Surftime Magazine

“And tell me, wasn’t that the best time, that time when we were young and on the sea. The sea that gives nothing, except hard knocks and sometimes a chance to feel your strength” -From Great Writers and the Sea, Joseph Conrad, “Youth”-

“Christa is probably the person who shoots the most, especially on big days,” says Hawaiian big wave master Mark Healy in the new documentary, First In, Last Out. The documentary details Christa’s story from her beginnings as a competitive swimmer to joining the Coast Guard and her determined rise through the ranks of A-list surf photographers on surfing’s grandest stage, Oahu’s North Shore. With her hair flipped over her helmet, and her head bobbing in the channel as she swims for hours, she makes for a unique site in male-dominated lineup. Nathan Florence says, “We’ll go out for a morning session and surf for a few hours and then go in. “When we come back out, hours later, Christa’s still out there; she’s out from dark till dark.” Here she is discussing the journey of her life and the making of the film. On Beginnings: Christa Funk: Well, I didn’t just hop into the water at Pipe right off the bat. I started with small days at Sandys, then small days in town, small days a...

This spring I got my first taste of surfing in British Colombia, and I haven’t been able to get it off my mind since. The people, the place, the waves, the water, the Canadian surfing experience is something special. It cuts down to the core of why we all started chasing waves in the first place. Adventures into the unknown, abundant wildlife, wild weather and the opportunity to create some deep, core surfing memories. Even if it does take full wetsuit booties and gloves. A few weeks ago Canadian photo ace Marcus Paladino reached out to me and shared that he was holding some nice shots from the last couple months. Indulging my newfound love for Canadian waves, I asked him to send some photos along. His trove of A-plus images didn’t disappoint. In fact, it did quite the opposite. It inspired me to go back. I’m based in San Clemente, California, and summertime in Southern California can be a bit of a drag. Traffic, clogged lineups. And to be honest, the surf this summer has b...

It’s odd that, historically speaking, the tube remained uninhabited territory for so long. The conventional line is that it was the board’s fault, that those big, heavy balsas and longboards were too crude, too ungainly to fit into that hollow space between the lip and the face. I’m of the opinion that it wasn’t a failure of the board, but of the imagination. Case in point: two examples of what would someday become the modern tube ride, filmed in the early 1960s and featured in Bruce Brown’s The Endless Summer, the most successful surfing documentary of all time. In the film’s Waikiki sequence, surfer Wayne Miyata is shown doing what Brown describes as “the ultimate thing,” wheeling his big board in from behind the peak at a hollow little wave called “Garbage Hole,” pulling in under the lip, completely disappearing from view, then exiting the curl cleanly; Miyata even gives us the first modern claim. Why Town surfers didn’t start riding Kaisers Bowl in the same manner for another fiv...

It’s six in the morning. Kuta wakes you up slowly. Not with alarms, but with heat. The kind that pushes through thin hotel curtains and stale fan air. The smell of frangipani drifts in from somewhere outside, sweet and unmistakably Balinese, and before long the streets begin calling. A quick Bali coffee. A rushed breakfast. Then the familiar march toward the beach. Jalan Legian is already alive. The coffee leaves that earthy bitterness on your teeth as scooters buzz past and last night’s memories flicker in fragments. Bintangs, neon lights and bad decisions dissolving into the humid dawn. In Kuta, nights blur at the edges. Every few meters someone calls out an offer. “Massage, boss?” “Transport?” “Bintang towel?” The soundtrack never changes. Then, finally, past the imposing stone beach gates, warming in the dawn, and then feet hit sand. Boards get waxed under a rising tropical sun while the first empty waves roll across the inside section at Kuta Beach. The surf isn’t perfect. You...

The grommets, both girls and boys, came from every corner of Indonesia and, even better said, every corner of the planet, with participants from Ukraine, Australia, the United States, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, China, Russia, Taiwan, and Italy, among others. Transforming the event into a true celebration of youth surfing. From the opening heats of the first day the last heats on day two. The beach buzzed with excitement as spectators gathered to witness the next generation of surfers showcase their skills on Bali’s world-class waves. But it was the local surfers who came out triumphant, claiming six of the top podium positions by the end of the competition. Phillipe Duke took top honors in the Under 18 Boys division, while Kya Heuer secured victory in the Under 18 Girls division. In the Under 16 division, Taiwan’s Lee Tsechen earned first place, while Paris Nalendra claimed her maiden win in Indonesia in the Under 16 Girls category. The Under 14 Boys division was dominate...

