Surftime Magazine

In honor of the 2025 Rip Curl Cup, Surftime asked Bali’s resident surfing artist Gene Kreyd for a spontaneous take on a surf spot he has been calling home for many years: “I’ve been surfing Padang since 1985. I first came to Bali to experience the Padang Padang tube and the Bali vibe. I met so many great lifelong friends surfing this wave. Having beers on the beach after the surf and watching the sunset. So many beautiful experiences. I was blessed to have so many amazing, mind-altering rides over the years. And even though I don’t surf as much like before, I am still in love with the Queen of the Coast. The world changed big time, and so has Bali, but “The song Remains The Same”. The Padang Padang magic is as strong as ever. Mystical, beautiful, and timeless. This sacred place will be in our hearts forever. I really enjoy the contests at Padang Padang and watching some of the world best tube riders get barreled. The 2025 event was unreal. Padang Padang generously offers the gifts...

Only once in all that time he had again a glimpse of the earnestness in the anger of the sea. There are many shades in the danger of adventures and gales, and only now and then that there appears on the face of facts a sinister violence of intention. -From Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad- Photography by Pete Frieden

“The sea is everything. It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides. The sea is only the embodiment of a supernatural and wonderful existence. It is nothing but love and emotion; it is the Living Infinite. The sea does not belong to despots. Upon its surface men can instill unjust laws, fight and tear on another to pieces and be carried away with terrestrial horrors. But at below its surface, their reign ceases. Their influence is quenched. Their power disappears. Oh sir, Live, lie in the bosom of the waters. There is only independence. There I am free”. ― Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

WINDOW TO INDO: SIGNS OF THE TIMES, BALI, 2024 By Matt George For surfers, it’s all still here. Despite all the expat and visitors doomsday talk of the final stages of over development and the final surrender of Bali to the almighty tourist invasion, and the destruction of the Uluwatu cliffs and on and on…it’s all still here for us. The waves, the fun, the romance, the famous dream. And it’s all thanks to the indomitable Balinese culture. Yes, the Canggu madness is very real and the traffic is very bad and the overpopulation is scary and very depressing to the veteran visitor or expat, but on the other hand, the Balinese Hindu culture is thriving and surviving completely intact and undiminished amidst all of it. Everywhere on the island. As is its perennial way. Adapting and benefiting from all the changes throughout its history ever since it was “Discovered” by the outside world. After all, it is the Balinese people’s island, not ours and they can do with it as they wish. That...

It’s a new day. And that is always cause for celebration. And we start this Surftime with an image that perfectly illustrates he brotherhood of competition. Especially at this year’s Rip Curl Cup. Here is Mason Ho and Winner Noa Deane embracing in the sunset light post final. And perhaps that was the real spirituality of the Cup this year. The kind that comes with camaraderie, regardless of where you are from. Despite the challenging conditions on the final day, as you will see in our big feature this year, the overall the surfing on the Cup’s two days of competition was insane. And the timeless Padang Padang Barrels, those beautiful spinning vortices that are her gift to us, were ridden with the verve and the aplomb we have all come to expect. We hope you really dig the giant full-page photos by master lensman Nate Lawrence. It is his camera that tells the real story, so take the time to really check them out. And of course there is plenty more in the issue, and you might have notic...

With the collapse of the Bingin cliffs due to greed, Surftime asks, is an ethical future for tourism development possible in Indonesia? Or is it just too much to ask? For this month’s editorial, something a little different. We put this question to writer Jack Oneill Paterson. Here he is: Bali, more so than any other surf location on the planet, is romanticized in the memories of old white men. Nowhere was as good, and nowhere has been so cruelly spoiled by fame. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. Bali has always endured an unrelenting onslaught of slanderous commentary from surfers, critics and moral purists across the globe. It has been mocked for being inauthentic, over-populated, polluted, and sterilized. Whilst Bali’s early clientele of dope-smuggling surfers turned into today’s OnlyFans millionaires, buff business moguls, and Russian fitness bloggers, surely this would make for an interesting study in human metamorphosis. The cost of this change is never owed to the cynical expa...

Death is no big deal, it’s living that’s the tricky part. And don’t we do that well, us surfers. Living, I mean. Oh no, maybe not always, measured by societal success, but in the goal of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we win. Every time we jump in the ocean. It’s that pursuit of happiness thing. On the face of a wave, a really good wave, there is literally no where else we would rather be. Think about it. In bed with a lover? Or rocketing down the line with a perfect wall lining up in front of you. C’mon, be honest. George Greenough, 70’s kneeboarding savant, even named his seminal surf movie about it. The Innermost Limits of Pure Joy. We’ll say two things about that. One, it was the first time anybody ever filmed surfing from inside the tube. And with a home made housing with a hand wound 16mm camera crammed inside it worn on his back and weighing 30 kilos. Think about that the next time you have a weightless Go Pro clenched in your teeth. Don’t worry, we don’t expec...

