Surfer

Super Typhoon Champi’s 20-Foot Monster Waves Pummel Taiwan Coastline (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 04:05:14 GMT

The satellite imagery was outrageous. But now, the ocean is putting on a show of its own.

Super Typhoon Champi, one of the Pacific’s most powerful storms of 2026, is sending enormous surf into Taiwan’s coastline, where authorities have warned of waves exceeding six meters, or roughly 20 feet.

A widely circulated video shows almost cartoonishly enormous walls of water: surf detonating around a lighthouse, whitewater pounding a coastal road as cars pass, and breakers looming behind a city skyline. Check out the almost unfathomable chaos below.

The threat is undeniable. Reuters photographs show heavy seas battering the coast near Keelung, while Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) has issued both land and sea warnings.

As SURFER previously reported, Champi reached Category 5-equivalent strength earlier this week, with satellite images revealing an almost perfectly circular eye. The storm has since weakened, but that’s hardly reassuring.

On Thursday, the CWA reported gusts topping 141 mph and a wind field extending approximately 200 miles from the storm’s center.

“The storm’s wind radius is quite large, among the bigger ones in recent years,” CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng told Reuters, warning that slower movement could prolong the damaging winds.

Meteorologists are stressing the historic nature of the cyclone. The New York Times recently designated Champi as “the strongest storm of the year,” warning of its catastrophic potential as it interacts with the island’s steep, mountainous terrain.

“The sheer scale of the wind field and extreme ocean energy makes this a truly historic event,” experts noted.

The consequences are already tragic. One man in his 20s died after being swept out by a powerful current while freediving off Xiaoliuqiu, according to Taiwan’s Coast Guard. Authorities also reported dozens of injuries and evacuations from vulnerable areas.

More than 900 flights have been canceled, and forecasters warned that mountainous parts of northern Taiwan could receive nearly three feet of rain, raising flooding and landslide concerns.

Champi is expected to skirt northeastern Taiwan before turning north toward waters near China and southern Japan, though forecasters have not ruled out landfall.

For now, those 20-foot-wave warnings are a reminder: the storm may be weakening on paper, but its ocean energy is still very much alive.

Possible Tornado Rips Through San Clemente Golf Course As Extreme California Weather Escalates (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 23:22:18 GMT

Tornadoes in Southern California? Apparently, anything is possible during this increasingly bizarre stretch of weather.

The National Weather Service is investigating whether a tornado touched down at San Clemente Municipal Golf Course in Orange County following powerful thunderstorms that swept through the region.

According to NBC Los Angeles, forecasters received a report around noon Thursday, October 22, suggesting that a tree had been damaged by a possible tornado.

The NWS dispatched a survey team to investigate, although the exact timing of the reported damage remains unclear.

And here’s the interesting part: meteorologists had already warned that conditions were favorable for a rare Southern California twister.

On Wednesday, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center cautioned that “isolated severe gusts and perhaps a tornado” could occur along the Central and Southern California coastline.

Later that afternoon, the NWS San Diego office tracked a powerful thunderstorm approximately 11 miles south of San Clemente, moving northeast at 30 mph.

The agency warned of “wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph,” adding that gusty conditions could “knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects.”

Meanwhile, NOAA meteorologists identified another band of storms moving toward the coastline with enough atmospheric rotation to produce a weak tornado.

“Convection approaching the coast may pose a brief threat of a weak tornado and damaging wind gust,” the Storm Prediction Center stated.

The unusual weather resulted from a strong upper-level low-pressure system interacting with moisture flowing into California from the Pacific.

Although tornadoes are uncommon in Southern California, they’re not unheard of. Approximately a dozen, generally weak tornadoes are reported statewide annually, according to NBC Los Angeles.

In December 2025, for example, a weak tornado struck Boyle Heights in Los Angeles, damaging buildings and surprising residents.

The latest storm also brought heavy rainfall, flooding concerns, dangerous coastal conditions, and the possibility of waterspouts offshore.

For San Clemente, the big question now is whether the damaged tree was the result of rotating tornado winds or a powerful thunderstorm gust.

Until the NWS completes its investigation, the suspected touchdown remains unconfirmed.

But amid a fall already marked by enormous surf, coastal erosion, and extreme weather, a possible tornado would be another “not on my bingo card” event.

Fiji Surfers Rally Against Proposed Iron-Sand Mine at Sigatoka River Mouth

Chris Dodds — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 23:11:47 GMT

It’s easy to think of Fiji as a paradise. The truth is the country has plenty of issues that deserve proper attention, and too often they’re sidestepped in favor of big-money projects that come at the expense of locals.

Right now, a local community of surfers, fishermen, and landowners are coming together to protest a proposed iron-sand mining project at the Sigatoka River mouth. The project, proposed by Australian-owned Magma Mines, could wipe out a precious wave, restrict access to the area, threaten important fishing grounds, and degrade a large stretch of the Coral Coast which could, in turn, negatively impact tourism and local businesses. It’s hard to say exactly how much is at stake, because landowners say they weren’t consulted on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and it has been difficult to view or access.

The wave in question is directly out front of the Sigatoka River. Although the beach is about 4 miles long, the best wave is right in the zone of the proposed mine. While it may not be Cloudbreak, it is one of the only beach breaks in Fiji. This is highly important as it provides many locals the opportunity to surf without needing the boat, gas, and time commitment to surf distant reefs.

The EIA, which Fiji’s Department of Environment has opened for public review until October 30, isn’t posted online, according to locals. It must be viewed in-person at one of four locations, including the Sigatoka Town Council and the Department’s Western Division office in Lautoka. The Ministry says that a submitted EIA doesn’t mean the project is approved.

Locals like Stu Johnson and Kalani Muller, like many others, have been taking to Instagram and social media to raise awareness about the potential environmental impacts. Johnson, who moved to Fiji in 2012, speaks fluent Fijian, and is highly respected in the surf community said the following in his Instagram story.

“We’re getting together on Saturday as a surf community to share stories and tell everybody why the river mouth is worth preserving and protecting. At the very least, we want a detailed idea of what went into the environmental impact assessment, before the Fiji government gives a license to a foreign mining company out of Australia to do as they wish: block access, change the whole landscape, and potentially destroy the wave, as well as the livelihoods of all the people who fish in that river. You go there any day at low tide, people are fishing there.

We want to know what’s in that EIA study. It’s not online. It’s available at the Ministry of Environment. If anyone can go and read it, take a photo, and share it with us, that would be epic. Let’s see you guys on Saturday.”

We’ll be keeping an eye on this story and sharing any significant developments.

Lake Michigan Erupts as NOAA Warns of 26-Foot Freshwater Monsters (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 20:18:29 GMT

Forget the ocean. Lake Michigan just served up the kind of surf report you’d expect from a major swell event in the Pacific.

A powerful October storm turned the freshwater lake into chaos, blasting lighthouses and shorelines with enormous waves. Footage circulating on Instagram and YouTube shows the extraordinary spectacle.

And those reports of 20-foot waves? They’re not just social-media hype.

In its October 16 forecast, the National Weather Service predicted waves of 15 to 20 feet across southern Lake Michigan, with occasional individual waves reaching 26 feet.

Northerly winds were forecast to reach 45 knots—roughly 52 mph—as low pressure moved east of the Great Lakes and strong high pressure built to the west.

There’s an important distinction: these were forecast heights, not independently verified measurements. The NWS defines significant wave height as “the average of the highest 1/3” of waves, while the larger figures represent occasional higher seas.

Still, the scenes were outrageous.

At South Haven, Michigan, footage recorded October 16 showed wind tearing spray off the waves around a lighthouse. One published video description described a “massive amount of spindrift” and estimated local waves at 10 to 18 feet.

Farther south, drone footage captured waves smashing against the St. Joseph lighthouse and adjacent pier.

Captain Jenna Topovsich of the Michigan City Fire Department warned the public about “sneaker waves,” which unpredictably surge much farther up the pier than preceding waves.

“Once someone goes in, there is no stopping it,” rescue officials emphasized, adding that in such extreme conditions, rescuers cannot safely follow; they can only throw a life ring and hope it lands close enough to grab.

At New Buffalo, where gusts reached around 40 mph and waves reportedly climbed to 10 feet, onlookers showed up for the spectacle.

https://open.video/@bviral/v/gale-force-waves-and-spindrift-at-south-haven-lighthouse?utm_source=ov

“We came here just to see how crazy the lake is,” beachgoer Michael Conrad told ABC57.

Unlike ocean swells, Great Lakes waves don’t need distant storms. Powerful winds blowing across a long, uninterrupted stretch of water—known as fetch—can build steep, closely spaced waves surprisingly quickly.

And yes, people surf these freshwater monsters. Great Lakes surfing has a dedicated following, especially during fall and winter storms.

But the NWS warned that hazardous conditions could capsize boats and urged mariners to remain in port.

For a few days, Lake Michigan looked less like a lake and more like an angry inland sea.

Watch Boat Go Airborne in Brutal Wipeout as Wave Flips 3 Overboard (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:58:20 GMT

Well, that escalated quickly.

A small motorboat attempting to cross the Brunswick River bar in northern New South Wales, Australia, was launched skyward by breaking surf before being overwhelmed by another wave and capsizing, throwing all three occupants into the ocean.

The shocking video captured from shore shows the vessel heading straight into a churning entrance, where waves are detonating near the rock breakwater. The bow rises steeply off one crest, drops back toward the water, and charges toward the next.

“Oh, he’s off his head,” an onlooker can be heard saying, according to news.com.au.

Then the ocean takes over.

A wave crashes into the boat, flooding its interior.

“Yeah, it’s under, is it?” the witness asks.

Within moments, the vessel rolls, leaving its three occupants scrambling in the water and onto the overturned hull.

Thankfully, everybody survived.

According to Marine Rescue Brunswick, all three people were brought safely ashore. The swell was reportedly around 1.7 meters, or roughly five-and-a-half feet.

The footage was also shared by marine safety officials, turning an astonishing spectacle into a boating safety warning. Before the capsize, the person filming can be heard asking whether the occupants are wearing life jackets.

The incident unfolded Wednesday, October 21, at Brunswick Heads, near Byron Bay, where the river meets the Pacific between two rock walls. The entrance is notorious for its shifting sandbars and unpredictable breaking waves.

The NSW Government’s official coastal-bar guide describes it as “narrow and dangerous,” warning that “depths vary continually.”

“Entry should not be attempted without local knowledge,” the government advises.

Marine Rescue NSW urges boaters to check conditions before crossing bars, wear life jackets, and know when to turn around.

As for this crew, what began as an attempt to get offshore ended as an involuntary—and frightening—swim.

They were lucky to make it back.

Massive 16-Foot Crocodile Killed After Stalking Surfers at World-Famous Wave

Dashel Pierson — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:32:32 GMT

The global surfing community was left stunned (once again) after a massive, 16-foot (5-meter) saltwater crocodile infiltrated the lineup at HT’s (Lance’s Right) in Indonesia’s Mentawai Islands—a harrowing encounter that culminated in local authorities making the difficult decision to shoot and kill the prehistoric apex predator.

The drama unfolded at first light on Thursday, October 15, as surfers paddled into clean four-foot peelers. Dave Crouch, operator of Asia Surf Charters Sumatra aboard the KM Asia, spoke directly with SURFER about the incident to give the details.

He had just anchored when his crew spotted the massive reptile. See footage here:

Crouch told SURFER:

“Paul, my photographer, had decided to get an early start, so he and Anggie, my deckhand, were heading towards the beach to set up for the morning. That was when Anggie spotted what he thought was a crocodile. Paul, however, thought it was just a piece of timber, so the boys went over for a closer look. It certainly turned out to be a crocodile — and a big one at that.”

He added:

“We estimated it to be around 4–5 meters long. The boys quickly raised the alarm and raced back to the Asia to get the big speedboat on the scene and help get everyone out of the water.”

The situation turned critical when an Australian female surfer paddled out completely unaware of what was lurking in the lineup.

“She was about 20 meters offshore, paddling straight towards the crocodile. Thankfully, she was quickly picked up, as the crocodile was slowly moving towards her,” said Crouch, whose crew quickly evacuated the entire lineup.

The dead croc on the beach.

Mike Koning

Crocodile sightings have steadily circulated through the Mentawais in recent years, particularly around Silabu and Macaronis, alongside a recent incident in the neighboring Telo Islands where a dog was taken.

However, seeing a 16-foot saltwater giant stalking the shallow reef at Lance’s Right was unprecedented for modern residents, with the last known croc in the area killed in the early 1980s.

Mike Koning, an Australian who has lived in front of HT’s for a decade, watched as the beast prowled the shallows. He gave his firsthand account to SURFER.

“The crocodile was constantly submerging, rising, and surveying the people and dogs on land, assessing us from the shallows,” Koning explained. “A few times it sank right to the bottom in less than two meters of water, right where the sand meets the reef. Even though the water was crystal clear, it looked exactly like a large black rock or a submerged log—perfectly camouflaged. An unsuspecting surfer or swimmer could have easily jumped straight in right next to it. It is a miracle that a tragedy was avoided that morning.”

Recognizing the imminent danger, village elders contacted regional officials in Tuapejat, leading to the dispatch of military personnel equipped with high-powered rifles to destroy the animal.

Mike Koning (left) and Dave Crouch (right), discussing the croc incident.

The culled crocodile washed ashore two days later. While the kill ignited heated debate online, Koning defended the decision, noting that open-ocean capture was impossible without specialized equipment.

“Anyone who understands crocodile behavior knows that after assessing the human activity and dogs on the beach, it was almost guaranteed to return and set up an ambush nearby for an easy meal,” Koning stated. “Many of us were extremely saddened that this incredible prehistoric apex predator lost its life that day. Personally, I respect the difficult choice the authorities made to eliminate the danger.”

A tragedy was avoided. But an extraordinary animal lost its life. So it goes.

Shark Repellent Fails as South African Swimmer Dies in Horrific Attack

Dashel Pierson — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 16:11:11 GMT

Janine Lochrenberg was an experienced ocean swimmer.

She was also wearing a shark-repellent band when a shark fatally attacked her off South Africa. That detail is raising painful questions about the devices marketed to protect people in the water.

The 65-year-old retired medical physicist was swimming with her open-water group Tuesday morning, October 20, off Orient Beach in KuGompo, formerly East London. Witnesses said she screamed after suffering severe bites to her thigh and upper arm. Fellow swimmers dragged her toward shore and tried CPR, but she could not be revived.

Rest in peace, Janine Lochrenberg, the 65-year-old swimmer who died following a fatal shark attack in South Africa.

Facebook/Avril Jason

“We were all in the water, swimming. We were wearing [magnetic shark repellents] on our feet. She had one on,” fellow swimmer Mike Loewe told News24, as quoted by PEOPLE.

Lochrenberg’s sister, Margot, helped hold her head during the desperate rescue. “She had a deep affinity with the water and was a remarkable person,” Margot told the BBC.

Her swimming club offered a heartbreaking tribute: “The ocean was Janine’s happy place.”

Municipal officials closed Orient and Eastern beaches while police opened an inquest. The city’s previous recorded fatal shark attack was in 1997. The species involved in this latest incident has not been officially established.

The protective band is particularly troubling because it echoes the death of Erica Fox, 55, who was killed by a shark while swimming at Lovers Point in California’s Monterey Bay in December 2025. Fox was also wearing a shark-deterrent anklet.

These magnetic bands are intended to interfere with sharks’ electroreception. But their effectiveness is disputed. A peer-reviewed study testing five deterrents found that Sharkbanz magnetic bracelets and leashes did not measurably deter white sharks.

Meanwhile, shark conservationist Ocean Ramsey previously endorsed RPELA, an electrically powered surfboard deterrent, saying: “I’ve seen that it actually works.” RPELA and passive magnetic bands are different products, and neither guarantees protection.

As a side note, Ramsey is also facing unrelated, unproven workplace-abuse allegations involving One Ocean Diving.

For Lochrenberg’s loved ones, however, the science is inseparable from a devastating loss.

Two deaths involving deterrent-wearing swimmers underscore an uncomfortable truth: no wearable device makes the ocean shark-proof.

