Featured Archives: the best of the best - New Zealand Surf Journal

How To: Find Your Perfect Wetsuit Fit

Gemma WagstaffJul 4, 20250

Nothing’s worse than forking out a bundle of cash only to find your wetsuit leaks like a sieve as soon as you duckdive your first wave. Gemma Wagstaff, the designer at New Zealand wetsuit brand Gemma Lee, has spent more time than most thinking about exactly that. Here’s her advice...

Watch: Rising Tide

Derek MorrisonMay 19, 20250

In the footsteps of some true greats, a new generation is emerging from the deep south. This film follows 2025 National Champion Alexis Owen, Lewis Murphy and Keo Morrison and friends around some of their favourite waves. The Otago coastline is renowned for producing rippers, like Graham Carse, the Barton...

Bondi’s Tan Family Named Humanitarians Of The Year By SurfAid

Derek MorrisonMay 14, 20250

SurfAid has named Eugene, Deb, Jet and Spike Tan (the people behind Aquabumps) as SurfAid’s Humanitarians of the Year for 2025. This award recognizes individuals, groups, or in this case families, for their exceptional contributions towards supporting SurfAid’s mission to improve the health, well-being, and resilience of people living in...

SurfAid’s Work Evolving In Remote Surf Locations

Derek MorrisonMay 14, 20250

SurfAid shares an update on their work in the remote communities of Rote and the Mentawai Islands, and name their Humanitarian of the Year for 2025. In the Mentawai Islands, the SurfAid Katuronata program is in full swing. Each day, new water facilities are being built in partnership with local...

The Rise & Fall & Rise Of Gemma Lee

Derek MorrisonMay 1, 2025May 2, 20250

“I came off a wave and when I popped up I could see the board swirling toward me. It hammered me right on the head – I was lucky no teeth were broken,” smiles Gemma Wagstaff as she recalls the incident while surfing on a typically windy day at Lyall...

Standouts: Reuben Morrison From Across The Ditch

Derek MorrisonApr 9, 20250

Ever wonder how you’d be at surfing if you’d grown up in the surfing hotbed of North Narrabeen on Sydney’s Northern Beaches? If 17-year-old Reuben Morrison is anything to go by then you’d certainly have an air game. We sat down with Reuben after his first ever New Zealand Surfing...

Watch: Deadman’s 2025: Chaos & Carnage

Derek MorrisonApr 4, 20250

Thrills and Spillz bring us Chapter 1 – the first installment of Deadman’s Rising – capturing the giant April 1, 2025 swell that saw monster sets sweep through Sydney’s beaches. Deadman’s is one of the most insane slab breaks in Australia and must be seen to be believed. Footage was...

Review: Vallkree Mechanism 24 Beach Cruiser

Derek MorrisonMar 12, 2025March 12, 20250

Vallkree’s beach-styled electric bikes are taking root in New Zealand and bringing their goal for sustainable and simple travel, and endless charm, to surfers everywhere. They let us loose with the dual-motor Mechanism 24, complete with seating for two, a surfboard rack and absolutely no rules. We like that …...

Standouts: Alani Morse Is On A Mission

Derek MorrisonMar 12, 2025March 12, 20250

She is one of the fiercest competitors to emerge through the grom ranks, but what makes 14-year-old Alani Morse such a force to be reckoned with? We sat down with Alani on the heels of her 2025 New Zealand Surfing Championship campaign. In Taranaki for the 2025 Nationals Alani Morse...

Nats 2025: The Free Surf Sessions

Derek MorrisonFeb 14, 20250

If contests are the buttoned down sports version of surfing then the free surf sessions that take place around the heats are the creative opposite. There is no pressure, no judges, no decisions, just free-flowing moments when the tide hits the banks just right. Even with a below-par swell running...