The raw story behind the Taieri Mouth drowning tragedy of April 2021 and the team of surfing doctors who discovered the fateful capsize. Doctor Will Allen takes us back to a day that still haunts him – but a day that has inspired him to teach other surfers to save......
New Zealand Surf Journal is excited to launch our nationwide Search For New Zealand’s Underground Chargers … powered by Emerson’s Brewery, of course. Yep, you read that right. We’re on the hunt for those surfers in New Zealand who drop tools when the swell starts maxing out. We’re talking big-wave......
I’m standing in the garage with him as he sniffles back the taps and shuffles through a rack full of surfboards, his long hair hanging flat. He pulls one after another out and they’ve all got stories: he’s made a bunch of them, rode others to world titles and has......
With more than 36 years experience shaping surfboards out of Whangamata, Pete Anderson is one of the most humble and well-respected surfboard manufacturers in New Zealand. In this film he shares his journey from growing up in the heyday of Whangamata’s board-building industry to his insights, his hopes and most......
Raglan surfer and artist Aaron Te Whanatangi Kereopa chats about his journey, following his mischief, taking the risky road and how his talent has guided him into an incredible place in his art and life. Since that first day he picked up a knife and surfboard more than 20 years......
A late-season swell offers one last roll of the dice for New Zealand’s big-wave riders and the stakes are high. As the winds swing through the ideal bearing the focus falls on a reef on a remote corner of coastline. Four teams of surfers get the session of a lifetime.......
For a city that prides itself on its wildlife and coastlines, why is Dunedin still discharging partially-treated sewage directly into the ocean? The answer to that question is not as straight forward as you may think. Back in 2018 I wrote a piece for Box of Light that delved into......
Nineteen-year-old Christchurch longboarder, Jack Tyro, has just become the first New Zealander to earn a spot on the WSL World Longboard Tour, and the first to reach the upper echelon of the sport’s competitive ranks since Paige Hareb and Ricardo Christie competed on the World Championship Tour back in 2019.......
T. Patterson’s New Zealand shaper, Simon Jones, builds the mini quiver that would lead to Italo Ferreira’s success at Raglan’s Manu Bay for stop number 4 of the WSL World Championship Tour. It was an ordinary day in the Ghost Industries shaping bay for Simon – working through his list......
We Are Coral Gardeners – Film 2.0 is a short documentary about a group of passionate young ocean activists restoring damaged coral reefs. The story reveals how they grow and replant coral while raising global awareness, showing how small actions can grow into a powerful movement to protect the ocean.......
In this short film, Moss Thompson, a surfer and DOC coastal ranger in Otago, explains what surfers need to do to safely surf with sea lions. We’ve all been there: trying desperately to enjoy a surf only to have a sea lion turn up and get in your grill. Well,......
DOC veteran David Agnew has spent decades living, working and surfing across the whenua, helping to restore wild places and protect endemic species. He says the intersection between surfing and conservation is clear. DOC veteran David Agnew has traveled the country with his work for DOC … and surfed most......
DOC ranger and surfer Moss Thompson works in the same waters he loves –protecting endangered sea lions where they live, breed and play. Moss shares his story from the deep south. My family has always been the outdoorsy types and from an early age we were in the hills tramping.......
This DOC ranger travels the southern surf coast, mixing her battles for biodiversity with sessions at hidden spots. Writer Jose Watson catches up with Melissa McNaughtan on the West Coast. Surfer Mel McNaughtan is a DOC Biodiversity Monitoring Ranger who works out of Hokitika. She is part of a team......
Next time you’re out for session at Raglan and you hear birdsong in the bush-clad hills above the break, remember the 100+ volunteers, including many surfers, who brought it back from the brink. Whenever Kristel van Houte is out at one of her go-to Raglan spots with her 6’10” mid-length......
Surfer, diver, conservationist, civil servant: Kirsty Prior wears many hats. We caught up with her ahead of Conservation Week to chat about how surfers can contribute to a healthy ocean. One day, out at Jailbreaks in the Maldives a young woman was settled on her board between sets, when she......