Finisterre’s New Shearwater Wetsuits Are Built for Cold Water, No Compromises

Chris Dodds — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:15:01 GMT

When it comes to cold water surfing, there’s nothing more important than a good wetsuit. Nowadays, there’s no shortage of options as tons of brands have popped up in the last decade, so the question comes down to quality.

Last year, I reviewed a 3.5/2.5 Nieuwland suit from Finisterre, coldwater specialists out of Cornwall, U.K., and I was legit blown away by the overall quality. Today, their new line of winter suits drops. The Shearwater collection is shaped by 25 years of cold-water surfing experience and extensive testing and feedback from ambassadors.

Mike Lay is just one of the many surfers who have contributed feedback for the new Shearwater line.

James Bowden

The Shearwater suits start a new chapter for Finisterre by introducing the petroleum-free OCENA® material by SHEICO. They also feature the innovative U-Zip entry system for easier getting in and out, paired with durable YKK zippers for long-lasting reliability.

Neoprene alternatives have been around for years now and have come a very long way. While early suits were criticized for being less comfortable than standard options, the gap has fully closed with the latest designs. The comfort, warmth, and price are on par with, or even exceed, the petroleum-based competitors.

In addition to the new materials and entry system, Finisterre reworked the construction to make the suits more comfortable all around. The seams have been altered to improve flexibility and increase ease of movement, especially around the shoulders, which goes a long way when you’re rocking 4mm to 5mm thickness. They also dug into the panel-by-panel foam thickness, to cut weight where wasn’t needed without sacrificing warmth.

The fit and hood have been updated too, with a double-lined hood and a cinch-cord adjuster on the hooded styles. As someone who has grown to love having a hooded suit, this comes as a very welcome feature.

Finally, the drainage and internal barrier construction have been revised to help manage water entry around the zip. No matter how a suit is designed, heavy wipeouts will certainly let water in so good drainage design is crucial to let it back out.

The women’s hooded 5/4mm Shearwater suit.

Finisterre

The new line is available for both men and women in 4/3 and 5/4 thickness, with hooded options and booties for each. Given the incredibly warm water temps of Southern California as of late, I have yet to personally test a suit but they have been extensively tested by Finisterre ambassadors and friends of the brand in the notoriously cold winter waters of England and Northern Europe. Their in-depth feedback informed and refined the final design.

I’ll be testing one soon and posting a review in due time. In the meantime, the new Shearwater suits are available now online and through select retailers.

When you’re about to go over the ledge on a winter day, the last thing you want is to be cold and stiff.

James Bowden

PS – if you’re looking for a suit of similar quality, at a lower price point, their Nieuwland suits are now discounted on their site.

58-Foot ‘Once-in-a-Millennium’ Rogue Wave Dwarfs Open Ocean Off Canada (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 00:32:28 GMT

On November 17, 2020, a buoy off Vancouver Island, Canada, encountered something almost unimaginable: a rogue wave measuring 58 feet from trough to crest.

Nobody filmed the actual encounter. But an extraordinary computer simulation from MarineLabs, the company whose buoy captured the measurements, offers a frightening look at what unfolded.

In the animation, a small yellow marker represents the buoy as a wireframe ocean surface rises and falls around it. Then, around the 42-second mark, a mountainous swell surges far above its neighbors. For an instant, an otherwise rough sea looks completely out of scale.

And here’s the wild part: it wasn’t even the tallest rogue wave ever documented.

That distinction is often associated with the famous 85-foot Draupner wave, which struck an offshore oil platform near Norway in 1995. But the Ucluelet wave was different.

The surrounding sea had a significant wave height of approximately 20 feet. At 58 feet, the freak wave was nearly three times that height, making it exceptional even by rogue-wave standards.

“Proportionally, the Ucluelet wave is likely the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded,” University of Victoria physicist Johannes Gemmrich recently told ScienceAlert.

“The unpredictability of rogue waves, and the sheer power of these ‘walls of water’ can make them incredibly dangerous to marine operations and the public,” said MarineLabs CEO Scott Beatty. “Capturing this once-in-a-millennium wave, right in our backyard, is a thrilling indicator of the power of coastal intelligence to transform marine safety.”

The buoy recorded the phenomenon about four miles offshore from Ucluelet, British Columbia. Researchers published their findings in Scientific Reports in 2022, estimating that a wave this extreme relative to surrounding seas might occur only once every 1,300 years.

Rogue waves generally occur when wave energy briefly concentrates into an unusually large crest. They were once dismissed as sailors’ folklore, until instruments began recording them.

No injuries or damage were reported from the Ucluelet event. But its measurements, and the unsettling simulation, offer a reminder that the ocean can produce a wave far larger than anyone expects.

And sometimes – perhaps thankfully – the only witness is a buoy.

Jett Maughan Stuns Australia to Claim World Junior Surfing Crown and Lead Team USA to Silver (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 18:50:35 GMT

Australia dominated the 2026 ISA World Junior Surfing Championship. But one California kid put up one heck of a fight.

Jett Maughan, a 17-year-old from Encinitas, claimed the Boys Under-18 world title in El Salvador, delivering a breakout performance that helped Team USA secure the overall silver medal.

The nine-day contest, which wrapped September 13, brought 420 surfers from 56 national teams to the points and peaks of La Bocana and El Sunzal. On Finals Day, three-to-four-foot surf provided the canvas for a showdown against Australia’s seemingly unstoppable juniors. Check out some video highlights from the event below.

Maughan had been putting on a clinic all week. He posted the event’s highest heat total, 16.57, in an earlier round, then launched a backhand air reverse for a 9.00 in the semifinals.

But the final was anything but a runaway.

An 8.43 for powerful rail surfing, backed by a 6.83, gave Maughan a 15.26 total. Australian rivals Ben Zanatta Creagh and reigning Under-16 champion Ocean Lancaster finished second and third, respectively, with just 0.32 points separating the three medalists.

“I’m speechless right now. I have so much to say but I can’t put the words out,” Maughan shared after the incredibly hard-fought heat. “I just figured there’s nothing to lose, I’m already in the Final, so I gave it my everything. I could not have done this without everyone. Thank you so much to my parents, I wouldn’t be here without you guys, and all my friends supporting me back home.”

For the first-time ISA World Junior competitor, the victory was an emotional milestone, earned against two members of the team that otherwise swept the competition.

And he wasn’t Team USA’s only standout.

San Diego’s Zoë Panettiere, 15, made her own World Junior debut and battled Australia’s Lucy Darragh in the Girls Under-16 final, ultimately taking silver. Six Americans finished inside their divisions’ top 10, giving the United States enough points for second place overall.

Australia still took its 10th team world title, its third consecutive victory, with 13-year-old Leihani Zoric becoming the youngest Under-18 girls champion in ISA history. Brazil earned team bronze, followed by Peru in fourth.

Here’s what ISA President Fernando Aguerre said about the championships: “In a world full of conflicts and difficult situations, sometimes it is very hard to have hope when you see so many problems. But we are a show and a proof that hope is possible. When people get together around a surfing competition, we are in peace.”

For Maughan, Panettiere, and the next generation of American talent, that future looks bright. And with Olympic surfing coming to Lower Trestles in 2028, it’s also getting closer to home.

Stay tuned for more up-and-coming USA surfers.

Super El Niño Hurls Towering Waves Into California Amtrak Train Windows (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 18:18:14 GMT

All aboard the Pacific Surfliner. Next stop: the Pacific Ocean.

Massive waves have been battering Southern California’s coastline, sending explosions of whitewater over the rocks and directly against the Amtrak trains traveling along San Clemente’s increasingly vulnerable shoreline.

The extraordinary conditions have been documented by Laguna Beach surfer Blair Conklin in a recent video, along with Chris Monroe, better known as BEEFS TV, whose footage captures the ocean’s relentless assault on the coastal railroad.

But perhaps the wildest perspective comes from inside the train itself.

In a viral video, a six-year-old passenger experiences the spectacle firsthand as a powerful wave crashes against the train’s windows.

Mary Neville captured the terrifying footage while filming the view with her six-year-old daughter. Then, a massive wave violently slammed into the side of the moving train.

“Of course scary, terrifying, completely unexpected,” Neville explained to CBS 8 San Diego. “And then just to also have my camera out recording that exact moment, I was like, ‘Wow, we just witnessed an important part of this timeline.'”

Talk about an unforgettable ride.

As for BEEFS, he simply put it: “Southern California, we got a problem.”

The chaos follows months of hurricane-generated swells, with a developing Super El Niño and an associated Kelvin wave adding to the coastal erosion crisis. The latter can temporarily elevate sea levels by several inches, allowing waves to reach farther inland.

And San Clemente’s railroad is directly in the firing line.

In September, waves overtopped the tracks, damaged protective rocks, and forced temporary closures of Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink service.

“We have had some real challenges in the last three years in particular,” Orange County Transportation Authority spokesperson Eric Carpenter told ABC7.

Crews have been reinforcing the shoreline with massive boulders, repairing damaged slopes, and exploring additional sand replenishment.

But those are temporary defenses against an increasingly formidable opponent.

According to the Los Angeles Times, officials are considering relocating the railroad inland, a project previously estimated to cost more than $5 billion.

“It will be complex. It will be expensive. It will be long-term in nature,” OCTA chief executive Darrell Johnson said.

The state expects to begin studying relocation options before year’s end. Meanwhile, more than $300 million has already been invested in coastal rail protection.

And with potentially powerful winter storms still ahead, the battle to keep one of America’s most scenic train rides on the tracks is far from over.

Gargantuan Tiger Shark Killed in Bondi Beach Nets Ignites Safety Backlash (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:57:31 GMT

Off Australia’s most famous beach, a rare and disturbing sight has reignited a familiar argument: Do shark nets protect swimmers, or kill marine life indiscriminately?

Drone footage circulating online shows a tiger shark entangled in a shark net offshore from Bondi Beach, Sydney.

The animal was dead, according to 10 News Sydney, which described it as “a rare sight” and reported it was the first tiger shark caught there “in at least 12 years.” No official size was determined for the shark, but this was an absolute unit; see below.

The aerial video offers an unsettling perspective on an otherwise idyllic stretch of sand. It also captures something surprisingly uncommon: a shark net ensnaring one of the species it is actually designed to catch.

New South Wales installs seasonal nets at 51 beaches between Newcastle and Wollongong, targeting tiger, bull, and white sharks. But the mesh doesn’t form a barrier across the beach; animals can swim around, above, or beneath it.

And the collateral damage is staggering.

According to the NSW government’s official 2025–26 report, 210 marine animals became entangled in the state’s nets. Only 36—17 percent—were target sharks. The remaining 174 included 11 sea turtles, two humpback whales, dozens of rays, and non-target sharks.

Just 70 animals were released alive.

“Shark nets are not effective for beach safety,” argued marine biologist Lawrence Chlebeck of Humane World for Animals, calling for greater investment in drone surveillance.

The state’s Fisheries Scientific Committee has likewise pointed to “more effective and sophisticated technologies” that reduce harm to threatened species, including drones and SMART drumlines.

The NSW government maintains its nets are designed to reduce shark encounters, not eliminate them, and has introduced acoustic alarms and lights intended to lessen bycatch.

Meanwhile, Bondi’s latest catch lays bare the contradiction at the center of the debate: a rare interception of a target shark, amid a program in which most trapped animals were never the intended target.

For critics, that’s a heavy price for a sense of security.

Opinion: He Stole a Football Star’s Island, Now He Wants To Take Away Brazil’s Beaches

Chris Dodds — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:42:07 GMT

In Brazil, a pivotal runoff election will take place this Sunday, October 25, between President Lula and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. The country is basically divided in half and there is a lot on the line – including public beach access.

Flávio Bolsonaro, whose father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, is in prison serving a sentence of more than 27 years after Brazil’s Supreme Court convicted him of plotting a coup, has been frequently in the news for several scandals, most notably because of his ties to Daniel Vorcaro. Vorcaro is at the center of a massive financial and political scandal in Brazil following the extrajudicial liquidation of his bank, Banco Master, in November 2025 amid allegations of multi-billion-dollar fraud. In leaked WhatsApp messages reported by Brazilian outlets, Flávio refers to Vorcaro as his “brother.” Flávio says his dealings with the banker were strictly commercial and private – despite revelations detailing his requests for millions of dollars to fund a biopic about his father called Dark Horse.

In addition to a myriad of scandals and dubious policy ideas, he has promised to loosen environmental regulations in the Amazon, the world’s greatest home of biodiversity, and he is the leading Senate supporter of a controversial bill that critics say would privatize the country’s beaches.

Supporters of the bill, known as PEC 3/2022 or “PEC das Praias,” deny that it would privatize the beaches, saying it would only grant legal certainty to occupants (which is ironic given the situation laid out below) and encourage “tourism development.” The bill would revoke federal ownership of terrenos de marinha, coastal land within 33 meters of the 1831 average high-tide line. To be fair, the sand and sea would remain public under the text. But the coastal land around them would not, essentially putting the land around beaches up for sale, where new owners could then restrict access with fences and guards.

You don’t have to be a genius to read between the lines and see what critics see: a land grab that stands to enrich developers and the well-connected. To further illustrate Flávio’s character, consider the bizarre episode from this summer concerning a famous Brazilian footballer.

Richarlison de Andrade, the striker whose bicycle kick was FIFA’s goal of the 2022 World Cup, says Flávio Bolsonaro and a lawyer friend took a mansion and private island off Angra dos Reis that he’d put roughly R$10 million (about US $2 million) into. Richarlison says he received multiple offers to buy the island after he invested, including one from Flávio, and turned them all down.

According to multiple video posts and interviews with Richarlison, the ownership status of the island was complex, and he and his investors were told the paperwork could take months, or even years, to complete the transfer of title under his name.

Instead, he says, Flávio’s lawyer friend, Willer Tomaz, was able to attain ownership within 24 hours, and the title now sits with a company linked to Tomaz. Richarlison says he was never paid. Flávio says he was only a witness in the case, and Tomaz says the courts ruled in his favor. Brazil’s Federal Police have been asked to investigate. If you ask me, it seems abundantly clear that they abused their power to steal the island after the striker says he’d put roughly $2 million into it.

Whatever a court or investigators ultimately decide, the story is a reminder of how this works. A powerful man wants a prized piece of coastline, and the legal process ends in his favor. The irony is that the beach bill Flávio champions promises “legal certainty to occupants.”

In Brazil, as anywhere, that certainty tends to favor the people with the lawyers, and now the same logic could be applied at a national scale to what should be the people’s shared resources.

One doesn’t need to look too hard for examples of how private beach access disproportionately impacts those without wealth. Hawaii and California are lucky to have public access enshrined in law. It’s a different story on the East Coast, where surfers and beachgoers in many towns need paid passes to access beaches. In Jamaica, fewer than 1% of beaches are accessible to the public free of charge, according to a recent NPR/WBUR report, leaving locals shut out of their own coastline.

Once a private system is in place, it becomes much easier to start moving the goal posts: first it’s seasonal passes, then year-round passes, then parking spots are removed and, slowly but surely, public access becomes all but impossible. The AI generated video below details the issues on the line in the coming election.

Surfing in Brazil has made a massve impact ever since Gabriel Medina’s World Title in 2014 and the subsequent Brazilian Storm. The privatization of the beaches could easily lead to a drought in World Titles, and the glory years of Brazilian surf dominance would quickly fade into the rearview mirror.

Brazil’s beaches are loved around the world precisely for their inclusivity and beauty. Ask any visitor who’s been to Rio and they’ll tell you they’ve never experienced anything like the beaches there. Once they become private, they become like every other resort-like destination around the world: sterile, dull, and lifeless.

Super Typhoon Champi’s Planet-Sized Eye Explodes on Satellite Graphics (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 20:01:33 GMT

From space, Super Typhoon Champi looks almost unreal: a colossal spiral of clouds wrapped around a sharply defined eye, churning across the western Pacific.

The satellite graphics are jaw-dropping. So are the numbers.

On October 20, the National Weather Service reported maximum sustained winds of 180 mph, making Champi a Category 5-equivalent monster. That ties Hurricane Polo for the year’s second-highest peak wind speed, behind Super Typhoon Sinlaku at 185 mph.

