(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

Playa Grande and it's view, right out of a Wade Koniakowski painting.

into a flow of the place the nightly walk to Voy Voy, a local bar, became the thing to do. The motley crew of people in our group came from far and near. Me being the nearest while others came from Belgium, Germany, the UK, Canada, Finland, Norway and California. The stories from all these people kept everyone entertained with African adventures, Indian Ocean surf odysseys, South American motorcycle meltdowns, American drug runs to global surf treks.

Before I did this trip I found a picture of a wave somewhere nearby Playa Grande and I was eager to surf it, hopefully. Seeing I wasn't renting a car for my stay I was going with the flow. The day came when Antonio announced he'd drive our group to what

was to be one of the most beautiful locations I've ever seen in the Caribbean. I was stoked as the swell was good sized and at a good period. James Carden, from the Isle of Jersey, became my surf bud on this trip. James, a lifelong surfer, local surf contest organizer back on the Isle of Jersey and global surf tripper was keen to revisit the waves at Playa Grande. The week before he told me him and another group drove out to find the waves blown out. Then on the way back sitting in the back of the surf truck were pelted with rain for one hour. When we arrived this time to Playa Grande the waves had some wind but nothing of concern and the skies where void of rain producing clouds. We surfed our brains out. My first wave was a double overhead, a bit more sloppy, >

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