There was something special in the air during the Bali Surfers Gathering at Drifter Surf Shop, Uluwatu. The place was filled with stories, laughter and generations of surfers who helped shape what Bali’s surf culture has become today. We felt so much gratitude for being able to host an evening dedicated to the people who paved the way long before surfing in Bali became what it is now. Legends and pioneers like Ketut Menda, Wayan Gantiyasa, Mangku Weta, Wayan Sudirka, Nyoman Radiasa and Wayan Sujana joined us for a night of connection, storytelling, and reflection on the history of surfing in Bali. These are the people whose passion, courage, and love for the ocean helped create the foundations for the generations that followed. One of the most meaningful parts of the evening was seeing younger surfers sitting alongside elders, listening closely to stories from the early days. Tales of simple beginnings and the journeys that these legends have gone through over the decades. Respect ...

STOKEHOUSE GILI Air is more than just a retail store — it is a true surf lifestyle destination that brings together the spirit of the ocean, adventure, and tropical living in the heart of Gili Air. As the official flagship store for internationally recognized surf and lifestyle brands Vissla, Amuse Society, and sisstrevolution, STOKEHOUSE GILI Air has become a must-visit spot for surfers, travelers, and beach culture enthusiasts from around the world. What makes this store even more special is that it proudly represents the 8th STOKEHOUSE location, marking another exciting milestone in the growth of the STOKEHOUSE family. Built with passion for surfing, creativity, and coastal culture, the store reflects the energy and freedom that define life by the ocean. Every detail of the space is designed to create a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere inspired by island living and modern surf culture. Inside the store, visitors can discover a curated selection of premium apparel, swimwear, board...

Eighteen-year-old founder Daan van Rooijen set out to change safety standards in surfing forever. The result is Mamuli-Surf, a next-generation surf helmet engineered specifically for the water, without sacrificing comfort, performance or style. The story behind the brand is personal. On July 10, 2024, Daan’s sister Guusje was hit by another surfer at their home break in Bali. She suffered life-threatening skull and brain damage. It changed everything. “I realized that in snowboarding, skating, biking and every other extreme sport, wearing helmets is the norm — but in surfing it isn’t. I set out to create a helmet surfers actually want to wear: one that feels comfortable, performs, and looks good in the water.” Sixteen months later, that idea became reality. Mamuli-Surf launched on Kickstarter on April 7, 2026, with a goal of funding 300 helmets for mold production — and hit that goal. The Mamuli-Surf helmet is confirmed for market launch in early 2027. Key Features: The helme...

What might at first appear to be simply an evocative photo of a pack of surfers strolling along a Hawaiian beach in the late-1960s is, in fact, a remarkable portrait of the greatest single heat in competitive surfing history. Snapped at the 1969 Duke Kahanamoku Invitational at Sunset Beach, Hawaii, this semi-final matchup featured (back-to-front) Californian super-stylist and celebrated proto-free surfer Billy Hamilton, big wave legend and future Duke winner Eddie Aikau, 1965 World Champion Felipe Pomar, four-time Peruvian national champion Sergio Barreda, 1963 Peru International and ’69 Makaha men’s champion Paul Strauch, 1968 World Champion Fred Hemmings, number-one WSA 4-A men’s and 1970’s world champion, Rolf Aurness, 1968 Duke and Peru International champion Mike “Ironman” Doyle, and multiple Makaha International men’s champion Joey Cabell. Fierce competitors all, no doubt, yet judging by the collective casual demeanor of this phalanx of uber-talented surfers, take a guess who w...

“A Departure, the last professional sight of land, is always good, or at least good enough. For, even if the weather be thick, and the waves imposing, it does not matter much to a ship having all the open sea before her bows.” ― Joseph Conrad, The Mirror of the Sea

“Everyone had their own addiction problem. Everyone was hiding it. We all just turned into these closet-case, drug-addict monsters.” For us humans, the truth is often really tough to accept. Especially when that honesty requires a higher level of self-examination: when families have been destroyed or people have died due to reckless lifestyles. Bruce Irons’ quote, above, from the 2018 documentary, Andy Irons: Kissed by God, drips with tragic honesty, as he weaves his family’s story without pretense or bullshit, while interview cuts from surfing royalty corroborate his sordid tale. Remembering that Bruce narrated the documentary with that level of honesty unnerved me. After watching it again I almost wanted to tap out in the middle of it. It’s like a Greek tragedy, supported by a cast of gifted players. Only these players weren’t acting. They lived it in the most painful of ways. There is no blaming others in Bruce Irons’ narrative, as he blatantly states. No asking why there wa...