And Champi has already delivered a frightening near miss.

The storm passed approximately 10 miles south of Guam’s southern tip over the weekend, with winds around 150 mph near its core. The National Weather Service warned that venturing outside amid the extreme winds could result in death from flying debris.

“Champi has developed into an absolute planetary powerhouse,” noted forecasters at Fox Weather, warning that “the sheer scale of the storm and its massive wind field poses severe threats to maritime lanes and coastal communities across the western Pacific.”

Fortunately, the eye stayed offshore. Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero reported relatively minimal damage, although officials closed airports, ports, and some medical facilities, and federal emergency assistance was authorized.

For all its size, Champi’s eye was surprisingly compact when it skirted Guam: the National Weather Service measured it at roughly five to six miles wide. The often-shared description of a Rhode Island-sized eye actually came from a different Typhoon Champi in 2015.

Now Champi is racing west-northwest across the Philippine Sea. Forecasters expect it to gradually weaken, but the Ryukyu Islands, Okinawa, northern Taiwan, and nearby waters remain areas to watch for damaging winds, dangerous surf, and torrential rain.

Meanwhile, another potential cyclone is taking shape thousands of miles away.

Enter 94E, south of Mexico, could become a tropical depression in the coming days.

“Forecast models suggest the system could initially move northwest before turning back toward Mexico,” the FOX Forecast Center cautioned, adding that there is “considerable disagreement” about timing and track.

If it strengthens into a tropical storm, it will be named Vance—the eastern Pacific’s first V-named storm since Vicente in 2018.

That’s significant: storm names are assigned alphabetically, and reaching V underscores just how busy this record-breaking eastern Pacific season has become.

And it might not be finished yet.

El Niño Swell Bombards Southern California as Wedge Goes Berserk (Photos)

Dashel Pierson — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 18:50:57 GMT

Was anybody really surprised?

For the past six months, we’ve been hearing about the gargantuan El Niño brewing in the Pacific. The forecasts. The predictions. The promises of a fall and winter filled with relentless swell, cranking surf, and all sorts of oceanic mayhem.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s finally here.

Southern California’s fall surf season kicked off with an absolute bang, as back-to-back swells bombarded the coastline. Throw in a few days of howling Santa Ana winds, and suddenly some of the region’s most iconic breaks were firing on all cylinders.

And then there was the Wedge.

As expected, Newport Beach’s infamous mutant shorebreak went completely berserk. Towering walls of water, monstrous closeouts, impossibly steep drops, and the usual cast of lunatics throwing themselves over the ledge. It was beautiful, terrifying, and downright ridiculous. In other words, classic Wedge.

But the madness wasn’t confined to Newport Beach. Up and down the coast, marquee spots came alive as surfers scrambled to capitalize on the seemingly endless run of swell. There were barrels, beatdowns, blown minds, and plenty of sore bodies.

And photographers were there to capture every glorious moment.

From the lens of Jeremiah Klein to the work of Kalani Cummins and Owen Beim, the following gallery showcases the best, the biggest, and the most outrageous moments from Southern California’s spectacular start to fall.

The craziest part? This is only the beginning.

With El Niño expected to keep the Pacific energized through winter, there’s reason to believe the best may still be ahead of us.

For now, feast your eyes on the madness. And maybe clear your calendar.

Jeremiah Klein

“Fall in SoCal is always a double-edged sword when the strong multi-day offshores kick up. The same wind that causes destruction with a spark can also produce clean, buttery, all day tubes. It’s one of those dichotomies that can make your head spin trying to decide whether to celebrate or despise these glorious Santa Anas.

“Selfishly as a surf photographer, strong offshores are my favorite conditions to shoot in. Last week’s run of swell and magical wind made for some beautiful barrels at Wedge. It was dreamy everywhere along the coast but still hard for me to explore other spots and get variety. Wedge is so predictably dynamic that if you spend enough time there, something special is bound to happen like Bobby Okvist sharing a wave with backwash.”

Bobby Okvist.

Jeremiah Klein

Newport Beach, CA.

Jeremiah Klein

Wedge from above.

Jeremiah Klein

Oceanside.

Jeremiah Klein

Follow Jeremiah Klein here.

Owen Beim

“I think last week was the most amount of time I have ever spent in the water in a span of seven days. I probably clocked around 25-30 total hours in the water over the span of this swell run. I pretty much checked Wedge every single day at sunrise Monday-Sunday of last week, which is something I have never done before.

“This season has most definitely been the craziest one I have ever seen. I’ve never seen such a consistent few months with such long runs of swell with solid size in my life. This October run has been one for the books, but definitely really hard to line one up. With all the water moving, you really had to work hard to be in the right spot at the right time. But when all the elements came together that’s where the magic was found.”

Tyler Gunter.

Owen Beim

Christian Fletcher.

Owen Beim

Punker Pat.

Owen Beim

Kalani Robb.

Owen Beim

Follow Owen Beim here.

Kalani Cummins

“I think I clocked more hours in the water than on land this past week…the sunburn and wetsuit rash say it all. The swell and Santa Anas lined up perfectly, capping off an incredible run of waves. A dream stretch of conditions from behind the lens.”

Newport Beach.

Kalani Cummins

Unknown.

Kalani Cummins

Nate Zoller.

Kalani Cummins

Greyson Fletcher.

Kalani Cummins

Follow Kalani Cummins here.

Great White Shark Breach Stuns Marina Beach As Viral ‘Fake’ Photobomb Proven Real (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 15:45:54 GMT

A surreal moment caught on camera has left a local beachgoer—and the internet—in absolute awe after a massive shark perfectly photobombed her at Marina State Beach.

SURFER previously reported on the heart-stopping viral video, which surfaced during peak “Sharktober” season.

Now, the woman at the center of the clip has spoken out, revealing the incredible story behind the footage. See below to hear about the experience.

Erin King, a local who described herself as an “ocean girl” born and raised in the area, was enjoying a sunny Saturday at the beach when the rare encounter occurred.

King noticed three young women taking photos and offered to help.

“They were really kind young ladies, who immediately insisted… that they’d take one of me,” King explained in an interview with KSBW Action News 8.

As she posed near the water’s edge, a gigantic great white shark breached violently just yards behind her.

“It happened so fast. I mean, it was just an instant,” King recalled.

She expressed utter disbelief that the camera caught the exact split-second the apex predator launched out of the whitewash.

“That we ended up capturing it on film at the same time, seems impossible. So it just feels like a very magical moment.”

While some internet skeptics initially suspected the viral footage was faked, Chris Cerney of California State Parks confirmed the breach was completely authentic. State Parks independently verified the event after reviewing footage from a nearby Surfline camera.

“Given where she was standing, and the timestamp on her video, which matched up perfectly with the timestamp on the Surfline video, it’s very likely to be the same, same shark,” Cerney confirmed.

Following the spectacular breach, State Parks issued a temporary shark advisory for Marina State Beach. However, officials reiterated that autumn remains the most common time for adult white sharks to migrate back to the central coast.

For King, the terrifying photobomb forged a unique connection with the strangers who filmed it.

“We’re bonded for life,” she said.

$4 Million Emergency Plan Battles Crumbling California Cliff with Plastic Tarps (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 15:19:18 GMT

First came the crack. Then the cliff started crumbling. Now comes the $4 million.

At El Morro, crews have pulled a massive plastic sheet over the damage like a Band-Aid on California’s battered coastline. New footage shows Caltrans workers covering the fractured bluff beneath Pacific Coast Highway at Crystal Cove State Park.

Check out the latest video below.

Earlier videos captured chunks of earth tumbling toward the ocean as hurricane-generated surf chewed away at the slope’s base.

“This is a major development,” Laguna Beach skimboarder and surfer Conklin says in the footage. “They’ve got a lot of tarping to do. They’re going to have to tarp the whole hillside to help avoid a major slide with all the rain.”

But the plastic is just the beginning.

Caltrans District 12 has reportedly secured $4 million in initial emergency funding and enlisted contractor Ortiz Enterprises, Inc. to tackle the problem.

According to Laguna Beach City Manager Dave Kiff, the three-phase response involves:

Temporary tarps: Covering the fractured hillside to help prevent rainwater from entering the cracks and further destabilizing the slope.
Massive boulders: Installing riprap at the cliff’s base to absorb wave energy and reduce further erosion.
Long-term stabilization: Engineering a more permanent redesign of the slope to protect the highway.

“Caltrans has their best people on it, I’m convinced of that,” Kiff said, explaining that the emergency has drawn attention from officials in Sacramento.

A newly filed state notice confirms emergency measures to stabilize the slope and roadway. One southbound PCH lane remains closed, while California State Parks has shut the beach below the unstable bluff.

The threat is particularly heartbreaking for anyone familiar with El Morro.

Once home to a beloved trailer park community, the beach also harbors a fickle, almost mythical surf spot, immortalized during an earlier El Niño in Volcom’s 1998 VHS classic Magna Plasm.

Now, relentless hurricane swells, elevated tides, and an El Niño-associated Kelvin wave have stripped sand and undercut the coastline.

And with more high surf and winter storms possible, that $4 million emergency response faces a formidable opponent: the Pacific Ocean.

‘Multi-Headed Monster’ Kelvin Waves Are About to Pummel California’s Coast During Super El Niño

Dashel Pierson — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 19:36:07 GMT

Think the gigantic Kelvin wave currently raising sea levels along California, wreaking havoc with erosion, was a one-time visitor? Think again.

According to a new report from NPR, more of these enormous, invisible ocean waves are headed for the West Coast. And that’s potentially bad news for coastal communities already battered by months of relentless surf and erosion.

In fact, scientists say a strong El Niño typically generates five or six Kelvin waves, with several expected to arrive through fall and early winter.

North Carolina State University atmospheric scientist Dillon Amaya told NPR the next could reach San Diego in late October or early November.

And there are more behind it.

NOAA oceanographer Michael Jacox confirmed that “one or two more” were already traveling through the tropics.

“We’re dealing with a multi-headed monster,” oceanographer Dr. Emily Varon said. “Initially, models suggested a single Kelvin wave would surge up the West Coast this season. But the latest satellite telemetry confirms a much darker reality: a prolonged series of Kelvin waves has decoupled from the equatorial Pacific. There is definitely more to come.”

So, what exactly are these mysterious oceanic giants?

Named after 19th-century physicist Lord Kelvin, the waves form when weakened trade winds help push warm Pacific water eastward along the equator. Upon reaching South America, they split, with one branch traveling north along the West Coast and another heading south toward Chile.

Columbia University climate scientist Mark Cane compared the phenomenon to “an enormous bathtub sloshing around,” while speaking with NPR.

Unlike waves surfers ride, Kelvin waves aren’t towering walls of breaking water.

“It’s a planetary-scale wave,” Amaya explained.

Stretching thousands of miles, these slow-moving pulses can temporarily raise coastal sea levels by six to 12 inches, according to NOAA.

And that’s where the trouble begins.

Amaya estimated that the recent Kelvin wave had already raised Southern California’s water levels by six to eight inches when Tropical Storm Rachel arrived earlier this month.

NASA climate scientist Josh Willis described the convergence of El Niño, high tides, and storm surge as a “triple whammy.”

Amaya said the resulting storm surge was “made more devastating because of the Kelvin wave.”

The consequences have been visible from Malibu to Laguna Beach, where powerful surf has damaged roads, eroded beaches, and threatened coastal cliffs.

Kelvin waves also push colder, nutrient-rich water deeper, disrupting marine ecosystems and encouraging unusual warm-water species to venture north.

Importantly, another Kelvin wave doesn’t guarantee another destructive storm. But it raises the ocean’s baseline, making subsequent high tides and powerful surf more dangerous.

And with this Super El Niño expected to remain strong into early 2027, California’s battered coastline may have several more rounds to contend with.

The ocean, apparently, isn’t finished yet.

Dave Stanfield, Voice of Professional Surfing, Has Died

Jake Howard — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 19:10:42 GMT

The consummate professional, Dave Stanfield always showed up at the beach with a smile on his face and a lightness in his heart. Commentating surf events big and small for over 40 years, he deeply appreciated just how lucky he was to go to work at the beach every day.

Coming of age in the heady surf community of Seal Beach, Stanfield caught his first wave at age five. He joined the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) in 1983 and immediately was assigned to call the OP Pro Surfing Championships in Huntington Beach for ABC, launching a career that would largely exemplify the evolution of professional surf broadcasting.

Over the years, Stanfield worked events across the surfing spectrum. From Championship Tour showdowns to youth-focused comps hosted by the National Scholastic Surfing Association and Surfing America. But it was in Hawaii, particularly at the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, where his voice became a fixture for countless fans following the season’s most consequential contests.

But Stanfield was more than a narrator of heats. He helped transform how surfing was presented to the world. When he began, contests coverage relied heavily on traditional television broadcasts, often tape-delayed to air during less-than-peak hours. By the time the internet reshaped sports media, he was calling contests for a global audience watching live online.

In 1997, a pioneering effort at Praia Grande in Portugal brought live surf competition to the internet for one of the first-ever webcasts, with organizers running kilometers of data cables across the beach. The audience was small by modern standards, but the implications were enormous: surfing could reach people around the world as the action happened, opening new possibilities for sponsorship and exposure.

Stanfield had a keen understanding that technology alone does not make a broadcast compelling. A people person by nature, he was well loved and respected by athletes and event organizers alike, which shone through in his work. He prided himself on being prepared for his gigs, often showing up at the beach with big, heavy binders filled with stats and information about each and every surfer in the draw. His professionalism coupled with his passion for his job elevated the art of calling a comp.

Like Chick Hearn or Vin Scully, who put their personal stamps on Laker and Dodger broadcasts, Stanfield’s delivery was anything but understated. With a seemingly bottomless supply of colorful expressions and high-octane enthusiasm, he could turn a routine heat into a full-blown spectacle. His signature brand of surf commentary became part of the entertainment itself. And Stanfield was hardly a one-trick pony. He spent years commentating other sporting events, including skiing, motocross, and my personal favorite, lawn mower racing.

As the sport moved from network television to webcasts and modern livestreams, Stanfield remained part of its broadcast history. His legacy is woven into the soundtrack of competitive surfing, a reminder that the sport’s history is shaped not only by the surfers in the water, but also by the voices that bring their performances to the world.

Stanfield’s passing comes after a hard-fought battle with cancer. More information to come as details become available.

Swatch Nines Unleashes Surfing and Skating’s Wildest Playground in Waco (Video, Photos)

Dashel Pierson — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 18:49:14 GMT

A week later, and my body still hurts.

My arms ache from riding the Shredmill standing wave. My legs are sore from surfing the wave pool. And I’m still recovering from whiskey-throttling around the lake on LIND electric surfboards, circling an island populated by lemurs.

But I can’t wipe the smile off my face.

That’s the magic of Swatch Nines, which recently brought together some of the world’s most creative surfers, skateboarders, and action sports athletes for three days of absolute chaos in Waco, Texas.

“The setup here feels like it’s like Disneyland for surfing and skating,” said Noah Beschen.

Laura Enever.

Jesse Jennings

And he wasn’t wrong.

There were surfers grinding skate rails into waves, massive aerials launched with the help of winches, a floating skatepark, nighttime sessions illuminated by flares, and plenty of spectacular wipeouts. Everywhere you looked, someone was attempting something outrageous.

“Swatch Nines is a collective of a lot of creatives, mostly athletes, trying to do something out of the box,” said Coco Ho. “A lot of people are trying to accomplish something they’ve never done before.”

Coco Ho.

Jesse Jennings

That was the beauty of it. No pressure to win a heat. No championship trophies on the line. Just a playground full of extraordinarily talented people pushing the limits of their respective sports, cheering each other on, and having the time of their lives.

“The Swatch Nines is kind of out of our world,” said Lucas “Chumbo” Chianca. “Everything we dream, we are trying to put here. So, crazy airs, big rails, sick rotations, back flips.”

And somehow, it all came together.

The result? A beautiful, chaotic collision of surfing, skating, innovation, creativity, and camaraderie. Bodies were battered. Boards were broken. Dreams were realized. And the smiles never stopped.

Luckily, we have the photos to prove it.

From the highest highs to the most spectacular lows, here’s a look inside the glorious madness that was Swatch Nines 2026. Video first, followed by photos.

