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Press Release At Copa Bay, outside of Kingston, Jamaica, life moves to the syncopated rhythm of the ocean. Quiksilver rider Elishama “Shama” Beckford pulls up to his local break, vibing to one of the most powerful voices of our times. Here, Bob Marley and surfing are everywhere, part of the same pulse that shapes life on the island.

Last year, we declared our love for Outerknown’s latest range of gear. A year later, after a lot of wear and a lot of washing, our verdict hasn’t budged. They’re still our number one, and they still sit at the top of our surf brands page. Here’s why, and here’s the 2026 gear we’ve been living in to prove it. Our friends at Outerknown sent us a selection of their latest 2026 gear to try. The words and opinions here are all ours.

We put this guide together from our home base on New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty coast. Most people who read Surfd are planning a trip from a long way off, and Aotearoa sits high on a lot of surfers’ bucket lists, so we wanted to share the shops we would actually send a visiting mate to. This is not a scraped business directory. It is the coastal institutions, the small-town heroes, and the places where surfing still feels more like a way of life than an industry.

If you spend enough time driving New Zealand’s coastline, you start to notice something pretty quickly — surf shops aren’t just shops here. They’re meeting points, weather check-ins, repair stations, caffeine stops, and the place where half the local surf gossip gets exchanged before the tide even turns.

Press Release Refined essentials for life in and around the ocean, shaped by 11x World Champion Kelly Slater and brought to life in a new commercial directed by Taylor Steele. Built with responsible material – from NetPlus® recycled fishing nets to Regenerative Organic Certified® cotton.

I was searching for a board I could easily travel with — something lighter than my CJ Nelson Sprout longboard, yet versatile enough to catch small waves at mellow spots and handle more advanced conditions in tropical locations. I originally got the Mid Tide for a trip to Fiji, but unfortunately, the conditions weren’t great. So I brought it back to explore and test some of the New Zealand breaks — and I have to say, at 7’8”, it’s super easy to travel with, way easier than a longboard or log.

The French-Canadian artist merging surf culture, engineering, and contemporary design. Surf art is changing. Less figurative, less nostalgic — more about the feeling. The physics. The identity. In that shift stands Quebec artist Sylvain Boudreau, creator of SB Art Studio, whose reflective surf-inspired works redefine what “surf art” can be in a modern space. His pieces don’t show waves, beaches, or sunsets.

For years, we’ve been dedicated to delivering the world’s best surf gift guides, product roundups, and gear reviews — and in 2025, we’re keeping the tradition alive with our latest, most dialed-in Christmas guide yet. Now, as a lifelong surfer, I’ve been given plenty of gifts I’d never actually use. I’ve smiled, said thank you, and tucked them politely into the cupboard… where they’ve remained untouched ever since. And honestly? It’s not the giver’s fault.

Find online We took the Insta360 X4 to Fiji chasing surf and found ourselves swimming for hours each day above a living cathedral of coral. The light fell in soft columns, a reef shark slid by with unhurried calm, and a turtle drifted down to the sandy floor like a leaf at dusk. The X4 was with us for all of it, and it reminded us why 360 makes sense in the ocean: you don’t aim—you witness—and choose the story later.

Press Release The Quiksilver Festival 2025 drew to a close this weekend, with crowds flocking to the event, ready to cheer on 24 of the world’s best surfers under a beaming sun on the beach of Le Boiteux in Hossegor. On the compsite, Event Director Miky Picon announced the day would include not one, but two rounds to close the event. In the morning, the Best Combo theme carried on with riders expected to deliver as many maneuvers as possible on a single wave.