Words

“Surf music is actually just the sound of the waves played on a guitar, that wet, splashy sound.”—Dick Dale, the King of the Surf Guitar If you think about it, surfing is as sonic as it is physical. The sound of the ocean is the first song the Earth ever played. The ocean creates its own music. An angry sea sounds violent; the cannon crack of a barrel hitting flat water is an audible monster that will wake all of the senses. The gentle brush of small waves lapping onto the shore is a sound humans have used to lull themselves to sleep for eons. Then there’s the rarely heard, otherworldly howl of a tube, only heard from inside said tube—this is “surf music”, but just one branch of the surf music tree that has roots and limbs sprawling and intermingling throughout the past, present, and future.

There’s a cancer in our midst. A silent one. A cultural disease that’s gone through chemo, surgery, and after years of remission, it resurfaces—scaring us with another ugly cluster. Cancer is nothing to make light of ... nor is discrimination. It shuts down real change, bullies minority groups so they don’t feel like they belong, and tears away hope of a worthwhile future. For decades, surfing in Australia has been a male-dominated sport. Has the surfing boys’ club been completely dismantled, or does it remain in partial remission, subliminally attacking surfing’s immune system?

Progression encompasses many aspects of the surfing world, from explosive aerials to gender equality. Since its Polynesian origins and the days of riding 40 kilo planks of wood, surfing has undergone major transformations. This evolution has been driven by a human desire to be better or for some surfers, to be the best. Yet as tempting as it may be to explore new avenues of forward trajectory, progress does not always come without its trade-offs.

All surf related imagery is what we are looking for. Remember we are Surfing Life and we will be looking for that something that is focused on “The Surfing Life”, whether it is waves, travel, surfers, lifestyle or simply capturing surfing as you see it. Remember, we need to go … wow!

There’s a cancer in our midst. A silent one. A cultural disease that’s gone through chemo, surgery, and after years of remission, it resurfaces—scaring us with another ugly cluster. Cancer is nothing to make light of ... nor is discrimination. It shuts down real change, bullies minority groups so they don’t feel like they belong, and tears away hope of a worthwhile future. For decades, surfing in Australia has been a male-dominated sport. Has the surfing boys’ club been completely dismantled, or does it remain in partial remission, subliminally attacking surfing’s immune system?

There’s a cancer in our midst. A silent one. A cultural disease that’s gone through chemo, surgery, and after years of remission, it resurfaces—scaring us with another ugly cluster. Cancer is nothing to make light of ... nor is discrimination. It shuts down real change, bullies minority groups so they don’t feel like they belong, and tears away hope of a worthwhile future. For decades, surfing in Australia has been a male-dominated sport. Has the surfing boys’ club been completely dismantled, or does it remain in partial remission, subliminally attacking surfing’s immune system?

There’s a cancer in our midst. A silent one. A cultural disease that’s gone through chemo, surgery, and after years of remission, it resurfaces—scaring us with another ugly cluster. Cancer is nothing to make light of ... nor is discrimination. It shuts down real change, bullies minority groups so they don’t feel like they belong, and tears away hope of a worthwhile future. For decades, surfing in Australia has been a male-dominated sport. Has the surfing boys’ club been completely dismantled, or does it remain in partial remission, subliminally attacking surfing’s immune system?

Let’s start out by saying we love the World Tour; we love live surfing, and we love to watch surfing’s elite battle it out, heat after heat, ’til a victor is crowned. However, we have a few questions about the finals, some that can be answered, many that can’t … at least not by us.

Hells Bells; we’re back at the bowl. After covid breaks and travel restrictions, Bells Beach hosts a CT tour event for the first time since Mick’s retirement (and Italo’s debut event win) in 2018.

If you are a keen surfer or you enjoy snapping surfers in action, you may wonder what equipment and skills can make your surf photography more dramatic and eye-catching. With summer fast approaching, you will feel more inspired to get out there and feel the sand between your toes. Before you do, have a read through our 5 tips on how to take good surfing photos.

Never before has there been an opportunity to design your own pair of boardshorts, have them printed and sold to the public ... and on top of that, win $500!

All surf related imagery is what we are looking for. Remember we are Surfing Life and we will be looking for that something that is focused on “The Surfing Life”, whether it is waves, travel, surfers, lifestyle or simply capturing surfing as you see it. Remember, we need to go … wow!