Mickey Clarke.

Ethan Stone

Balaram Stack.

Bruno Zanin

Coco Ho.

Ethan Stone

Blair Conklin.

Ethan Stone

Heimana Reynolds.

Jesse Jennings

Lucas Chumbo.

Jesse Jennings

Makana Franzmann.

Ethan Stone

Zoee Bradshaw.

Ethan Stone

Isla Hardy.

Bruno Zanin

Tyler Turner.

Bruno Zanin

Honolua Blomfield and Skai Suitt.

Bruno Zanin

Jesper Tjade.

Ethan Stone

Milla Coco Brown.

Bruno Zanin

Arthur Vilar.

Ethan Stone

Coco Ho.

Jesse Jennings

The whole gang.

Jesse Jennings

Eddie Would Go. Nainoa Thompson Is Still Going.

Ben Mondy — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 18:05:38 GMT

Eddie Aikau’s story might be the best known in surfing. We’ve all been brought up on the heroic act. Surfers know that Eddie was one of 16 people who boarded a canoe bound for Tahiti. A few hours later, in rough water in the Kaiwi Channel, the double-hulled canoe flipped. Everyone clung to the upturned hull through the night.

Eddie, one of Hawaii’s best big wave riders and the most respected lifeguard on the North Shore, asked twice for permission to paddle for help on his surfboard. At first light, the crew joined hands in a prayer, and he went. He paddled toward Molokaʻi. The Coast Guard found and rescued the rest of the crew. Eddie was never seen again.

That story might have been one of surfing’s more heroic footnotes if it wasn’t for the Eddie Aikau Invitational, which started in 1984 and has since become one of surfing’s most prestigious events. The event and its iconic imagery – Flea Virostko dropping from a 20-footer, Bruce Irons packing a 10-foot shorebreak, a win by local lifeguard Luke Shepardson in some of Waimea’s biggest-ever surf- have kept Eddie’s heroic act at the centre of surfing culture for more than 40 years. “Eddie Would Go” became a slogan that glued his act of bravery into the sport’s lore.

SULIANE FAVENNEC / Getty Images

And yet while that selfless act has had its candle kept alight, what many don’t know is that the canoe Eddie left, the Hōkūleʻa, has had a remarkable history and an influential legacy that far surpasses Eddie’s tragic death. And it’s nowhere near done yet.

One of Eddie’s crew members on the 62-foot-long, 20-foot-wide double-hulled canoe that night was a 25-year-old navigator-in-training named Nainoa Thompson. He had watched Eddie paddle into the distance.

“After Eddie’s death, we could have quit,” Thompson said afterwards. “But Eddie had this dream about finding islands the way our ancestors did and if we quit, he wouldn’t have his dream fulfilled.”

Not long after, Thompson went to Satawal, the tiny Micronesian island home of master navigator Mau Piailug, who had guided Hōkūleʻa to Tahiti in 1976 using no instruments. Teaching an outsider broke tradition, but Mau agreed anyway, telling Thompson, “I will train you to find Tahiti, because I don’t want you to die.”

In 1980 Thompson navigated Hōkūleʻa from Hawaii to Tahiti and back, the first Hawaiian in roughly 600 years to cross that ocean by the old methods: stars, swells, birds, wind.

Since then the Hōkūleʻa has sparked a massive revival of Hawaiian and Polynesian culture, language, canoe-building, and traditional navigation across Oceania. In 1987 it completed a two-year, 16,000-nautical-mile loop of Polynesia, including Tahiti, the Cook Islands, Aotearoa, Tonga and Samoa. In 1999, the crew made it to Rapa Nui, the most remote corner of the Polynesian Triangle. Between 2014 and 2017 it stopped at more than 150 ports and travelled 40,000 nautical miles, using only traditional navigation, carrying a “care for the Earth” message.

Thompson turned 73 in March. He and the Hōkūleʻa have spent the past year in Auckland. They are roughly halfway through a clockwise circumnavigation of the Pacific that began in 2023. The current leg is stalled by the same El Niño that has everyone in surfing watching the Pacific and that, ironically, might see the Eddie run in record waves this winter.

In a June video message, Thompson said the sail plan would be “adjusted to what nature allows us to do.” The plan had been for Hōkūleʻa to reach Fiji around mid-October for the Pre-COP climate meetings, then Tuvalu. Gales and cold fronts held them in Auckland in late September, and the Fiji and Tuvalu visits were postponed, potentially until May 2027. The revised schedule adds a year to the circumnavigation, which now runs into 2028.

Thompson, as ever, takes this as an opportunity. “This is not a delay. It’s not a setback. To me, it’s a stepping stone of learning,” he announced. Beyond the Pacific islands, the crews are weighing a 6,400-mile leg toward Hokkaido, which would be Hōkūleʻa’s first visit to Japan in about 20 years, against a return to Aotearoa, which Thompson says his research shows is the safest place in Polynesia during a strong El Niño.

The Hōkūleʻa is on a schedule set by weather and the stars, not by a calendar. Most of what makes it work is caution: open-boat sailing with no instruments. Thompson is a leader who learned early what a bad night costs. He has spent the past four decades turning a tragedy into a navigation school, with the ultimate goal of training and building a community of 10 million navigators. These are the crew that will carry the lesson forward: sometimes you go, and sometimes the ocean says wait. Eddie’s dream was to find islands the way the ancestors did. The canoe he paddled away from is still looking. That could be his greatest legacy.

Shark Cruises Through 'Literally Ankle-Deep Water' Among Surfers in Los Angeles (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 17:27:08 GMT

Ankle-deep water. That’s how close a shark came to shore at arguably Los Angeles’ busiest surf spots. And, apparently, it wasn’t bothered by the surfers nearby.

Wild footage captured by Josh Hublitz at El Porto, Manhattan Beach, shows a dark dorsal fin slicing through the shallow water, just yards from surfers in the lineup. The clip, posted Friday, October 16, quickly made the rounds online.

Check out the footage below, as featured by local news:

“He’s pretty big,” Hublitz remarked while filming. “I’ve actually never seen a shark at El Porto before.”

In his Instagram post, he offered another unsettling observation: “Ankle deep water. That is super sketch.”

He’s not exaggerating. In the video, the animal cruises close enough to the beach that the fin is visible above the surface, while surfers sit and paddle nearby. Nobody appears to be injured, and the shark’s species and length haven’t been confirmed.

The encounter also caught the attention of ABC7 Los Angeles, which reported that the fin was “clearly visible” and noted that several shark species, including juvenile great whites, inhabit local waters.

See Hublitz’s original video below:

As it happens, California is in the middle of “Sharktober,” the annual stretch from September through November when white shark sightings and encounters tend to peak, particularly along the Central and Northern California coast.

According to conservation group Shark Stewards, this is when mature great whites return from migrations to the offshore “White Shark Cafe,” often feeding near coastal seal and sea lion colonies.

The organization explains that fall is when “peak white shark encounters occur along the Coast of California.” But its message is also about conservation: “We decided to celebrate, not hate, sharks.”

The El Porto animal hasn’t been identified as a great white, and seasonal migration patterns don’t establish why it was in shallow water.

Just days earlier, another dramatic shark sighting made headlines after an animal breached behind a woman near Monterey Bay.

For South Bay surfers, it’s another reminder that even in the most crowded lineups, they aren’t always alone. Hublitz reminded: “Careful out there my LA surfer friends!”

Why Community-First Surf Events Like A Great Day In The Stoke Matter So Much

Danielle Black Lyons — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 16:57:18 GMT

A Great Day in the Stoke (AGDITS) is redefining the Black surfing communities connection with the water. For the past five years, Huntington Beach has played host to the event, bringing the community together in a way that no event of its kind has yet to accomplish. Beneath the surface of the largest Black surfing event in the country, one word was consistently shared on the beach throughout the day, family.

“It’s the community that keeps bringing us back year after year,” says Greg Rachal, President of the Black Surfers Collective.

“We may not all be competitive surfers, but as an older guy, it makes me smile seeing so many young people of color surfing at such a high level. We come from different communities and bring our own vibes, but each year we come together to celebrate and cheer each other on. Surfing can be selfish and territorial, but when we all paddle out together, it’s family.”

Many of the surfers who compete in this event are leaders in their communities and part of the wider ecosystem of Black surf culture. They are the organizations creating access, advocates changing the industry, elders preserving history, and the youth shaping what comes next.

Fifteen year old, Oceanside native, Maizy Gordan who competes on the USA Prime Series, is the youngest female surfer to compete in the women’s shortboard event. She’s taking inspiration from the Brazilian women in attendance, who are competing in the Qualifying Series. “It allows me to push myself to try and keep up with them,” says Gordon. “Knowing they do so well in those events makes me want to be like them and push harder.”

It’s common for surfers to be friends out of the water and competitors once they hit the lineup during a contest, but for this community, the kinship continues beyond the buzzer.

“Often in other contest settings, I isolate myself to focus on the heats,” continues Gordon. “Many people are in their own head space, which is great, and I love that as well, however, with AGDITS it’s pure fun, and about celebrating others.”

2026 A Great Day in the Stoke in Huntington Beach.

Earl Gibson III / A Great Day in the Stoke

Textured Waves ambassador, Rachel Barrett, traveled down from Nova Scotia, Canada for the second year in a row to compete in women’s longboard at AGDITS. Huntington Beach continues to provide waves and camaraderie that keep bringing her back for more.

“Seeing everyone come together to move this momentum forward, even in challenging conditions, is inspiring,” continues Barrett. “It’s a gift to honor the legends who paved the way and celebrate the diversity of the community, all on the beach together. I’ll be carrying the fire from this event to keep me going through the Canadian winter.”

Documenting stories of surfers from around the world, We Surf Media Founder, Kwame LaBassiere, traveled from New York with a message of unity.

“At the heart of it, we’re building something bigger than surfing, we’re building family and creating opportunities for the next generation,” says LaBassiere. “Celebrating Black surfers, our history, culture, and contributions is about making sure everyone feels seen, welcomed, and connected. It’s not about excluding anyone, it’s about bringing more people into the fold and honoring the stories that have too often gone untold. The ocean has always been a place to come together, and there’s room for all of us in the lineup.”

Great White Shark Photobombs Woman in Peak ‘Sharktober’ Off California (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 01:20:04 GMT

Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Or, depending on how you feel about sharks, the wrong place.

A woman enjoying the California coastline received an unexpected surprise when an enormous shark appeared to launch itself from the ocean directly behind her.

The jaw-dropping footage, shared by Surfline and originally credited to Instagram user Erin King, shows a large, dark animal suddenly breaching above the water before disappearing beneath the surface. Check it out below.

The sighting reportedly occurred Saturday, October 17, near Marina State Beach in Monterey County, California.

Local reporter Chris Cerney said California State Parks confirmed the breach after reviewing footage from a nearby Surfline camera. The animal’s species and exact size have not been independently established, although its behavior resembles that of a great white shark.

And the timing couldn’t be more appropriate.

Welcome to “Sharktober.”

According to Shark Stewards, the period between September and November marks the peak season for encounters with adult great white sharks along California’s coastline.

After spending months offshore in an area nicknamed the “White Shark Cafe,” mature great whites migrate thousands of miles back toward California’s coastline.

The reason? Food.

“Attracted to rocky headlands, beaches and islands where seals and sea lions haul out,” Shark Stewards explains, the predators return to prime feeding grounds, including Monterey Bay, Point Reyes, and the Farallon Islands.

These migrations coincide with a seasonal increase in shark-human encounters, particularly within Northern California’s infamous “Red Triangle.”

But the conservation organization’s message isn’t about fear. It created Sharktober to “celebrate, not hate” sharks, emphasizing their crucial role in maintaining healthy marine ecosystems.

And while sightings can be frightening, attacks remain exceedingly rare.

As Cal State Long Beach shark expert Chris Lowe recently told the Los Angeles Times, “sharks are around people all the time.”

The remarkable footage comes just days after a reported 10-to-12-foot great white prompted a temporary beach closure in Huntington Beach.

Apparently, California’s sharkiest season is living up to its name.

‘Second Arm’ Super El Niño Surges Toward What Could Be the Strongest in 1,000 Years

Dashel Pierson — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 21:50:29 GMT

Just when the Pacific’s so-called Super El Niño appeared big enough, the climate phenomenon seems to have sprouted a second arm.

New sea-surface temperature maps show a broad ribbon of abnormally warm water stretching across the equatorial Pacific—and another tongue extending south from Peru and Ecuador toward Chile. Comparing maps from September 30 and October 14, the southern extension appears to have expanded dramatically.

But this is no literal mutant, and “second arm” isn’t an official meteorological distinction. It describes the shape of the warming, not a separate El Niño event.

The latest El Niño model from Peru’s meteorological agency, showing a “second arm” of oceanic warming.

Senamhi

The concern is the sheer scale of the heat.

In an October 16 bulletin, Peru’s multisector El Niño commission, ENFEN, which includes meteorological agency SENAMHI, reported, translated from Spanish: “Pacific sea-surface temperatures continue to show positive anomalies with an upward trend.”

“This body of water extends toward the southeast and appears to form a second arm connected to the main warming zone,” meteorologists observed, noting that localized sea surface temperatures in the anomaly have surged more than 3°C above historical averages.

The commission expects coastal warming off Peru to remain at “extraordinary” intensity through January 2027, while central-Pacific El Niño conditions remain “very strong” into February.

Climate scientist Zeke Hausfather has gone even further. Writing in The Climate Brink, he said: “’I think that this year’s El Niño event is likely to be the strongest in 1,000 years if the latest models of its peak prove accurate.”

That’s a forecast, not a settled record.

What does it mean for coastal communities?

Ocean warming off South America.

Senamhi

El Niño disrupts trade winds and shifts storm tracks. For Southern California, a strong event can tilt the odds toward wetter winter weather, dangerous runoff, flooding and landslides. Elevated local sea levels, storm surge and powerful surf can combine to accelerate beach erosion and threaten oceanfront infrastructure.

Across Peru, ENFEN forecasts heavier-than-normal rainfall along the northern and central coast, with some rivers running above normal.

The World Meteorological Organization says stronger El Niño conditions raise global risks of flooding, drought and extreme heat. But California climate scientist Daniel Swain warns that even an intense event “does not guarantee specific outcomes in California.”

In other words, the Pacific has revealed another alarming shape. What it delivers this winter remains to be seen. Stay tuned; stay alert.

Laguna’s Surf & Sand Hotel Seawall Collapses in Super El Niño Swell (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 18:01:52 GMT

Southern California is taking a beating.

The combination of a Super El Niño, and a Kelvin wave raising sea levels, is creating a perfect recipe for coastal erosion chaos. And at Laguna Beach’s iconic Surf & Sand resort, the Pacific isn’t just the view anymore. It’s coming for the walls.

A newly circulated Instagram video, captioned “surf and sand seawall collapses,” purports to show a portion of the oceanfront barrier giving way. In separate footage, Laguna Beach surfer and skimboarding champion Blair Conklin documents powerful waves hammering the famed hotel. Check out the footage of the wall collapse below.

The luxury property is known for its rooms overlooking the water and Splashes, its restaurant perched practically above the surf. The hotel advertises “uninterrupted Pacific views” and dining “to the sound of waves below.” Those waves have become considerably less soothing.

The exact extent of the hotel’s structural damage has not been independently confirmed. But conditions along the coastline are well documented.

Consecutive hurricane-generated swells—including energy from Hurricane Rachel—have stripped protective sand from Orange County beaches. Surfline reported that overlapping Southern Hemisphere and tropical swells hit October 9 as water levels ran more than a foot above predictions.

“A 6.6-foot tide… would be a 7.6-foot high tide with the Kelvin wave,” Conklin warned, adding that combining those elevated baselines with massive storm swells creates unprecedented coastal destruction. “I’ve never experienced a Kelvin wave like this in my life.”

Part of that elevated baseline comes from a coastally trapped Kelvin wave associated with the developing Super El Niño. Unlike surfable waves, the enormous ocean pulse can quietly raise background sea levels by six to 12 inches, allowing breakers to reach farther inland.

