emphasize that dumping boulders reflects wave energy downward, accelerating beach erosion and stripping away sand. To demand sustainable long-term solutions—such as sand nourishment, living shorelines, and eventual rail relocation—Bring Back Our Beaches is calling on the community to take action.

The organization is inviting residents, surfers, and beachgoers to assemble at San Clemente City Hall on August 10th to “Stop the Madness” and push city leaders toward holistic coastal management before South County’s beaches disappear forever.

Learn more about Bring Back Our Beaches here.

Related: Historic SoCal Swell Rips Away Beaches and Topples Lifeguard Tower (Video)

The dispute arose after municipal officials arbitrarily capped the number of licensed surf schools allowed to operate in Newport Beach at just three, effectively barring Murchison from running his business despite meeting all city safety and operational standards.

Represented pro bono by the Pacific Legal Foundation, Murchison challenged the city’s anti-competitive mandate in court. The legal effort paid off when the court ruled in favor of the veteran entrepreneur, striking down the city’s ungrounded restrictions.

Related: Surf School Owner Files Lawsuit Against Newport Beach In Federal Court

“Newport Beach decided three surf schools was enough — but it never had any basis for that conclusion,” said Caleb Trotter, a senior attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation, who represented Murchison pro bono in his case. “The government doesn’t get to cap competition just because it feels like it. Every entrepreneur deserves the freedom to build a business without the City deciding the market is full.”

Following his legal victory, Murchison’s school, Learn to Surf, will now operate under an official five-year agreement with Newport Beach—granting him the exact same operational terms and privileges as the three previously established surf schools.

The ruling marks a major triumph not just for economic liberty, but for the diverse local community that Murchison has dedicated years to serving. As detailed in the court case:

“Jason and his expert instructors have served thousands of people of all skill levels, although most of his clientele are beginners. Four-year-old kids, wounded military veterans, and people in substance abuse recovery are among those who caught their first wave under his tutelage.”

With the legal hurdle finally cleared, this Navy veteran can continue helping a wide range of students discover the healing, transformative power of surfing.

For more, check out Learn to Surf.

Related: Juvenile Great White Shark Launches Behind Bodyboarder in Newport Beach (Video)