Stylish aerial wizardry fuelled by genius innovation laced with a dash of madness.If this sounds like you, it’s time for… PUNTORAMA 5.0 - A surfing aerial event in search of Australia’s very own lord of the skies!

All surf related imagery is what we are looking for. Remember we are Surfing Life and we will be looking for that something that is focused on “The Surfing Life”, whether it is waves, travel, surfers, lifestyle or simply capturing surfing as you see it. Remember, we need to go … wow!

We know there are plenty of competitions in the world of surfing, but not very often are they supported by a non-endemic surf brand. Yes we have non-endemic support to already established endemic brands, but not straight up non-endemic being the driving force behind it. To top that off, every other sponsor of this event is also non-endemic.

We’ve been lucky enough to be given the WERET Premium Surf Watch, with surf forecasting built in, all in an analogue time piece. Yep, this is not a watch in our opinion, it’s a time piece and pretty damn classy if you ask us.

At 12 years old, I came home from a day of autograph hunting with friends Mitch Parkinson and Jack Freestone, from the 2004 Quiksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks and announced over dinner, my mates wanted to be pro-surfers, but I thought I’d prefer to shape their boards.

All surf related imagery is what we are looking for. Remember we are Surfing Life and we will be looking for that something that is focused on “The Surfing Life”, whether it is waves, travel, surfers, lifestyle or simply capturing surfing as you see it. Remember, we need to go … wow!

Stylish aerial wizardry fuelled by genius innovation laced with a dash of madness.If this sounds like you, it’s time for… PUNTORAMA 3.0A surfing aerial event in search of Australia’s very own lord of the skies!

WOW, what a machine. To say that we are in love with this drone would be an understatement. The new Mavic is all-time, longer battery life and the zoom function, oh the zoom function. Time for a little bit of nerd talk, the lens has a focal range of 24-48mm, what the hell does that mean?

We were given the Osmo by the guys at DJI to test it out on our most recent trip to the Mentawais. Having used tonnes of POV/Action cams in the past we were keen to see how this little number went.

As you are aware the South Coast of NSW has been devastated by the fires over the past week. Being part of the surf community we are asking your help to raise much needed funds to assist with the emergency at hand and to help rebuild these beautiful communities.

But, as he tells Surfing Life, he’s willing to do whatever it takes. Story: In a few minutes Gabriel Medina will make his debut at the Quiksilver Pro, Gold Coast but right now he’s trying to compose himself. Surrounded by hundreds of fans, he stands alone on the rocks at Snapper Beach, head bowed, eyes closed and board cradled to his chest. Gabriel, a devout Christian, is praying.

What the hell is The Bersih Puntorama, and why would we be writing about it as a magazine that has long removed itself from the reporting of competitions?

As some of you may know things are a little tougher in the world of surf media these days, and without the support of partners like AirAsia to help us bring you stunning stories from far flung places, things would be a little average.

Is that a little harsh? A zoo? I made a statement to the guys in there just recently, that if you don’t have to look after your creatives with kit gloves then you don’t have the right creatives, of this statement I got a nod of approval from Ian.

I was asked to join the guys at the High Performance Centre (HPC) for a days coaching and I was pumped. I’d been to the HPS three years ago almost to the day and had a cracking time with the coaching staff. My wife had bought me a two day “Adult Surf Camp” for my birthday… what a great gift. Had I have known how good it was I would have just booked it myself, but a lovely gift to be sure.

Hitting a wave right is one of the best feelings in the world. At that moment, it’s nothing but you, the sea and your board. Everything else tends to switch off and you can fully appreciate the moment and beauty that’s around you.

A trip to the Mentawai Islands is one that needs to be on the bucket list of every surfer. Towards the top of the list. It is an experience without comparison. A true feast for the senses.

In PART 2 we teach a new model for looking at movement of the human body. The exercises at the bottom will train your body to move with connection and flow.

In PART 1 we will introduce the foundations of neuroscience (brain science). This will help to understand how your thoughts, actions and habits influence the body.

Stylish aerial wizardry fuelled by genius innovation laced with a dash of madness.If this sounds like you, it’s time for… PUNTORAMA 3.0A surfing aerial event in search of Australia’s very own lord of the skies!