“Every two or three inches counts in terms of the damage,” climate scientist Daniel Swain told CBS Los Angeles.

Laguna Beach City Manager Dave Kiff acknowledged the intensity of the October swell: “It’s actually larger than we expected.”

And the Surf & Sand isn’t the only alarming sight nearby.

Just north at El Morro, beside Crystal Cove State Park, Conklin filmed sections of a cracked coastal bluff crumbling toward the beach, dangerously close to Pacific Coast Highway.

“I literally just watched part of the cliff fall,” he said in footage previously reported by SURFER. Caltrans has closed a southbound lane while assessing the slope; the road itself has not collapsed.

With another potentially powerful El Niño winter approaching, Southern California’s shoreline appears to be running out of breathing room.

Dakar Dream: A Feature Length Surf Documentary Told by Dakar’s Surfers Themselves

Chris Dodds — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 14:00:00 GMT

SURFER is an executive producer and release partner on Dakar Dream.

Surfing is on the rise in a big way in Africa, and nowhere is that more evident than Dakar, Senegal. The surf scene runs four generations deep, and the kids ripping right now are already thinking about supporting the fifth. For most of that time, not much attention has been given and, when it has, it has typically been from an outside lens. Thankfully, that’s starting to change with a new film called Dakar Dream.

If you’ve been paying attention for a while, you’ve already heard some of these stories. Our 2024 guide to Dakar, and Aloha Award coverage, pointed you to Babacar “Babs” Thiaw at Copacabana Surf Village and told you to go rip with an up-and-coming local named Fallou Bousso. Déguène Thioune surfed in the Mami Wata x Billabong campaign we covered last year. Cherif Fall needs no introduction as he’s been blowing up on the international scene for years.

Senegal was first put on the map thanks to the wave off Ngor Island as seen in the The Endless Summer, released sixty years ago. Nowadays, there is a thriving scene. One that has been protrayed many times but Dakar Dream is that scene speaking for itself.

The result is a 77-minute documentary shot over a few years in Dakar by director Alexander Volberding and Belgian cinematographer Jules Emile, with footage from nine local surfers with a focus on three of them: Dame Samb, Déguène Thioune, and Fallou Bousso. The striking thing about it is that there are none of the hallmarks of traditional surf documentaries, no sit down interviews, no staged scenes, no rehearsed lines. The surfers narrate their own lives in WhatsApp voice notes, in Wolof with English subtitles, and the effect is less like watching a documentary and more like being added to a living group chat.

Ouakam’s Mosque of Divinity where Dakar’s best left barrels happen in the colder months of the year.

Alexander Volberding

“There’s a name for this film’s opposite, ‘parachute journalism’,” Alexander says. “Somebody drops into a place with a camera for a few weeks and leaves thinking they can tell the story better than the people who live it. I didn’t want to make that film. So the surfers narrate it themselves, and a lot of the footage is theirs. That’s why we call it a POVdoc (pronounced PAHV-doc), it’s their point of view, and that’s the way it should be.”

It took a year to shoot and three more to edit, and the process included a hard drive holding 13,000 clips and no story.

Dame Samb films with his brothers as they head to surf their home break, Ngor.

Dame Samb

Brothers Samb: Dame (Bottom Right) Ismaila (Left) Adama (Middle) on Ngor Island surfing the Endless Summer wave in front yard.

Jules Emile

Ask any of the three about their first board and you get the same shape of story with different details. “I saved for five months so I could buy my first surfboard,” Dame says. “It wasn’t something I could get easily, so I had to be patient, disciplined, and determined.”

Fallou has come a long way from his first board and knows that access to equipment is one of the main thing’s holding back the surfers of Senegal.

Dakar Dream

Fallou’s was a JS 5′10″. “That’s the board where my surfing really started,” he says. Déguène got hers in 2022, through Surfkids Shredding Senegal and Malika Surf Camp.
Three surfers, three dreams. In the film, Déguène chases the WSL, Fallou the Olympics, and Dame a surf school to raise the next generation.

Déguène Thioune at Toubab Dialaw one of the many beach breaks south of Dakar’s metropolis.

Alexander Volberding

Déguène’s dream starts with the WSL and doesn’t stop there. “My dream is to see more young Senegalese get into surfing, especially girls,” she says. “To have sponsors who pay for my travel and my gear, so I can compete in contests like the WSL. To stay a role model for young people. And to break into modeling.” She also wants to change how people see girls in the water: “Girls belong in the ocean as much as boys do. We have dreams, ambitions, and the ability to go far.”

Fallou is still competing for Senegal abroad, and he knows what that takes from Dakar: “good boards, equipment, travel, and a lot of funding,” he says. “A kid in California or Australia has much easier access to all of that.”

Fallou Bousso at Tonghor which is adjacent to his home break of Virage.

Alexander Volberding

Ask him about his dream today, and he talks about a school. “My dream is to create a surf school in Dakar, to give kids the chance to learn and, above all, to progress in good conditions,” he says. “Right now the project is still in my head, and I’m trying to move it forward little by little.”
Dame is already working on his. “My dream is to build a real surf school in Senegal, with sponsors and partners who believe in the potential of Senegalese surfing,” he says. “A place where kids can learn to surf, develop their talent, and get access to equipment, even when they can’t afford to buy their own.”

Given that two share the same dream, it’s clear to see the importance of giving back. They want to continue opening the door for the kids behind them.

Dame on his home wave on Ngor Island.

Jules Emile

Déguène wanted the film to show “Senegalese surfing from the inside, through our own stories, our emotions, and our daily lives.” Dame shot some of that footage himself, and he knew exactly where to point the camera. On the way out to Ngor Island, he filmed his brothers. “We’re three brothers, same father and same mother, and all three of us share the same passion for surfing,” he says. “People might see three surfers going surfing. Behind those images, there are three brothers growing up with the same passion.”

From Left Seydi, Mbaye, Pape (4th from left) on Tonghor beach after a session at Ile de Yoff.

Jules Emile

When we asked who to watch, one of those brothers kept coming up. Ismaila Samb, Dame’s little brother, made Fallou’s list of current rippers. Babs says he’s “definitely on it.” Kelly Slater’s Outerknown even picked him as an ambassador. “As his big brother, I’m proud of his journey, and I believe he can go even further,” Dame says.

Jules Emile, who shot much of the film alongside Alexander, spent his first month in Dakar barely filming. “Most of the time we were just hanging out, surfing together, sharing meals, talking,” he says. “You can’t expect to arrive somewhere, point a camera at people, and immediately capture something genuine.” Dakar’s surf community, he points out, “has seen plenty of people and brands come through, take photographs, shoot footage, and disappear again.” “I never wanted our relationship to feel transactional,” he says.

Pape, Big PB, Seydi in the Pape’s apartment where Jules spent much of his time hanging out

Jules Emile

He’s still close with the crew. He and some of the surfers have spent the past few years developing a narrative film inspired by their real experiences growing up and surfing in Yoff, and they hope to bring it into production next year.

We asked all three what it’ll be like to hear their own voice notes on a big screen, in front of their friends. They all gave us some version of the same answer, and Dame put it best: “I’ll definitely be proud, moved, and maybe a little embarrassed hearing my own voice in front of everyone!”
To understand how deep this goes, talk to Babs. In Yoff, where he grew up, nobody called it surfing; he told us last year they called it sarane, to slide. He started at six, on a bodyboard, because he couldn’t afford a surfboard. The boards came from Europe, mostly polyester or wooden ones, and nobody had a wetsuit. “After surfing in the winter, we were burying ourselves in the hot sand to heat up,” he says. “Those memories are very engraved in my mind. It’s priceless.”

Back then, he knew everyone in the lineup. “It was literally my community,” he says. “There was nothing around us.” He misses that.

Babs is president of Surfrider Foundation Senegal, which monitors water quality at six surf spots. He still runs Copacabana Surf Village, and Fallou still teaches there. So our guide’s advice stands: find Babs, and he’ll get you in the water with Fallou, who wants every visitor to “feel like family, not just a tourist.”

Fallou and his coach Babs. You can find both of them at Babacar’s surf school at Copacabana

Alexander Volberding

Babs has his own picks. “Fallou Bousso, that kid has it all and just needs support. Ismaila, definitely on it. And Niello, one of the youngest ones: for me he is really the future face of Senegal surf. Trust me, I bet on that boy.”

Ismaila riding on his first sponsored board, a Sequoia.

Jules Emile

Niello Diagne age 8 cuts into a right wave at his home break at Malika surf camp at Yoff beach.

Alexander Volberding

We asked everyone to do what we always ask: name the OGs, the current rippers, and the groms. Between them, the list came out like this. Consider it a who’s who of Senegalese surfing.
OGs: Oumar Sèye, Patina Ndiaye, Pape Samba Ndiaye, Cherif Fall
Current rippers: Fallou Bousso, Ismaila Samb, Sidy Camara
Groms: Awa Seck, Aita Diop, Adama Samb (the youngest Samb brother), Niello

“We have the waves, we have the passion, and we have the talent,” Dame says. “What we’re missing, mostly, is the means and the opportunities. With the right support, Senegalese surfing can go very far.”

Follow Dame, Déguène, and Fallou at @dame_s97, @deguene.surfergirl, and @boussomame_fallou. Dame is looking for sponsors for his school, and Instagram is the best way to reach him. Find their surf schools at dakardream.tv.

Lebas “Samsedine” Thiaw filming Fallou from Copa Cabanas terrace in Virage

Alexander Volberding

Interviews with Dame, Déguène, and Fallou were conducted in French and translated. All interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Sneaker Wave Slams Family at Iceland’s Deadliest Beach in Harrowing New Footage (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:15:15 GMT

It starts with a towering wave exploding against the black volcanic sand and jagged basalt columns. Then the whitewater surges up the beach, swallowing everything in its path.

Suddenly, a young girl disappears beneath the rushing water.

The terrifying footage was captured October 14 at Reynisfjara, Iceland’s notoriously dangerous black-sand beach, where enormous, unpredictable waves have claimed multiple lives. See the harrowing video of the recent incident below.

According to Icelandic broadcaster Vísir, tour guide Heiðrún Hauksdóttir filmed the incident involving a family of four, including two children, who were caught by the powerful surge.

“I saw the wave coming much closer,” Hauksdóttir recalled in an interview with Morgunblaðið, translated from Icelandic.

“It was only a matter of minutes between life and death,” witnesses noted, echoing urgent warnings that tourists continually underestimate the brutal power of the North Atlantic. Reynisfjara’s steep underwater drop-off generates treacherous sneaker waves that surge without warning, dragging victims into freezing water with an inescapable backwash.

Hauksdóttir described seeing one child go completely underwater. Thankfully, everyone escaped without reported injuries.

But the outcome could have been devastating.

Reynisfjara, located near the village of Vík, is infamous for its so-called sneaker waves: unexpectedly powerful surges that race much farther up the beach than preceding waves, catching visitors off guard and sometimes dragging them into the freezing North Atlantic.

The dangers are well documented.

In August 2025, a nine-year-old German girl drowned after being swept away near the beach’s famous basalt columns. A Canadian man died in similar circumstances in 2022, and a Chinese woman drowned in 2021.

After that tragedy, locals plead: “Reynisfjara is so beautiful, but it is also one of the deadliest beaches in the world. Please don’t risk your life there.”

Following this latest incident, landowners activated an emergency response plan, restricting beach access amid exceptionally dangerous conditions.

“We decided to activate our existing emergency response plan because of the wave heights,” landowner Ragnhildur Hrund Jónsdóttir told Iceland’s RÚV.

The giant surf followed a powerful storm sweeping across Iceland. Los Angeles surfer Hunter Jones has also shared footage showcasing the country’s formidable waves.

In a fittingly eerie Hollywood connection, Christopher Nolan used Iceland’s otherworldly black-sand landscapes to depict the underworld in his recent blockbuster, The Odyssey, filming at nearby Hjörleifshöfði.

At Reynisfjara, however, the danger is very real.

And as this latest video demonstrates, it can arrive in seconds.

Ocean Ramsey’s One Ocean Diving Rocked by Abuse and Toxic Workplace Allegations

Dashel Pierson — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 16:45:41 GMT

Ocean Ramsey has made a career out of getting dangerously close to sharks. But now, the famous shark conservationist, better known as the “shark whisperer,” is facing a different kind of controversy.

Former employees of her Hawai‘i-based shark-tour operation, One Ocean Diving, are speaking out with allegations of a toxic workplace, abusive treatment, and questionable business practices. The accusations have emerged amid a broader reckoning over sexual harassment and assault throughout the ocean-tourism and diving industries.

See one description from a former employee, linked here, and below.

Ramsey, whose viral videos show her swimming alongside enormous great whites and tiger sharks, became a household name following her 2025 Netflix documentary, Shark Whisperer. Her sometimes controversial hands-on interactions with sharks, often photographed in bikinis, have attracted millions of followers.

But behind the idyllic images, former staff members are now raising troubling questions about the business.

Social media posts and discussions involving former employees allege a hostile working environment and raise concerns about the company’s management and operating practices. Online accusations have also prompted questions about employee safeguarding and sexual misconduct. The specific allegations remain unproven, and their full scope has not been independently established.

Staff accounts detail systemic bullying, intimidation, and the aggressive silencing of young female divers through strict non-disclosure agreements and non-compete clauses.

“It was only a matter of time before this type of stuff gets exposed,” shared members of the dive community responding to the revelations. “Diving facilities should not get people to sign NDAs or non-competes. That is just weird. I feel terrible for those who were affected by the way things were run.”

Marine scientists have echoed these concerns, noting that the controversy exposes the dark underbelly of influencer-driven “wildlife entertainment” masquerading as conservation.

Ramsey has responded publicly on Instagram, while One Ocean Diving has issued its own response.

The controversy comes as women across the broader diving industry publicly recount experiences of harassment and sexual assault.

In an investigation by DeeperBlue, freediver Tania Panes described accounts involving men holding positions of authority, including instructors and expedition leaders.

Francesca Trotman, founder of Love The Oceans, was particularly concerned about industry protections.

“The reality is that our industry is still completely unregulated when it comes to safeguarding,” she wrote.

A 2025 diving-industry survey found that 35% of 1,066 respondents reported experiencing sexual harassment, although researchers warned that the voluntary survey could overrepresent affected individuals.

The developments also coincide with separate allegations surrounding professional surfer and former Olympian Alan Cleland Jr., who has been linked by published reports to provisional suspensions following allegations of abuse connected to an August gathering in Tahiti. The allegations have not (yet) resulted in a publicly established guilty verdict.

There is obviously no direct connection between the Tahiti allegations and those involving One Ocean Diving.

Still, together with the growing number of women speaking publicly, these controversies raise an uncomfortable question for the ocean-sports industry:

Is this its own #MeToo moment?

Stay tuned.

Killers of 3 Surfers in Baja Get 158-Year Sentences for Brutal Murders

Dashel Pierson — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 15:33:55 GMT

More than two years after three surfers were brutally murdered during a trip to Baja California, Mexico, their families have finally received a measure of justice.

On Friday, October 16, a Mexican judge sentenced three men to 158 years and nine months in prison each for the murders of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend, Jack Carter Rhoad.

The three were camping and surfing near Punta San José, south of Ensenada, when they were attacked on April 27, 2024.

According to The Guardian, the convicted killers were Jesús Gerardo, nicknamed “El Kekas,” Irineo Francisco, and Ángel Jesús.

What happened that night was horrifying.

Prosecutors said the attackers approached the surfers intending to steal tires from their pickup truck. When the victims resisted, the robbery turned deadly.

“The attackers pull out a gun they were carrying and kill the person who initially resisted the robbery, then turn on the other two,” prosecutor María Elena Andrade explained, according to the Associated Press.

All three surfers were shot in the head. Their bodies were dumped into a well approximately 50 feet deep, where authorities discovered them on May 3 following a massive search. Their vehicle was found burned nearby.

The crime sent shockwaves through the international surfing community.

According to the BBC, the brothers’ mother, Debra Robinson, told the court that the murders had stolen “the future we had imagined with them.”

In a statement reported by 7NEWS, their father, Martin, said, “No outcome can ever undo this tragedy.”

