If you’re mostly an urban surfer, how do you know you’re riding waves in safe, unpolluted waters? Are there any indications that you could be putting your health and life at stake? More and more surfers worldwide report sickness episodes after being in contact with near-urban areas and industrial sites. The Blue Water Task Force…

Years earlier, I was given a stirring narrative regarding the shape and contour of the wave at Honolua Bay. The celebrated surf spot is on the island of Maui, and I’m told that the Bay’s tube is big enough and round enough to fit a Mack Truck inside it. This declaration has been embedded in…

Max was a wonderful boy. Funny, bright, full of energy. Always busy with a thousand things at once: surfing, snowboarding, and playing guitar. Whatever he did, he did it with enthusiasm. He was in the final months of his bachelor’s in civil engineering in Delft, getting ready to start his master’s in Amsterdam. He was…

Nearly every day, two local kids watch me surf. I wave to them from the water, and they wave back. I think Gregory and Thomas are happy that I have adopted them as my beach buddies. If I lose my board in the surf and have to swim for it, they are there as my…

Clyde Aikau passed away peacefully at his Waimanalo home in Oahu, Hawaii, on Saturday, surrounded by his family. He was 75. Born in Kahului, Maui, on October 24, 1949, Clyde was the youngest of six children of Solomon “Pops” and Henrietta Aikau. His siblings, in order, were Fred, Myra, Eddie, Gerald, and Solomon III. The…

It sounds counterintuitive, but surf gear company FCS has hit the brakes on U.S. sales. If you visit the American website of FCS at surffcs.com, these days you’ll find a pop-up banner with a very straightforward message: “We’re taking a short break from sales in the USA while we carefully review the impact of the…

My name is Lorenzo Lago – Zo Lago to a few folks. I live in Cayucos on California’s Central Coast. I am a retired art interpreter from Hearst Castle, a nationally accredited museum in San Simeon, California. It was a great position for a storyteller.  I received my master’s in education from Cal Poly, San…

We should listen to people like Mickey Muñoz more. Mickey Muñoz knows barrels. At 87, he still chases waves with the same grin he first wore as a boy in the late 1940s. Surfer and filmmaker Kyle Buthman had the privilege to sit and chat with the big-wave surfing pioneer and surfboard maker, and learn…

Imagine you’re a passionate surfer with over 30 years of experience. The ocean is your playground. You cannot stay away from it for more than a week. Whenever you’re at the waterfront staring at your cherished sea, you cannot help but rate and analyze the quality and perfection of each and every wave that pops…

The river surfing scene is growing fast, with an increasing number of participants joining hundreds of river waves around the world. Unlike ocean surfers, river surfers rely on powerful currents that create standing waves. In theory, these waves can be ridden indefinitely. However, when they fall off or end their rides, there is a risk…