All Articles

Finding Your Rhythm: How a Surf Camp Can Bust You Through the Intermediate Hump

The Dawn Patrol Commitment: The Unspoken Contract of the Surfing Lifestyle

The Fish: The Fat, Fast, and Furious Shape That Changed Everything

Riding the Plastic Wave: A Surfer’s Relationship with Single-Use

Finding the Slot: The Art of the Barrel Entry

The Dawn Patrol Flannel: A Surfer`s Stoke on Shore

The Ripper’s Way: Surfing the Endless Summer

The Magic of Los Cerritos: Baja’s Mellow Right-Hand Dream

The Flip-Flop That Launched a Surf Empire: The Story of Rainbow Sandals

From Surfboards to Board Shorts: The Quiksilver Story

The Waiting Game: Inside the Water with a Surf Photographer

The Unspoken Code of the Lineup: Surfing’s Original Social Network

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Mastering the Waves

A cutback is your classic, soulful carving move to get back to the power source. You’ve flown way down the line and the wave is starting to fatten out ahead of you. To avoid the shoulder, you lay into a deep, sweeping turn back toward the whitewater and the steep part of the wave (the pocket). It’s all about style and flow—drawing a big, beautiful arc on the face to reconnect with the energy. It’s a fundamental power-control maneuver that looks epic when done with commitment.

Keep it in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight, like your garage or a closet. Sunlight can prematurely cure those UV resins right in the bottle! Your car’s glovebox or trunk gets way too hot and will ruin the chemicals. A small toolbox or a dedicated bucket under your house works perfect. Just make sure the lids are on tight. The goal is to have it ready to grab when you come in from a session with a fresh ding.

For sure, if you can. A good quiver covers different conditions. Bring your daily driver, a small-wave board for those sluggish days, and a step-up for when it gets overhead. If you’re limited to one board, choose your most versatile sled—like a hybrid or a fish that works in a range of surf. Consider renting or demoing boards there, too, especially if you’re flying with budget airlines that charge heaps for board bags.

Surf Icons & Heroes

Layne Beachley is an Aussie icon, a seven-time world champion who dominated the tour in the early 2000s. Her powerful, committed style in heavy waves earned her massive respect. Beyond her competitive fire, she’s a champion for women’s surfing, pushing for equality, and a passionate advocate for mental health and ocean conservation. She’s the epitome of combining competitive grit with a soulful, balanced approach to life in and out of the water—a true queen.

Summer and early fall are magic. Southern Hemisphere swells light it up, and the prevailing offshore winds (the famous “Malibu airflow”) kick in in the afternoon, grooming the surface to glassy perfection. Swell direction is crucial; you want a solid south or southwest swell to wrap into the cove. Winter can have its days with west swells, but it’s less consistent. Honestly, a sunny summer afternoon with a south swell is the iconic Malibu experience.

Fins are your board’s steering and hold! The single fin of the longboard era gave way to the twin-fin for looser, skatey feel in the ’70s. Then came the thruster (three fins), invented by Simon Anderson, which gave insane drive and control, becoming the standard. Quads and even five-fins offer different combos of speed, pivot, and hold for specific waves. It’s all about dialing in your feel for different conditions, from small mush to pumping barrels.