The three men were convicted of aggravated homicide and robbery-related offenses. A fourth accomplice, Ary Gisell Silva Raya, previously received a 20-year sentence for her involvement.

Jake was a doctor preparing for a new position in Australia, while Callum was a former professional lacrosse player.

Their parents have since established the Callum and Jake Robinson Foundation to honor their sons.

Although the defendants’ lawyers intend to appeal, the sentences mark a significant chapter in a tragedy that devastated families and the surfing world.

Must Watch: Mikey February's SunSong May Be the Best Surf Film of 2026

Chris Dodds — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 09:31:58 GMT

After premiering across the US, SunSong, the latest film from Spearhead Unlimited, is now live with one of the raddest crews in surfing, with the likes of 17 year-old Fijian prodigy James Kusitino, Tosh Tudor, the certified prince of tube riding, surfer-shaper phenom Kobe Hughes, hard-charging Frankie Harrer, and the silky smooth and mighty limber Indigenous Australian hammer Lungi Slabb.

Yeah, that may be a mouthful, but it’s all true. Oh, and anchoring it all is the self-made emperor of style and of taste, Mikey February, who produced the film. Directed and edited by Sam Smith and filmed by Wade Carroll, Dave Fox, and Ian Thurtell, SunSong is an absolute must watch.

The idea was inspired by the rise of James, who has exploded onto the international scene over the past year. His relationship with Cloudbreak, honestly, at times seems unreal. His approach to a serious wave is one of supreme playfulness — the bigger it gets, the bigger his smile. It’s abundantly clear that he’s a natural talent, but it’s how he has fun that makes everyone a fan. His joy is contagious. Whether you watching from the channel, or from your sofa, you can’t help but cheer him on.

He’s put Fiji on the map in a whole new way, and he’s been rewarded with a surf life few other Fijians have had. That’s not to say he’s the only one, there’s a whole pack of other Fijians who are striving to reach the international stage. It’s only a matter of time until others break through and bust down the door.

Cloudbreak sets the stage for the all-star ensemble to do their thing, and while its clear that James is on home turf, the whole crew shines. Apparently much of the quiver was lost en route and didn’t show up until days later. The few boards that did make it on time became widely shared. Throughout the whole film we see them swapping boards and drawing different lines.

Not long ago, James used to bus tables for gas money to get to Cloudbreak. Now, he’s traveling the world as one of surfing’s brightest young stars.

Wade Carroll

The soundtrack is a highlight of its own. It pairs legendary South African artists Hugh Masekela and Letta Mbulu and American saxophonist Azar Lawrence with field recordings gathered along the way, connecting Fiji and Africa through shared rhythms. The result is another creative classic from Spearhead Unlimited that has Mikey’s fingerprints all over it. As someone who watches an insane amount of surfing, I can safely say that his films hit in a way few others do, the kind that you don’t mind watching, or listening to, again and again.

James, with the kind of layback stall that’ll make your jaw drop when he starts doing in double overhead surf.

Sam Smith

Perhaps the thing I love most about SunSong is how far it is from the standard. From the boards they ride to the lines they draw, it brings you in and things start to happen: your eyebrows raise after seeing James fade and down carve back towards the foam before sliding under the lip; your jaw drops as you watch him layback stall deep in a heavy Cloudbreak pit; you rewind it back again and again as the gang makes it all look so damn fun.

I could go on and on with different time stamps that blew my mind but it’s better you see for yourself. Press play, turn it up, and then run it back.

El Niño Is Coming. And The Ocean's Doing Some Weird Stuff

Ben Mondy — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Martin Daly and the Indies Trader have worked the Marshall Islands out of Majuro for years, so the crew knows what a normal season looks like. They’re now describing anything but. In a recent post, the operation said the trade winds, which have blown from the northeast for as long as anyone there can remember, have been running southwest to northwest for four months. They called it unprecedented and put it down to the super El Niño. Every atoll, they explained, is settled around the prevailing wind, so flipping it is causing havoc. Yachts, longliners and workboats are on the beach, the power keeps cutting out, and roofs and trees are down. Their verdict on the surf was one line: it’s going to be an interesting season.

An El Niño year in the Marshalls typically brings weaker trades with the odd westerly burst, storms that form closer to the islands, and a higher cyclone risk. Four straight months of reversed flow is the crew’s own account, and it goes well beyond the occasional westerly the forecasts describe. Or, shit’s getting weird.

The same signal is turning up across the Pacific, in a lineup near you if you live in Southern California. A fisherman pulled a longfinned bigeye, a bright red-orange fish that normally lives off Mexico and Baja, from the Venice Fishing Pier, and the species had never before been recorded in California waters. The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County kept the specimen. Curator Bill Ludt says it’s likely only the start.

An endangered olive ridley sea turtle crawled out near Seal Beach in September and buried a clutch of eggs, the first time a sea turtle has nested in California. Another turtle was seen nesting near Huntington Beach Pier, and officials fenced off both sites. The guest list reads like a Baja trip report: a whale shark near the Channel Islands, plus hammerheads, mahi mahi and bullet tuna. Anglers around Marina del Rey and Santa Monica say they’re landing species and sizes rarely seen locally.

The heat behind it was building before El Niño even showed up. The world’s oceans absorbed a record amount of heat in 2025, with the heat stored increasing by about 23 zettajoules, roughly equal to nearly four decades of global primary energy use. That was the ninth straight record year for heat in the top 2,000 metres, and it happened under weak La Niña conditions. Then the Pacific flipped. June was already the warmest June on record in the tropical Pacific, and on August 22, Copernicus recorded a global sea surface temperature of 21.1°C, edging past the previous record. NOAA gave California and Baja 80–100% odds of marine heatwave conditions. Marine heatwaves covered 37% of the world’s oceans in July, and NOAA says that could reach 45% this winter, potentially the highest on record.

NOAA’s latest update, on October 8, says El Niño is still intensifying, with an 83% chance of a historically exceptional event between October and December, potentially stronger than anything in records dating back to 1950.

And this week, the first real storm of the season landed. Tropical Storm Rachel came ashore in northern Baja on October 10, then pushed flooding and damaging surf into Southern California. Waves battered homes and wrecked a boardwalk on the Alamitos Peninsula in Long Beach, flood warnings ran from San Diego to the Bay Area, and rockslides closed some roads. Baja took the worst of it, with more than 400 emergency calls in three days. You can’t pin a single storm on El Niño, but the warm water helps feed the eastern Pacific cyclone season, which is running at record levels this year. Forecasters are calling Rachel a preview, with record rain, big surf and mudslides likely over the coming months.

Until now, the ocean has mostly been showing you the signs, from Majuro to Venice Pier. Rachel suggests the storms and swells are next. El Niño is coming. What it does, well, we are about to find out.

1,000-Foot ‘Invisible’ Waves Are Tearing Through the Deep Ocean (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 18:39:13 GMT

There’s a kind of wave in the ocean that can dwarf anything at Nazaré, home to what most people think of as the world’s biggest waves. You won’t see it break, won’t hear it roar, and you could sail straight over it without realizing a monster just passed beneath you.

Welcome to the strange world of internal waves: enormous, nearly invisible swells that move through the ocean itself, rather than across its surface.

In a recent video, narrator James Stewart describes the phenomenon (“some as tall as the Empire State Building”) that form between Taiwan and the Philippines before rolling across the South China Sea. Watch below, and learn more about these mysterious monsters.

“From the surface, you would have no idea they were there,” he explains.

“These are the largest waves produced in the world’s oceans, with up to 10,000 times the amount of turbulence typically found in the open ocean,” he continues. “Every single day these waves, some as tall as the Empire State Building and up to 200 km wide, form in the waters between Taiwan and the Philippines, rolling across the South China Sea.”

So, how can a thousand-foot wave hide underwater?

Unlike familiar wind-generated swells, internal waves travel along boundaries between layers of seawater with different densities. Warm, relatively light water often sits above colder, denser water. When tides push those layers over underwater mountains and ridges, their boundary rises and falls in giant undulations.

That enormous height describes the vertical movement of underwater layers, not a conventional wave face rising above the sea.

As Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution explains, it takes far less energy to move water into another layer of water than to lift it into the air.

“Underwater, you get more bang for your energetic buck,” the institution’s report explains.

These aren’t theoretical monsters. A study published in Nature documented breaking internal waves more than 650 feet tall in the Luzon Strait, generating turbulence over 10,000 times greater than typically found in the open ocean.

They’re found elsewhere, too, from the Andaman Sea to Cape Cod Bay. Their telltale surface signatures are often nothing more than alternating bands of smooth and rough water, visible in satellite imagery.

And they can actually break, just not in the way surfers recognize. Researchers at UC Irvine explain that as internal waves approach shallower continental shelves, they steepen, collapse, and mix deep water upward.

That mixing transports nutrients, affects marine life, and helps redistribute heat throughout the ocean.

The biggest waves on Earth may be the ones nobody ever sees.

Waco Surf Erupts Into Pure Chaos at Swatch Nines 2026 (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 17:25:02 GMT

I’ve never attended the International Gathering of the Juggalos – the debaucherous carnival of Insane Clown Posse fans, face-painted and partying like its 1999, masquerading as a music festival – but I thought about it during the Swatch Nines 2026 event.

This was like surfing and skating’s version of that. No rules, no restrictions. Just pure fun. And most likely, a lot less nudity and neon-colored Faygo. But still, the same spirit.

As I stood atop the concrete wall of the wave-making machine at Waco Surf, I wearily glanced down at a rail that dropped 12 feet into the water below. Around me, Jacob “Zeke” Szekely, Mason Ho, Chippa Wilson, and a handful of other surfers were preparing to do something completely ridiculous. Watch the highlight reel, capturing all the action, below.

The pro surfers – in a Frankenstein alchemy of action sports – were attempting to boardslide a skate-style hubba rail, drop into a moving wave, and somehow ride away.

What could possibly go wrong?

Quite a lot, actually. And that was precisely the point.

Welcome to Swatch Nines Surf & Skate 2026, held October 8–10 in Waco, Texas. Three days of absolute chaos, creativity, innovation, mayhem, and, most importantly, fun.

Pure, unadulterated fun.

There were no traditional heats, judges, or jerseys. Instead, some of the world’s most progressive surfers, skateboarders, and BMX riders were given an enormous playground and encouraged to do whatever their imaginations could dream up.

The hubba was one of the weekend’s main attractions. Some attempts ended in spectacular wipeouts. Others ended in history-making rides.

“It’s all about timing,” Mason Ho told SURFER. “You want to time it with the wave.”

And once the boys figured it out, things got certifiably crazy. People were hooting and hollering until their vocal cords blew out, cheering each other on, whether they made the drop successfully into the wave, or fell wildly into the water below.

It was a celebration.

But that was only one corner of the circus.

A massive skatepark constructed above the water became another centerpiece, particularly after dark, when riders lit flares and transformed the Texas night into a glowing, smoke-filled spectacle.

Meanwhile, the women’s session offered an entirely different aesthetic. Coco Ho, Milla Coco Brown, Skai Suitt, and other female surfers took turns threading barrels beneath an elaborate arch of flowers. Then they switched to launching airs amidst the floral backdrop. It was surfing meets performance art, and the results were beautiful.

The LIND Surfboards crew brought another futuristic element, showcasing electric surfboards that offered an entirely different way to ride the pool.

Then there were the winch sessions.

Lucas “Chumbo” Chianca, Blair Conklin, and Leon Glatzer were among those launching themselves toward towering aerials, blasting off the lip into double backflips, and using the extra speed to send maneuvers that would normally be physically impossible.

By the end, bodies were battered, muscles were aching, and everyone was exhausted.

But the smiles? Those were impossible to wipe away.

I left Waco thinking about something other than the Juggalos: Surfing doesn’t always have to be about the monotony of competition, wave counts, or winning.

Sometimes, it can just be about having as much fun as humanly possible. And that’s exactly what Swatch Nines is – childlike, unrestricted, and slightly chaotic fun.

Larry Bertlemann’s Family Launches Fundraiser for Memorial

Owen James Burke — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 17:20:08 GMT

On October 10, stylemaster Larry Bertlemann passed away, leaving behind a legacy (read our obituary)—and a family now facing the costs of laying him to rest.

Bertlemann changed the way generations of surfers approached a wave, his fluid, inventive style helping redefine what was possible on a surfboard. His influence extended well beyond surfing, too, reaching into skateboarding and the broader culture of board sports. Now, his family is asking that same community for a little help sending him off.

The Bertlemann ʻohana has established a GoFundMe campaign with a modest goal of $12,000 to cover funeral and memorial arrangements.

“To the surfing world,” the family writes on the fundraising page, “Larry was known as a legend, a pioneer, and a man who changed the way people rode waves. His unique style, creativity, and fearless spirit inspired generations of surfers around the world. But to his family, he was simply Dad.”

“The family was not fully prepared for the financial responsibilities that come with losing someone they love, and any contribution, no matter how big or small, would mean so much,” the message continues. “If donating is not possible, sharing this fundraiser, keeping the ʻohana in your prayers, or simply sharing a memory of Larry is just as meaningful. Larry gave the world a style of surfing that will never be forgotten. Now, as his children, the family simply wants to give him the love, dignity, and farewell he deserves.”

“From the bottom of our hearts,” the family concludes, “mahalo for loving our dad, for remembering him, and for helping us carry his legacy forward. With love and gratitude, The Bertlemann ʻOhana.”

If Bertlemann’s surfing ever made you look at a wave—or a surfboard—in a different way, consider contributing to the family’s fundraiser or sharing it with someone who might. He gave the surfing world an awful lot. Now it’s our turn to give a little back.

Learn more and make contributions through the GoFundMe campaign page Honoring Larry Bertlemann’s Legacy.

NOAA’s Unmanned Saildrone Battles 65-Foot Hurricane Isaias Seas (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 16:07:10 GMT

Imagine being alone in the middle of a Category 3 hurricane, surrounded by waves taller than a five-story building. It’s somewhat like that scene out of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar – the one on the rogue planet with waves the size of mountains.

But thankfully, that was just fiction. And thankfully, nobody was aboard this vessel.

Pretty dramatic footage captured by an unmanned Saildrone shows the 23-foot ocean-going robot charging through Hurricane Isaias in the Gulf of Mexico on October 9. The craft, SD-1045, was operating in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), collecting scientific data as it passed through the storm’s eye.

The numbers are extraordinary: Saildrone reported individual waves reaching roughly 65 feet (20 meters), along with wind gusts exceeding 103 mph. NOAA’s National Hurricane Center separately confirmed a 104-mph gust measured by SD-1045 near the eyewall.

But there’s an important distinction in the wave data.

The Saildrone also recorded significant wave heights exceeding 32 feet—meaning the average of the highest one-third of waves, not the single biggest crest.

The National Weather Service described them as “just over 10 meters or 33 feet.”

In a separate marine discussion, NOAA reported that “Peak seas are up to 37 ft” as Isaias approached the Florida Panhandle.

Those readings represent broader sea conditions and don’t contradict reports of much larger individual waves.

The video offers a rare sea-level perspective: turbulent gray water, steep breaking seas, and spray whipped across the remotely operated craft.

Its instruments monitor winds, wave heights, pressure, temperature, and other variables, transmitting observations to scientists and forecasters without risking a human crew.

Isaias briefly reached Category 3 strength with sustained winds of 120 mph, becoming the first Atlantic hurricane of an unusually quiet 2026 season. It later struck near Destin, Florida, as a Category 2 hurricane with 105-mph winds.

The storm ripped roofs from buildings, toppled trees, and caused flooding across the Gulf Coast. At least four deaths were linked to Isaias, and nearly 900,000 customers lost power at some point, according to the Associated Press.

For scientists, the Saildrone’s terrifying voyage offers something valuable: measurements from the ocean surface where the hurricane draws much of its strength.

As for everyone else, it’s a rare look inside a place no human ever wants to be.

Kanoa Igarashi, Jack Robinson, and Leo Fioravanti on Growing Up on Tour Under Kelly Slater: Watch in "One More"

Chris Dodds — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 00:30:24 GMT

As it goes with competition, your biggest rivals are sometimes your best friends, the ones who push you and bring out your best as they put out theirs. In the case of Jack Robinson, Kanoa Igarashi, and Leonardo Fioravanti, they’ve been doing that for each other for most of their lives, and it now plays out on the Championship Tour as they each chase their first World Title.

