Surftime Magazine

Photography by Pete Frieden • Words by Michael Ciaramella What was the moment in your 2025 championship year where you felt the most doubt? Yago : I think it was at Pipe at the beginning of the year. I had all the preparation. I was feeling ready. And then going into that event, which is one I really like, I love surfing Pipe, the waves were terrible for my first few rounds and I ended up losing in the elimination round. It’s just tough to start like that after preparing so well and feeling so ready to start the season. It was bad, but I think it also set me up for the rest of the year in a weird way. What was the moment where you thought, “This is my year to become the best in the world”? Yago : I felt like that before the year even started. But during this season, I think it was after the Portugal win. I didn’t start the season that well in the past, but I’d have some really big results in the back half of the season. But to start the season with the win and a couple othe...

Photography by Pete Frieden World Champion Bronson Meidy is not listening. Not to anyone. Anyone that tells him what is possible and what is not. He is not quietly defining what is possible, he is screaming what is possible every time he paddles out. Has he turned the wipe-out into a maneuver? With his whiplash turns that start out unlikely, then progress to the misunderstood and then finish with the insane? Is it about not ever giving up on the maneuver, or is it about not giving up on oneself? Small wave performance is a vital to today’s surfing scene as any big wave antics. The greats are tuberiding as deep as it can go. So what is the new frontier? Limitless surfing in smaller waves? Remember, it’s the small wave maneuvers that find themselves eventually into the big stuff. Is what Bronson is doing at lightning speed going to find itself on the face of heavy water in the future? It feels inevitable. And what can be said is that Bronson is on to something here. He...

As told by Tai Buddha Graham • Photography by Harve There’s a particular kind of freedom that only comes from loading up a boat with a pile of boards, a few of your closest mates, and a loose plan built around tides, wind lines, and gut instinct. You step onboard, switch the world off (or try too), look at the horizon, and feel that little spark flick on inside your chest again. This trip was that spark, turned into a fire. THE IDEA WAS SIMPLE Take a hand-selected crew of friends who each know waves and equipment inside-out, take thirty-odd JS surfboards, jump aboard the infamous MV Bintang, and point the bow toward the Mentawai. Not to film a clip. Not to tick off a bucket list. But to ask a single question: What is the ultimate quiver for the Ments? SETTING SAIL The Bintang vessel is a beast. A big monohull sailing sloop with soul, history and enough character to fill a book. When she’s loaded with boards and pointing west, you can feel a sense of score certainty. Day one ...

Photography by Manu Miguelez and Pete Frieden Words by Matt George So far their lives have not been measured by clocks, but by the tides. Our free range youth of the Indonesian surf culture. But the thing is kids think they know better. And they don’t. Think they are in control. And they’re not. And they think they have all the time in the world. And they don’t. In reality, time has them. And the clock is ticking. And if they do not use the brief power of youth wisely, that ticking becomes the sound of a time bomb. It is one of the premiere issues of the free range children conundrum of the surfing scene in Bali. With perfect surf year round, rides to the beach from single mom’s since birth, new boards on tap, club contests every weekend, vague parental supervision and no real thought toward any formal education, paradise becomes a paradox. A situation that appears self-contradictory but may hold a deeper truth. The truth of what reality awaits these young surfers when they...

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...

Photography by Pyzel Archives Jon Pyzel’s pedigree runs much deeper than just being the shaper for the best surfer on the planet. You gotta go back a bit. As a teen surfer kid in Santa Barbara, Jon Pyzel was close witness to the birth of the 80’s Tommy Curren era and Al Merrick’s subsequent global design dominance. A powerful influence that caused Jon to pivot his dreams from a pro surfing career to an underground shaping career. At first mentored by shaper Matt Moore of the famed Rincon Designs surf shop (that was within sight of California’s best point break), Jon upped stakes when he moved to the North Shore in 1992. It was there, now mentored by maestro shaper Jeff Bushman and possessing a keen interest in modernizing the Hawaiian designs that came before his time, that Jon Pyzel developed a reputation as a shaper for the future. As it happened, John John Florence and his family lived right next door. A lifelong friendship with the Florence family grew and soon Jon Pyzel was ...

It’s a rare move within the surfing industry when a sponsor sets out to make a high quality, dramatic short film about one of their team riders. And not just a clip of his latest action in the water, but a very personal profile of what makes a certain surfer click. His very personal story, his motivations, his inner thoughts. But that is exactly what Nusa Cana, Indonesia’s leading rum company, set out to do with Pertama, the Rio Waida movie. Sparing no expense, Nusa Cana, who are also “bringing back the forgotten story of Indonesian rum”, wanted to highlight the rise of Rio Waida as a metaphor for their own company’s rise within its industry. And provide a re-invigorated passion for the beauty of Indonesia and its surfers. And indeed, something very special happened. Shooting between Australia, Bali and Abu Dhabi with four RED cameras and the best shooters behind the lenses, not only is the footage of this film remarkable, but a strong sense of purpose comes through. Never do...