“Under water, time takes the shape of waves. I listen to the clash and the silence mingling beneath the surface. I end up looking at what the eye cannot see: the states of matter; the hidden folds of the wave; the ever-changing schemes of the sea.” -Ben Thouard- You can purchase Ben Thouard’s fine art book, Aqua Obscura and others at http://benthouard.com Photographer Ben Thouard’s

The world of guiding visiting surfers in Sanur’s line-ups clearly defies surfing’s traditional etiquette, which gives the right of way to the surfer closest to the peak (a time honered system that allows the best surfers to get the best waves as lesser surfers pay their dues as they attempt to climb up the ladder). But on one of the happiest islands in the world, surf guiding, or rather, hiring a local to strong arm waves for you, usually leaves a bad aftertaste with visitors. Is it fair? To the locals, certainly. They are making a living using their local resources. But from the visitor’s point of view, is it exclusive of those with the financial means to pay for waves? Let’s call him Wayan. He was born in Sanur, and he runs his own guiding program now after working for foreign-owned surf camps and hotels his entire life. He and his apprentice, we’ll call him Ketut, met while surf guiding for a camp that catered mostly to German surfers. When Wayan was encouraged by his elders to ...

Kya Heuer got beat up. It happened while she was paddling out into a heavy set at a harrowing Eastside wave that rarely, if ever, sees women in its line-up. But Kya is no ordinary woman. Trained literally since birth in the pounding, below sea level barrels of the Mentawai, (Kandui Lefts is in her front yard), Kya is a fearless surfer with a fine tuned ability in gaping eight foot barrels. But accidents do happen. And when she found herself driven face first into the reef that day on the Eastside, she came up with what could have been a life-changing wound on the side of her face. But, staying calm amid all the blood and the pain and the rescue from her friends, Kya and her cohort made it to the hospital and into a special plastic surgery theatre that, quite frankly, saved her considerable beauty. Immediately following surgery, we found Kya Heuer sitting up in her hospital bed in her normal clothes, with over one hundred stitches on the side of her face, sitting up as if what hap...

Sanur’s east side turned it on for Magic Shootout 2026, with nearly 80 athletes representing Boardrider clubs from across Bali charging solid 4–6ft swell at Pantai Segara. Hosted by Sanur Middle Coast, the contest ran in clean conditions with hollow takeoffs and longcarving walls down the reef. Barrels were on offer through the inside bowl, while steep sections invited committed snaps and well-timed aerial attempts across all divisions. In the Open Men, Raul Bormann claimed victory with a combination of deep tube riding and critical pocket turns. I Nyoman Mega Artana secured second, followed by Kadek Murtika in third and Kalani Ryan in fourth after a tightly contested final. The Open Women saw Jasmine Studer take top honors with powerful rail work and smart wave selection. Kailani Johnson finished runner-up, with Georgie-May Hicks in third andLune van Dijk in fourth. The Pro Junior division highlighted Bali’s rising talent, with Muhammad Satrio earning the win through explo...

“My name is Manu Miguelez and I was born in Asturias, a small region on the North West Coast of Spain. Since I can remember the ocean has always been my passion. This passion has made me travel around the world in the search of the best waves. My dream has come true. I now guide surfers on their quest for the best waves on this planet in the Mentawai. And then I have the privilege of immortalizing those magical moments”. FOR PHOTOGRAPHER MANU MIGUELEZ, VISION IS THE ART OF SEEING INVISIBLE POSSIBILITIES

“Larry Bertlemann’s obsession with image and commercialism put him on the wrong side of surfing purists in 1978. Always fashion conscious, instantly recognizable by his neatly tended Afro hairstyle, Bertlemann frequently surfed and skateboarded in color-coordinated outfits, and at one point took to the waves at Pipeline wearing a customized blue-and-red bell-bottom wetsuit. A pioneer in surf world corporate sponsorship, Bertlemann by the late ‘70s was plastering his boards with oversize stickers from Pepsi, United Airlines, and Toyota, and even adopted the Pepsi swirl emblem for his board’s design motif. “I get off on promoting things,” the easy-smiling eighth-grade dropout once said. “I keep my sponsors happy, and they keep me in business.”

Nostalgia is not a simple recall of facts but an emotional state tied to an idealized past, where emotion, not memory, is the key. It is a mix of positive and negative emotions. Joy from the memory, but sadness because it can’t be relived. The positive effect often prevails, but the yearning is always present. Nostalgia can act as an existential intervention, helping us find meaning in our lives by connecting our past, present, and future and inspiring a sense of self-continuity. Nostalgia can be a source of hope for change, strengthening us during difficult times and propelling us toward the future. While personal, nostalgia is also deeply social, fostering a sense of belonging and connection to others through shared experiences and cultural touchstones. This nostalgic emotion is frequently exploited by marketers to sell products, music, and other goods by tapping into a desire for a past era. But nostalgia can also be a force for positive change. But then again it can also be ...

Bingin 1985-2025 Rest In Peace In remembrance from when its people allowed her to became a surfer’s place.