One More, the latest film from Red Bull, gets the boys together for a boat trip to the Mentawais, their first trip together in 16 years. The backstories run deep, the conversations are candid, the friendship (and rivalry) is real, and the surfing is absolutely next level.

We spoke with One More producer Travis Ferre about growing up on tour, the weight of rivalry, and what it means to keep chasing one more.

What was it like for each of them as groms with promise?

Kanoa, Jack, and Leo all came up on the Quiksilver team, which meant growing up on tour in the orbit of Kelly Slater. Quiksilver team manager Steve “Belly” Bell took them on trips around the world as kids, with one piece of advice: watch Kelly and learn from him.

Remind you of anyone? Kanoa, channeling that classic Kelly style.

Nate Lawrence

As young groms, Kanoa Igarashi, Jack Robinson, and Leo Fioravanti were given unprecedented access to all the tools of surf stardom. They had the golden ticket: a Quiksilver sponsorship and the chance to tour the world at a super young age. “The Super Young Guns.” It wouldn’t be weird to see 12-year-old Californian Kanoa eating in Hossegor, France, surrounded by the ranks of the World Tour. Or to bump into the Italian Leo on the Gold Coast with Julian Wilson and Dane Reynolds. They were part of the fabric on tour from a super young age. And with all that access comes the pitfalls of failing to live up to it all.

Luckily, these three had “Belly.” Stephen Bell took these three groms under his wing while managing the Quiksilver team and gave them one piece of advice: “Watch.” Watch what Kelly Slater does and that is all you need to know about becoming a surfing professional. They all had the talent. They had the access. They just needed to maintain the line, and Belly gave them the tools to do that. It’s why we invited “Belly” aboard this reunion boat trip: a chance for him to see up close that they had indeed held the line and made it.

While Jack was the first to fly high on tour, they’re now all winning events and seeking that first title.

Nate Lawrence

What has the line between friends and rivals been like over the years?

These three can now candidly discuss the evolution of their emotions toward each other, including the jealousy and envy that has been a constant in their relationship. When your best friends are also your biggest competitors, it creates a complicated web of emotion, and all three address how they’ve managed that throughout their careers.

In a candid roundtable discussion on the boat, we get to watch them dissect their personal evolutions through those emotions. While they’ve landed in a mature place with it, there is still one thing missing from each resume: a World Title. And you get a sense that each of them battles with how they will feel should the other get it first.

What obligations come with being a fulfilled prodigy, and how did this trip come together?

In the film we hear what its like, straight up, to deal with the emotions and evolution of life on tour.

Nate Lawrence

These guys have unending obligations. Every sticker on their board and relationship in their life represents both a support vehicle and a distraction from the task of winning a world title. It wasn’t until they realized that a trip like this together could serve as both a therapeutic option and a new motivation to be first. So after 16 years, we provided the literal vessel for the reunion: the Raja Ombak in the Mentawai Islands. Watching the three of them duel with this conflicting emotion is what makes the film and its conclusion so fascinating, especially since there are still events left in the year and all three are within striking distance of the title.

“We did it” vs. “Why do we do it?”

It took Leo nine years to win a CT event and he’s now heading into the end of this year in second place.

Nate Lawrence

For most of their lives, these three have been chasing a feeling that is hard to understand. As groms, “we did it” meant making the tour and getting the ride. They did that years ago. “We did it” then meant winning a World Tour event. They did that next. Now, there is still one unanswered question they all have to face: who will win the world title first?

What happens then? When you’ve already done the thing you dreamed about at 12, the question isn’t “how do I get there?” anymore. It’s “why do I keep doing this?” The film’s answer is there, in a session at a “two-foot right.” It isn’t a trophy, and it isn’t the title. It’s what happens when the three of them surf together with nothing on the line and the joy that returns. “One More” stops meaning one more win and starts where it began in the first place: one more wave with your friends.

You don’t need a trip like this to win a world title, but it doesn’t hurt in reminding you why you want it in the first place.

Rogue Wave Slams Couple in Malibu, Killing 30-Year-Old Wife as Husband Cries ‘Hold My Hand’

Dashel Pierson — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 21:49:35 GMT

What was supposed to be a romantic California getaway turned into an unimaginable tragedy when a couple was swept into the ocean by a powerful rogue wave, leaving a 30-year-old woman dead and her husband hospitalized.

The incident occurred Wednesday, October 14, at Sycamore Cove Beach in Ventura County, near Malibu.

The victim, Kaylee Molina, and her husband, Roberto Clemente, 32, were visiting from El Paso, Texas. The couple, who had been together for 10 years, had traveled to the beach to enjoy the Southern California coastline.

According to NBC Los Angeles, the couple was near rocks when a large wave suddenly swept them into the water.

In a heartbreaking interview with the California Post, Clemente recalled that they noticed the waves approaching and attempted to retreat.

“Hold my hand, hold my hand,” Molina pleaded as the surf engulfed them.

But the couple was separated.

Both were pulled underwater and battered by waves. Clemente eventually managed to scramble onto the rocks before reaching his wife and pulling her ashore.

Exhausted and struggling after swallowing seawater, Clemente attempted CPR before calling 911.

According to the Ventura County Star, emergency personnel arrived around 11:40 a.m. and attempted lifesaving measures. Tragically, Molina was pronounced dead at the scene.

Clemente was transported to a hospital with moderate injuries.

“I wish I could have done more,” he told the California Post.

The tragedy comes amid dangerous surf conditions throughout Southern California, where recent hurricane-generated swells have caused coastal flooding, beach erosion, and significant property damage.

Molina, originally from Indio, California, was one of four siblings.

Her family has established a GoFundMe to cover funeral and memorial expenses.

“She had so much life ahead of her,” the family wrote, explaining that her death “has left a heartbreak in our family that words cannot fully express.”

The fundraiser is seeking $15,000 to help give Molina a proper farewell.

Support the GoFundMe here.

Survivor of History’s Deadliest Tsunami Relives ‘I’m Dying Today’ Terror and Loss (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 19:47:08 GMT

At 27, Andrew Chaggar was on the trip of a lifetime, traveling through Asia with his girlfriend, Nova. But on December 26, 2004, everything changed.

The couple was sleeping in a beachfront bungalow in Khao Lak, Thailand, just 100 feet from the ocean, when Chaggar woke to a thunderous roar, which he compared to “a jet engine building up for take-off.” Nova was standing beside the bed, frightened.

Seconds later, the first tsunami wave hit.

The bungalows fell “like dominoes,” Chaggar recalled in a recent LADbible Stories interview. He remembers being inside one moment, then suddenly in the water, surrounded by splintered buildings and debris. It felt like a “washing machine full of nails.”

“We heard this incredible roar,” Chaggar recalled in a harrowing interview detailing the disaster. Within seconds, a massive wall of black water smashed through their accommodation. “The door just imploded inward, and the walls literally disintegrated around us,” he said. Chaggar was swept into a violent churn of debris, battling for breath while being slammed against submerged wreckage: “You’re tossed around like a rag doll in a washing machine. You have zero control. I genuinely thought, ‘This is it, I’m dying today.'”

An oil drum struck his head, knocking him underwater again. The current swept him into a hotel construction site, where wreckage pinned his leg against a concrete pillar. The injury was severe, but Chaggar believes the pillar kept him from being dragged into the bay.

See below for a documentary showing on-the-ground raw footage of the tsunami:

A second wave rose to within inches of his position. Chaggar survived that, too, and waited roughly four hours before two strangers helped him reach safety.

But Nova was missing.

Chaggar was hospitalized amid scenes of devastation. For months, he waited for news of his girlfriend. Around six months later, authorities requested a meeting.

“I had a fair idea of what it was going to be about,” he recalled.

Investigators had found “a partial dental match” and a photograph of a necklace Chaggar recognized as Nova’s. She had died in the tsunami.

The disaster began with a magnitude-9.1 earthquake off Sumatra, Indonesia. According to NOAA, the resulting waves killed or left missing nearly 228,000 people across the Indian Ocean region, including more than 8,000 in Thailand. Approximately 1.7 million people were displaced.

Chaggar later returned to Thailand to help rebuild and founded a disaster-relief charity. Now married with two children, he remains close to Nova’s parents. His children call them Grandma and Granddad.

“That, to me, is just amazing,” he said.

Dana Point Film Festival, SURFER Join Forces For Surf Movie Celebration

Jake Howard — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 17:00:24 GMT

Surf films have always been about more than what happens in the water. They’re about the people, places and communities that make surfing what it is. And while the way we watch surf content has changed dramatically over the past several decades, the power of a great surf film, and the experience of watching it with a room full of surfers, hasn’t gone anywhere.

That’s the idea behind a new partnership between SURFER and the Dana Point Film Festival, which will bring together two organizations with deep ties to surf culture and a shared commitment to telling the stories behind the sport.

The collaboration will see the Dana Point Film Festival continue to showcase established and emerging filmmakers exploring surfing, the ocean and the people connected to both. SURFER TV will also present a special showcase of selected projects during the festival, creating a connection between the big-screen experience and an ongoing platform for surf storytelling.

The partnership arrives at a time when surf content is more accessible than ever. Instagram, TikTok and YouTube have transformed how surfers discover waves, watch clips and follow their favorite athletes. But the quick-hit nature of social media can leave little room for the deeper stories behind the action.

Surf filmmaking has long offered something different. From the early days of Bruce Brown’s groundbreaking films to the independent projects that continue to document surfing’s farthest reaches, the genre has created a shared language for surfers around the world. Screenings have traditionally served as gathering places, bringing communities together to celebrate the people and experiences that define their relationship with the ocean.

More than six decades after surf films helped establish that tradition, SURFER and DPFF see an opportunity to carry it forward for a new generation. For the Dana Point Film Festival, the partnership also represents a homecoming of sorts. Dana Point holds a special place in surf media history as the birthplace of SURFER, founded by John Severson in 1960. That legacy remains an important part of the coastal community’s identity and the festival’s mission.

“My relationship with SURFER goes back to my early grom days, when my friends and I devoured every issue, then headed to Strands and Salt Creek to try everything we’d learned,” said Lloyd Bryan Molander, founder and managing director of the Dana Point Film Festival. “It was the only required reading of our youth.”

Molander added that Severson’s legacy remains woven into the fabric of Dana Point, noting that former SURFER publisher Norb Garrett serves on the festival’s board. The new collaboration with Howard and the SURFER team, he said, brings that history full circle.

“Together, we’re keeping the stoke alive for a new generation,” Molander said.

Founded in 2023, the Dana Point Film Festival has established surf, ocean and marine storytelling as the centerpiece of its programming, bringing together domestic and international filmmakers for screenings, conversations and special events.

The partnership will debut during the festival’s fourth annual edition, running October 29 through November 1 in Dana Point, California. The four-day event will feature films and programming focused on surfing, the ocean and marine environments.

Massive Cliff Collapse Slams California Coast as El Niño Erosion Caught on Video

Dashel Pierson — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 16:52:34 GMT

First came the crack. Then came the collapse.

After weeks of hurricane-generated surf and elevated tides hammered Southern California, a section of coastal bluff near Pacific Coast Highway at El Morro, beside Crystal Cove State Park, broke away toward the ocean. Laguna Beach skimboarder Blair Conklin has documented the deteriorating coastline in dramatic footage.

Check out the cliff collapsing video below.

Days earlier, Conklin spotted a fracture running alarmingly close to the road. But now, he captured portions of the cliff collapsing onto the beach below.

“I literally just watched part of the cliff fall,” Conklin explained in his footage. “We just watched a good portion of the cliff crumble… that region of the cliff is below the big crack that kind of leads up to PCH.”

Conklin noted that the surging ocean was directly responsible for the destruction.

“It’s peak high tide and waves are really getting up to the bottom of it. As you can tell, it’s just washing away and making the cliff steeper and steeper until it gives out.”

Caltrans closed one southbound lane between Reef Point Drive and Irvine Cove Drive as crews assess the hillside’s stability. The roadway itself has not been reported to have collapsed.

The surrounding coast is taking a beating, too. California State Parks cited “significant coastal erosion and infrastructure damage” in temporarily closing sections of Crystal Cove and San Onofre. At Crystal Cove, occupants of 26 historic beachfront cottages were evacuated as a precaution.

The immediate battering followed swells from Tropical Storm Rachel, building on erosion from earlier hurricane-driven waves. Meanwhile, an El Niño-associated Kelvin wave can elevate background sea levels by roughly six to 12 inches, allowing waves and tides to reach farther inland.

Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley described the coastline as being “under siege right now,” as officials worked to reinforce battered beaches farther south.

UC Irvine coastal erosion expert Brett Sanders warned CBS that continued failure could threaten a critical connection between Laguna Beach and Newport Beach.

And the timing is ominous: California faces the prospect of a powerful El Niño winter, with further storms and high surf still ahead.

More coastal erosion is almost 100 percent certain.

Olympian Alan Cleland Jr. Hit With New Suspension Amid Sexual Assault Allegations

Dashel Pierson — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 15:20:06 GMT

Alan Cleland Jr. – the Paris 2024 Olympic athlete representing Mexico – has been hit with another suspension, this time from surfing’s Olympic governing body, the International Surfing Association (ISA), amid serious sexual assault allegations.

In an October 14 statement, the ISA announced its decision to “provisionally suspend the athlete concerned” from all ISA-sanctioned events pending further investigation.

The organization emphasized that the suspension “does not constitute a determination of wrongdoing.” See the ISA’s statement on social media below.

“The ISA Executive Committee has decided to provisionally suspend the athlete concerned from participating in ISA-sanctioned events, pending further investigation and review, in accordance with applicable rules and ISA safeguard procedures,” the ISA announced. The federation emphasized that “safeguarding and athlete welfare remain fundamental priorities of the ISA” as it collaborates with national federations to enforce conduct standards.

Although the ISA did not identify the athlete, veteran surf journalist Nick Carroll, writing for Surfing World, first identified Cleland as the surfer previously suspended by the World Surf League (WSL).

The allegations stem from a private gathering in Tahiti following August’s WSL Championship Tour event at Teahupo’o. According to reports, the alleged incident involved a 16-year-old Australian surfer and multiple men.

The WSL previously suspended the unnamed Championship Tour competitor following allegations it characterized as being of a “deeply serious nature.”

The controversy intensified when Cleland’s former girlfriend, German professional surfer Noah Klapp, publicly accused him of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse during their relationship, which began when she was 17.

In an Instagram statement previously covered by SURFER, Klapp stated that Cleland “pinned me down on the bed, grabbing my wrists with all his strength” and “sexually assaulted me many times.” She urged the global surfing community to “stop idolizing abusers.”

The ISA’s involvement is particularly significant given Cleland’s Olympic history.

In 2024, he became the first surfer to represent Mexico at the Olympic Games, competing at Teahupo’o during Paris 2024. He previously won gold at the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games.

Now, his Olympic future faces uncertainty. Cleland has been suspended from two of the primary paths to qualification.

The ISA oversees Olympic surfing and plays a central role in qualification. For Los Angeles 2028, where surfing will take place at Lower Trestles in San Clemente, athletes can qualify through the WSL Championship Tour, ISA World Surfing Games, and designated continental competitions.

Under the LA28 qualification system, 48 surfers will compete, with 24 men and 24 women.

Cleland’s latest suspension will most certainly complicate his qualification prospects, although it does not amount to an Olympic ban.

The ISA reiterated its commitment to protecting athletes from abuse and said it would not comment further during the review.

As of publication, no criminal charges against Cleland have been publicly confirmed, and he has not publicly responded to the allegations.

This is a developing story; more to come.

Massive Drug Operation Uncovered in San Diego

Chris Dodds — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:26:14 GMT

San Diego police say they’ve intercepted about $1 million worth of narcotics headed for shipment across the U.S., leading to four arrests.

Detectives with the San Diego Police Department’s Narcotics Unit worked with U.S. Postal Service inspectors throughout September to intercept 458 packages that were being prepared for shipment from postal facilities across San Diego County.