The question is can we keep it up? The answer is yes, as long as, like a satellite in outer space, we can keep our orbit from decaying. Our orbit being the entire biomass system of tourists and waves that keep the island of Bali’s heart beating. Right now the best we can do is deal with it. But dealing with something means having it in hand. Which we barely do. What happens when we lose our grip? One need only look at the shortcut in Canggu to see what kind of inhuman chaos ensues. The answer? For everyone on earth to be thoughtful. Which millions of years on earth has proven impossible. It’s just not in our survival mode. So what’s next? Circle the wagons, I guess. Take our surfing world, observe our orbit’s momentum and health and keep it in hand. And we have such a wonderful orbit happening. But now, with the steamrolling effect of greed tourism and irresponsible development sounding like a death knell, it’s time to look at Bali’s surfing healthspan rather than its lifespan. Th...

Caught inside indeed. One look at this photo, the contents caught inside the stomach of our local sea turtles, and Surftime realizes that our work is not done. Not by a long shot. Sure, our magazine is here to cheer things up, to promote Indonesian surfing, to expound on the paradise that is our surfing lives here in Indonesia. But we also must never shirk our responsibility to remind one and all that paradise comes at a price. A price that we are not paying. We are stealing from the ocean. We realize how tiresome it is to be scolded about the environment and what we must do to keep it healthy. We realize this. But just look at this photo again. Take a good long look. Would you want that in your stomach? In your children’s stomachs? We surfers take so much pleasure from the ocean yet we do so little to protect it. And we, us surfers, are the front line. And yet we are so useless, letting the enemy pass through our ranks without a fight. But remember, the whole concept of us saving ...

Sea Dreams. We all have them. And we are bringing some more to you in this new issue of Surftime Magazine. Consider the photo on the right. Can you see it? Really see it? The dreams that are scrawled on that dream machine? A child’s sea dreams for all the world to see. A homegrown machine hewn out of the scraps of a snapped board washed up on the beach. The homegrown logos, scrawled with such passion, misspellings and reversals and all. A physical manifestation of passion and desire. The passion for surfing and the desire to belong to the tribe. If this surfer couldn’t get his hands on a real dream board, then let the surf Gods be damned, he would make it himself. The real stuff of sea dreams in a single image. We have a lot of other images of dreams for you too. Take the cover with Tai Graham, once again in the center of perfection at some remote secret spot of his. As always making his sea dreams come true. And even more so as we let him pick the color scheme for the cover itself...

A difference of night and day. One moment Bali is a ghost town, the next the tourists are back. Its happened before and it will happen again. It’s almost a rhythm here. Bali has never had a problem surviving cataclysms. The Dutch, World Wars, bombings, pandemics, environmental disasters, Volcanic eruptions. Being a nice place doesn’t mean it’s not tough. Or clever. Or an expert survivor. And The Surftime Journal is damned proud to count itself within this Indonesian toughness. We survived, just like the island did, just like you did, and with this, the second issue of our comeback year, we have created one of the best issues in our history. And it’s filled with plenty of tough characters. Our lead feature is a strong look at our future through the recent performances of our next generation. A generation that is taking competitive surfing more seriously than ever before. We all have Rio Waida to thank for that, proving that with a tough approach, we can do it. We also visit the Me...

It’s a new world. A new Surftime. A new name. A new look. After enduring the forced pandemic hibernation, like so many others, we have survived. And it feels so good to be back. To continue to offer the Indonesian outlook on surfing, the authentic version, instead of having to read about our world in foreign magazines from foreign points of view. And what a joy it is to be welcomed back so enthusiastically by a community that still appreciates the feel of an actual print magazine in their hands. With big, colorful photos from the best photographers in the world and compelling features that you can actually hold in your hand and read, not just scan. Mind expanding stuff, not the mind numbing stuff you scroll through. You will find full, complete thoughts in this magazine, complete expressions, essays, profiles, portfolios, meaningful captions and editorials from experts on surfing. Surfers with complete, full mind expression. Not just silly comments on some postage stamp electron...

It never stops. It never changes. It barely even evolves. The North Shore would be an interesting study for any professor of sociological transformation. Since 1938 the crucible of tough love for the surfing universe. A place that still smelts raw talent, alloys it and pours into the form of memorable surfing reputations. Bomb into Teahupoo all you want, but until you become a player on the North Shore, you may be remembered as a good surfer, but never a great one. And so in this, our 124th issue we are celebrating the new decade with a sumptuous feast of North Shore energy. Thanks to our team of photographers that were beachside and in the water, we open this issue with a 12 page spread of the finest North Shore photography you will see this year. Or for any year for that matter. Because we believe this is the among the best photography to come out of the North Shore season in our sport’s history. Thanks to Pete Frieden, Liquid Barrel and Damea Dorsey, who toiled away on the b...

