Details have been revealed about a bid for Auckland to host a World Qualifying Series 10,000-rated event at Piha in March 2020: the Piha Pro. But it is not a done deal … just yet. A document leaked to the NZ Herald today suggests the event will be a QS10,000...
Travel
Travel and destination inspiration for surfers and travellers with itchy feet. If you have a passion for exploring new places then you’re in the right place. We curate the best domestic, Pacific and international surfing destinations, so you can stay inspired and focused on your surfing lifestyle. Step inside and start dreaming.
A group of Southern surfers chase a record-breaking swell as it lines up a remote reef break buried deep in the Catlins. What transpires has it all: blood, guts, an inhospitable peak and the rise of a new talent in big-wave surfing. New Zealand Surf Journal takes you inside one...
UPDATED: Elliot Paerata-Reid and Billy Stairmand Make Top 100 After Krui Pro
Elliott Paerata-Reid and Billy Stairmand have launched into the top 100 in the World Qualifying Series after their performances at the Krui Pro held at Tanjung Setia Beach, Lampung, Sumatra. Stairmand was the form surfer of the event dominating through his early heats on his journey to the finals. The...
Surf Photography: Secret Surf Missions In Our Rural Heartland
Surf photographers go to extraordinary lengths to capture our waves and those who surf them. One of New Zealand’s finest even employs SAS-level training and wears a specially made sniper suit to roam the coastline completely undetected. He does it to capture line-ups that you’ll never find. He makes sure...
There is no doubting that Piha local Elliot Paerata-Reid is on a performance surge right now. His 2018 Indonesian season was sensational in and out of competition, but the Mega Swell of late July saw him paddling into some of the most intense waves ever witnessed at his favourite Indo...
Filmmaker Jono Smit and pro surfer Elliot Paerata-Reid team up for a Catlins strike mission only to have the rug pulled out from under them as the weather bomb flushes up the Tasman at the last minute. In an opportunistic stroke of madness they give chase along the West Coast...
Subantarctic Surf Discovery, Part 2: Enderby Island
Chasing waves on Enderby Island starts with getting to know the locals. They’re furry and blanket the place like lolling beach bums of the south. A little respect (and a lot of patience) will go a long way in this remote part of the Southern Ocean perched on the western...
Book Review: Barbarian Days, A Surfing Life by William Finnegan
“Surfers are self-centered arseholes sometimes.” I’m sure the surf obsessed among us recognise this sentiment. It’s in that moment when your partner catches you looking out the window at the toetoe plants for wind directions, and checking the tides at the most inconvenient times of the day. I suspect this...
Finding new waves on planet earth these days is a pretty tough ask. Sure the odd slab might be unearthed here and there, but the goalposts are well out on any significant discoveries. Especially here in New Zealand. So when I was given the chance to join an expedition voyage...
A classic film that follows the unscripted adventures of Jono Smit as he explores our southern coastline during the winter of 2015. “The idea behind all of this was to document winter through my eyes,” explains Jono Smit. “The road trips, the cold weather, the people.” “There are no pro...