The seizure included methamphetamine, with more than 100,000 counterfeit Adderall pills, plus MDMA, ketamine, cocaine, and Xanax. Estimates of the street value reaches up to $1.14 million.

Evolution of the drug trade

Back in the day, buying drugs usually meant a sketchy, in-person transaction. Users met dealers after hours in places ranging from back alleys and gas stations to the parking lots of bars, fast food joints, and shopping malls.

Some of these spots were random and discreet, hidden amongst normal activity like people getting gas or groceries, while others were places you wouldn’t otherwise go. Some deals were quick handshakes. Others were lengthy ordeals, with users waiting around for the dealer to show.

Then came the internet. It didn’t happen overnight, but once the drug trade moved online, things changed drastically for users, dealers, and law enforcement alike. The Silk Road was the most famous illicit marketplace, the one that first brought the “dark web” to most people’s attention, but it was far from the only one.

When the Silk Road was shut down in 2013, after a lengthy chase to find its elusive founder, it was like the Greek tale of the Hydra: one head was chopped off and more grew back in its place, not just two, but many.

Today, instead of relying on a few marketplaces, users and dealers connect through a multitude of channels, networks, and platforms. Often all it takes is a single referral or a simple exchange of contact info, followed by a message like, “Hey, I’m looking for x / y / z.”

In big cities, delivery can come from dedicated couriers using everything from cars and motorcycles to scooters and e-bikes, or through postal and shipping services like USPS, FedEx, or UPS. This San Diego case involved USPS.

Giant Saltwater Crocodile Cruises Through Lance’s Right Lineup in the Mentawais (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 03:33:48 GMT

A routine day in tropical paradise turned chilling when a massive saltwater crocodile was filmed cruising directly through the lineup at Lance’s Right (HT’s), one of the world’s most iconic and revered surf breaks in Indonesia’s Mentawai Islands.

The unnerving drone footage was captured by Asia Surf Charters and shared by charter boat captain Martin Daly, showing the apex predator effortlessly gliding across the crystal-clear reef pass where surfers regularly chase hollow barrels.

See the footage, linked here, and below:

Sharing the clips on Instagram, Daly captioned the surreal sighting: “Rumours of crocs at one of my most favourite waves that I’ve been surfing for over 40 years are rumours no longer.”

In a follow-up post, Asia Surf Charters cautioned, “Not our usual start to the morning!

“Seven guests from the Asia were in the lineup at first light, along with two surfers from a land camp and a female surfer paddling out from the beach, straight towards this thing.

“We quickly got everyone out of the water and into our speedboats.”

As reported by SURFER Magazine, Daly has repeatedly documented 10-foot crocodiles in Mentawai lineups, remarking, “I guess they have always been around but now we have drones!”

Saltwater crocodiles are Earth’s largest living reptiles, capable of growing over 17 to 20 feet in length and weighing more than 2,000 pounds. While commonly inhabiting coastal mangrove swamps and brackish estuaries throughout Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and northern Australia, they are exceptional ocean swimmers that frequently travel far out to sea.

Unlike sharks, which rarely attack humans, saltwater crocodiles are hyper-aggressive, opportunistic predators responsible for an estimated 1,000 fatal human attacks globally each year.

The lurking presence of massive reptiles in surf zones gives even the sport’s elite serious pause.

When once asked whether he would rather share the water with sharks or crocodiles, 11-time World Champion Kelly Slater chose sharks “100 percent,” admitting that “crocs are far more dangerous” because they are actively hunting.

With crocs becoming an increasingly visible fixture around Mentawai reef passes, traveling surfers waiting for the next set might want to keep their toes well out of the water.

Just in case.

‘Maritime Miracle’ Rescue After Woman Spends 20 Hours Adrift in the Dark Ionian Sea (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 03:08:11 GMT

For 20 hours, a cruise passenger was alone in the Ionian Sea, miles from land. Then, in the darkness, rescuers spotted a flashing light. What followed was captured on video.

The 44-year-old woman, an El Salvadoran national, went overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas on Friday, October 9, while the ship was approximately 72 nautical miles southwest of Zakynthos, Greece.

According to the Hellenic Coast Guard, authorities immediately activated an emergency response involving a rescue boat, a patrol vessel, passing ships, and a Greek Air Force Super Puma helicopter. See the footage of the rescue here.

But as daylight faded, there was still no sign of the missing passenger.

Then came an extraordinary discovery.

Early Saturday morning, crew aboard the cargo ship MSC Rossella III spotted the woman, conscious and floating inside a circular life preserver. According to the Coast Guard’s official statement, searchers first detected the flashing light attached to the life ring.

In dramatic rescue footage released by authorities, a spotlight illuminates the woman bobbing in the black water.

“Are you okay?” someone shouts, according to PEOPLE, as a rope is tossed toward her. The woman reaches for it as rescuers approach.

A Coast Guard rescue vessel ultimately pulled her from the sea and administered first aid, the official report says. She was brought to the port of Katakolo, then transported by ambulance to a hospital in Pyrgos for observation and medical tests.

And somehow, after roughly 20 hours adrift, she was alive.

Reportedly, and understandably, the woman was:

“Conscious and in a state of hypothermia and exhaustion.”

What led to the incident remains under investigation. The Coast Guard’s written report does not explain how she entered the water, although a spokesperson later told AFP that the woman said she jumped because “she wanted to disembark.”

Royal Caribbean confirmed the incident and said its crew launched a search. “Our Care Team is actively providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones during this difficult time,” the company told USA Today, according to PEOPLE.

The Katakolo Port Authority is investigating.

For now, authorities are hailing it as a maritime miracle.

Lewis Hamilton Rips Bali Left, Kelly Slater Fires Off One-Word Verdict (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 19:07:17 GMT

Lewis Hamilton spends most of his life going very, very fast.

But when the seven-time Formula One world champion gets a break from the cockpit, he’d most definitely rather be slowing things down on a surfboard.

A new clip posted to Instagram shows Hamilton surfing a solid lefthander in Bali, driving off the bottom on his backside, and staying composed through a clean, open face. It’s not world-tour stuff, but it’s legitimate surfing — enough to earn a one-word endorsement from the greatest surfer ever. See the clip, linked here, and below.

“Brah!” Kelly Slater commented.

That’s the modern-day surfing equivalent of a fist bump from Michael Jordan.

Other pros piled on, too.

“That’s the way🔥,” wrote Griffin Colapinto.

Bethany Hamilton added: “I remember that one time you fan girled on me and I had no clue who you were😂🤗 Look at you ripping!!! 🔥🔥🔥”

For Hamilton, though, surfing isn’t some new celebrity hobby. He has been chasing waves for years, including sessions at Slater’s Surf Ranch, Malibu, Byron Bay, and Bali. In a 2022 interview with GQ, Hamilton said what he loves most is the escape:

“You don’t have your phone with you, it’s time on your own,” adding that the ocean feels “very cleansing” and helps him get rid of “negative energy.”

He has also called surfing his “favorite sport,” saying he loves “the ocean, the water, and the power and the movement” of it. Slater once said Hamilton told him that, if he could, he’d quit everything — Formula One included — to become a surfer.

More recently, Hamilton has even shared waves with girlfriend Kim Kardashian. The two surfed together in Malibu earlier this year, and Sky Sports later shared footage of Hamilton hitting the waves while Kardashian cheered him on.

Now, with Slater publicly giving him props, Hamilton’s crossover credentials just got another boost. Keep charging — on the track and in the water — Hamilton.

Alan Cleland Jr. Sexual Abuse Allegations Rock Pro Surfing as Mexican Federation Declares ‘No Place in Surfing’

Dashel Pierson — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 15:53:58 GMT

The allegations surrounding Mexican Championship Tour surfer (and Paris 2024 Olympian) Alan Cleland Jr. continue to reverberate through the surf world.

Now, the Federación Mexicana de Surfing has broken its silence.

The federation issued a statement after reports linked Cleland, 24, to an alleged sexual assault involving a 16-year-old Australian surfer at a private gathering in Tahiti following the Outerknown Tahiti Pro in August. Surfing World first identified Cleland as the competitor suspended by the World Surf League and reported that the incident allegedly involved the teenage surfer and at least three other men.

See the statement, linked here, and below.

The WSL itself has not publicly named Cleland or detailed the allegations. It said only that a Men’s Championship Tour competitor had been suspended after it learned of allegations of a “deeply serious nature” stemming from a private gathering in Tahiti.

“All WSL competitors are bound by the conduct standards outlined in the WSL Rule Book, at all times,” the league said, adding that its Discipline Committee issued a suspension from all WSL events.

Mexico’s surfing federation went considerably further in addressing the nature of the accusations.

“Our position is clear: Violence and any form of abuse have no justification or place in surfing or any other aspect of life,” the federation said in the statement, as translated from Spanish. “We do not downplay these incidents, minimize their seriousness, or accept that they should be treated as private matters.”

The federation said it supports both the relevant authorities and the WSL’s decision to suspend the athlete.

“It is for the legal authorities to determine responsibility,” the statement continued. “However, this does not mean neutrality in the face of the seriousness of what has been reported. The presumption of innocence is a procedural right, not a reason to remain silent or diminish the significance of the accusations.”

Whether criminal charges will follow remains unclear.

New South Wales Police are reportedly aware of the allegations, but neither NSW Police nor the Australian Federal Police has confirmed an active investigation. Meanwhile, the Papeete prosecutor’s office told Tahitian media Monday that no formal investigation had been opened in French Polynesia at that time.

At this time, Cleland has not been charged or convicted of any crime.

The controversy widened Monday when Cleland’s former girlfriend, German pro surfer Noah Klapp, publicly accused him of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse during their relationship—allegations separate from the Tahiti incident. Klapp wrote that Cleland had sexually assaulted her “many times” and “pinned me down on the bed.”

Cleland had not publicly responded to those allegations as of the latest reporting.

What began as an unexplained WSL suspension has quickly become one of professional surfing’s most serious controversies.

And now, Cleland’s own national federation has made its position unmistakable.

This is a developing story; more to come.

Miguel Blanco’s Swell Diaries Episode 2: Mavericks, Todos Santos, and the Reality of Chasing Giant Swells

Chris Dodds — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 13:20:22 GMT

In the opening scene of episode two of Swell Diaries, we see a giant wave forming underneath the dark grey skies that are common at Mavericks. It’s a scene nothing like the classic surf dream of 6-foot waves, sunny skies, azure water, and palm trees on shore. It’s downright ominous and terrifying.

On that wave is Miguel Blanco, who is no stranger to the giant waves of Nazaré, but this was his first time surfing Mavericks. He makes the huge drop and outruns the massive avalanche of whitewater as long as he can, until he’s finally swallowed and subjected to a washing machine-like spin cycle most of us will never know, nor could ever survive.

His big wave training served him well as he was pushed to his limits with the initial shock and subsequent hold down that barely gave him enough time to catch a breath before the next wave violently rocked him again. When the second wave finally released him, he was rescued by one of the locals, Dre, who raced in on his jet ski to swoop him out of the impact zone. During the hold downs, we hear audio from the safety crews as they begin the search and rescue.

This dramatic opening provides genuine insight into the reality of the big wave scene, where surfers often traverse the globe chasing swells. Miguel explains, “So many times you have the mindset of, ‘I wanna get a big one. I wanna make it count.’”

But as it goes when your pursuits involve multiple variables, namely fickle weather systems where the stars have to align for favorable conditions, and then your own performance and equipment must be completely on point, things don’t always go according to plan.

After Mavericks, Miguel chases the same swell down to Todos Santos, Mexico. The long drive leaves him exhausted, and his first session there, his first time at the spot, proves difficult. Luckily, he gets another shot, and we get to go along for the ride.

A refreshing element of Swell Diaries is its honest accounting of what it’s really like to commit to the path of being a professional surfer. Miguel doesn’t hold back when describing the ups, downs, and everything in between, from engine failure and pirates in episode one to violent wipeouts, exhaustion, and challenges in episode two. Nevertheless, his reflections are optimistic, and the main thing that comes across is gratitude for the entire experience.

12-Foot Great White Showing ‘Aggressive Behavior’ Triggers Huntington Beach Shutdown (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 04:28:45 GMT

Another large great white shark has shut down part of Huntington Beach.

A 10-to-12-foot great white was spotted near Lifeguard Tower 16 shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday, prompting officials to order swimmers and surfers out of the water along a significant stretch of coastline.

According to the Huntington Beach Fire Department, the shark was “exhibiting aggressive behavior” near shore. Officials closed the ocean from Seapoint Street south to the Huntington Beach Pier, with the restriction scheduled to remain in place until 3 p.m. Wednesday. See footage from the scene below.

“Please obey posted signs and lifeguard instructions,” the department warned.

Officials have not publicly detailed exactly what behavior led lifeguards to classify the shark as aggressive, and it remains unclear whether the animal had previously been observed in the area. No injuries were reported.

But the sighting fits a remarkable pattern in Southern California this year.

Back in March, Dr. Chris Lowe, director of Cal State Long Beach’s Shark Lab, predicted exactly that.

“It is gearing up to be a sharky summer,” Lowe said, pointing to unusually warm water and the developing El Niño. “The water is unusually warm for this time of year, and it’s formed what we call a marine heat wave.”

Those conditions can push juvenile white sharks north from Mexico and keep them near Southern California beaches longer than usual. CSULB researchers said this summer that El Niño was bringing juvenile great whites into California waters earlier than normal.

Huntington Beach has already experienced that firsthand.

In April, a 10-foot shark exhibiting aggressive behavior forced a closure near the pier and temporarily halted a surf contest. Days later, a 9-to-10-foot great white was spotted actively feeding on a sea lion carcass at Sunset Beach, triggering another 48-hour closure.

Still, Lowe stresses that more sharks don’t necessarily mean more attacks.

“What we think is going on is these sharks are around people all the time,” he said. “We don’t pose a threat to them, and we don’t smell or sound like food, so they ignore us.”

Usually.

Tuesday’s shark apparently behaved differently enough for lifeguards to clear the lineup.

Stay vigilant.

Surveillance Footage Captures Moment Surf Pro Rickson Falcão Is Shot Four Times in Brazil (Video)

Dashel Pierson — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 02:45:33 GMT

Brazilian professional surfer Rickson Falcão is recovering at home after being shot four times during a horrifying drive-by attack in Saquarema, Brazil.

The 19-year-old WSL South America Junior champion was eating açaí with friends at a snack bar along the Itaúna waterfront Friday night when a black car passed by and one occupant fired more than 10 shots, according to Brazilian outlet Globo.

Surveillance footage captures the chaos as customers suddenly jump from their tables, sprint for cover and scramble inside the business. In one chilling moment, a young woman falls during the gunfire and is pulled to safety by another person. See below.

According to Falcão’s team, four bullets struck the surfer: one grazed his back, another hit his right foot, one struck his leg and another hit his left ankle near the Achilles tendon. He underwent surgery following the shooting.

Remarkably, Falcão was discharged Sunday and later posted an update from home.

“For those who have faith, life never ends,” he wrote in Portuguese. Falcão thanked God for “this chance to live,” adding that if the bullet in his back hadn’t merely grazed him, “I don’t know if I’d be here.”

See Falcão’s update from the hospital, linked here, and below:

An earlier hospital update was equally reassuring.

“I’ve already had surgery, I’m out of any danger,” Falcão said. “Now it’s time to focus on recovery.”

Falcão wasn’t the only athlete caught in the attack. Professional skateboarder Pedro Magalhães Marchi was shot in the arm, while surfer Kauã Vilhena was hit in the calf. Both have since been released from the hospital. Six people were shot in total.

One victim, Luan César Avellar Incutto Ferreira, later died after being transported to a hospital. Police say he was believed to have been the intended target. Authorities recovered two 9mm shell casings from the scene, and Civil Police are investigating who carried out the shooting and why.

No arrests had been announced in the latest reporting.

Falcão is one of Brazil’s brightest young surfing prospects. Born and raised in Saquarema, he won the 2025 WSL South America Junior title, finished fifth at the 2026 WSL World Junior Champs and previously earned bronze at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship.

His agent says the wounds did not damage structures expected to jeopardize his surfing career. Considering how close one bullet came, surfing again is almost secondary.

Falcão is simply fortunate to be alive.