With the winter season full upon us, with the monsoon rains and moody, bruised skies, it’s natural that our thoughts become more introspective. Surfers are as connected to the earth as cats. And the weather, aside from being the most important thing in a surfer’s life, is also a barometer of our emotions. And so in this issue we decided to embrace this moody introspection with a series of features that offer a distinctive temperament. An examination of our moments. We kick off by examining the meaning of our relationship with perfect surf. And staff photographer Liquid Barrel’s photos of this far off reef that illustrate these journey’s will blow your mind. Pay attention to the captions, they hold a strong message too. We went with some tech moments in this issue as well. Photographer Nicolas Antipoff showed up with a new gadget that just might turn your phone into a professional surfing photography rig. His shots of the pro’s, all of them shot with his phone, prove his point. We ...

Remember yourself at 20 years old? Or if you are not there yet, can you imagine yourself at that age? Either way its a long, long time. And in our 20th year of publication the 16th Annual Surftime Awards are still going strong. The best ever this year, at a place we have always belonged. Finally, we are back at Single fin, Uluwatu, within reach of the crashing waves below a glowing moon. Hell yes. A chance to honor the best among us both in the water and out. Special recognition was given this year to the people who make up our surf industry here in Indonesia. Think about it. Without all the stuff from the advertisers that you see in these pages, we wouldn’t be surfers at all. No boards, no wax, no cool clothes, groovy sunglasses, all the elements that mark us as a unique tribe of people on earth. As surfers themselves, these industry insiders provide the spiritual side of our clothes and equipment. Without these people who provide the look and all the equipment we love, we might h...

We have lost our hearts to the Ocean. But what better place to have lost them to? And that is what this issue is about. Place. Our place. A sense of place. A love of place. Because a world without love is a deadly place. Like all our Surftime Magazine’s, there is alot of love and places in this issue. Like the love most have for the Rip Curl Cup at Padang Padang. More than just a contest, a statement on just how great our waves are and how great our surfers are. Jersey or no, to see Made Winada Adi Putra roll into a hill in the ocean and stand completely at ease while a flawless tropical wave folds itself around him, well…whether our other locals won the contest or not, the most beautiful sight at Padang Padang will always be a Balinese surfer’s unique style in concert with our crown jewel of a wave. We also take a journey with Josh Symon’s first installment of his labor of love called ISLAND IN BETWEEN. A film and stills project whose heart is in exactly the right place. The con...

In a world where plastic bags are found in the deepest place in the ocean and where ocean levels are rising unchecked, it is good to know that there is only one difference between surfing and statistical environmental science. In the science of it the universe is in control. In surfing, you are. Because Science may provide an understanding of the universal experience, but it is our surfing that provides a universal understanding of our personal experience. Which is why, after 20 stoked years of publishing this magazine, we are even more stoked to tell you that all our environmental efforts are beginning to take hold. Because of surfing. And you. And the fact that we are in control of our oceans. From no straws at restos to no plastic bags at the quickie marts to upriver education and cleaner beaches, the revolution has begun. And the good news is that the next generation is going to run it into the end zone. So our foremost message is one of thanks and a word of encouragement to k...

We are only great when we act with great passion. Especially when it can overcome a very wet monsoon season. These past few months have demanded a passion from all of us. A passion for waves, a passion for the environment, a passion for each other. Only a few windows of opportunity presented themselves. You had to be on or miss it. You could see it in the surfing, led by a re-energized Garut Widarta, who has been surfing better than he ever has. Surftime sat with him recently and asked what it was that had fueled his new passion. He replied simply, “Fatherhood”. We are also proud to feature on our cover the great Made Winada Adi Putra. Although on the verge of being a tribal elder in his mid-thirties, he is still making cover worthy moves with no signs of slowing down.The kids are actually having a hard time keeping up. You will see it all in our lead feature called “Monsoon Dreams”. Veterans and rookies alike, ripping our waves apart with passion. Because passion is the oxygen of th...

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag There is much to the theory as to why Balinese surfers in particular don’t really travel much. And have never made a splash on the international scene. Excepting, of course, Rizal Tandjung’s Pipeline miracle. But then that was 24 years ago. Sure there are the visa hassles, but alot of people have those. No, it’s more about comfort. Balinese surfers live in the best surf in the world. They also own it. They are also close to family and wealth and friends and culture and the food they love. Why leave paradise? Let’s face it, there’s a reason 6 million tourists come here. Still, the wonder of travel is there for anyone who gets restless. And that is what this issue is all about. Inspiration to get out there and see all of it. It’s always better to see something once than hear about it a thousand times. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. So in this issue, we bring you daring adventures from three corners ...