Pacific

The South Pacific lies directly north of New Zealand and is a treasure trove of surf adventures. From Fiji to Samoa and Tonga to Tahiti and everywhere in between a life time of adventure awaits.

Watch: Super Saturday Raw Footage Outer Reefs, Hawaii

Derek Morrison
Filmmaker and surfer Fellipe Valadao brings us this raw edit from the super swell that hit Hawaii over the weekend. “I had the privilege to ride a couple of the best big waves of my life today here on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii,” he told his followers. “This......

Watch: The Allan Byrne Story

Derek Morrison
Allan Byrne contributed more to surfing than most modern surfers will ever realise. He is considered to be one of New Zealand’s most successful surfers ever, still to this day. In this short film by Clive Neeson, Allan describes in his own words what that era was like. How did he turn......

Iconic Kiwi Surfboard Shaper To Close Factory, Move To Japan

Grant Dyson
Renowned Mount Maunganui-based shaper Andy Jordan will soon bow to a strong call from the Land of the Rising Sun and move to a “forgotten” Japanese island to live. The veteran shaper has crafted an extraordinary 7330-plus “AJ” boards – short, long, twin fins and all the rest, over about......

Ricardo Christie Ends Filipe Toledo’s World Title Race At Pipe

Derek Morrison
Mahia surfer Ricardo Christie has saved his best for last in the 2019 World Surf League Championship Tour, despatching World Title hopeful, Felipe Toledo in the Round of 32 at the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons. It was a thrilling Round of 32 at Pipeline, Hawaii, that......

Fiji, As Seen From A Kiwi Photographer’s Perspective

Hayden Campbell
Southern surf photographer, Hayden Campbell, ditches his hood, steamer and booties in favour of some Pacific Island charm in the form of the crystal blue waters of Cloudbreak. Camera in tow, here’s his first story for New Zealand Surf Journal, directly from the coral heads of one of our most......

Tahiti Pro Wrap: Owen Wright Wins, Ricardo Exits Early

Derek Morrison
Owen Wright caps off a remarkable comeback with a win at the Teahupo’o reef pass in the Tahiti Pro presented by Hurley. Wright, who suffered a traumatic brain injury at Pipeline in 2015, took down an in-form Gabriel Medina to claim the Tahiti title for his first time. A sleepy......
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Book Review: Barbarian Days, A Surfing Life by William Finnegan

Darren Eade
“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......

Five Minutes With: Surfing Filmmaker Jonathan Smit

Derek Morrison
Surf filmmakers in New Zealand tend to be passionate creatives lured to surfing by the curiosity of a colourful culture. They shine a light on surfing that is often a beautiful as it is compelling. Christchurch and Gold Coast-based filmmaker Jonathan Smit epitomises this ethos. He turns the creative dial......

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