(02/04) PUNT OF THE YEAR: JANUARY FINALISTS
Vote to help choose this month's winner

(02/03) READING FOR SURFERS
Slater, Gudauskas, Lopez and more share what's on their bookshelves

(02/02) THE REAL HAWAII
Back-to-back XXL swells ignite Jaws, Waimea, Pipeline

(02/01) JOHN JOHN FLORENCE WINS VOLCOM PIPE PRO
Pipeline local repeats over JOB with final second heroics

(02/01) GOOD-EPIC: PIPELINE
Flawless Pipeline during the Volcom Pipe Pro

(01/31) GEAR REVIEW: HIGH-TECH BACKYARD SHAPING PROJECT
Part III: The finished product and the test drive of our DIY surfboard

(01/31) VOLCOM PIPE PRO: DAY THREE
Giant Pipeline serves up perfect 10s -- and brutal beatings

(01/30) MIDWINTER UPDATE
January ends with a couple bangs and great conditions in California -- with more on the way

(01/30) SHANE DORIAN'S KEIKI CLASSIC
Local groms strut their stuff at the Big Island's feel-good event of the year

(01/29) VOLCOM PIPE PRO: DAY TWO
Moments of perfection highlight Round Two shakedown at the Banzai

Unknown navigating around the Playa Encuentro reefs fast sections.

scenery and lifestyle photo day. The size of the waves ranged from chest to couple feet over head almost everyday. When the North Swell arrived things looked up. Barrels everywhere. One guy came in with a five stringer gunnish longboard snapped in half. Yeah it was a rush. I picked off a couple on my 9-0. Surfed it hard got some fun off the tops and what not. Was stoked to do so as I'm usually sliding causally on my big boy single fin back home in Florida. The walls were abundant as the swell rose up causing the waves to close out more. After a while there were only certain waves letting people in. I set up for a fast tapering shoulder on a double overhead drop hoping to be set up on a good line before the wave hit the reef.

As I dropped, the wave went sub surface and the radical change of the curve in the wave face caused me to have a clean pearl. If pearls are ever clean. I looked up towards the massive wall transforming into a pitching lip then gapping barrel. The gapping tunnel looked incredibly beautiful as the light blue faded into a darker edge highlighted by white and shimmering light. When the split second of appreciation was over I knew a spin in the washing machine was inevitable. As I kicked off the reef I realized how much juice these guys had. Pushing my big body down some ten to fifteen feet is some power.

The water clarity. What?! Can't beat it. On the calmer days it's like sitting in an aquarium. On the windy days it's murky. >

What makes a good surf trip? Finding euphoria or something like it in the Dominican Republic