Stories - Patagonia New Zealand

A year after Hawai‘i's deadliest natural disaster, the historic town of Lāhainā continues its rebuilding efforts. Photo: Ryan ‘Chachi’ Craig

Lāhainā, One Year Later

Beau Flemister

Lāhainā, One Year Later

Beau Flemister

13 Min Read

Yakutat Surf Club member Jackson Wolfe stands up on his first glassy wave with surf mentor Kanaan Bausler. Yakutat, Alaska. Photo: Chelsea Jolly

Land of the Midnight Surf

Morgan Williamson

Inside Yakutat Surf Club’s budding stoke scene in Southeast Alaska.

Land of the Midnight Surf

Morgan Williamson

14 Min Read

The Money Motive

Gerry Lopez

Gerry Lopez recalls surfing O‘ahu’s Waimea Bay for the biggest contest purse ever offered (at the time), circa 1974.

The Money Motive

Gerry Lopez

6 Min Read

The range of the Southeastern Group of southern right whales extends from SA around to the NSW south coast, above. Photo Josh Burkinshaw

Mother Knows Best

Linley Hurrell

The fight to protect Koontapool Yakeen (Whale Dreaming)

Mother Knows Best

Linley Hurrell

8 Min Read

The oil and gas industry are aggressively expanding across Southern Sea Country. Photo Jarrah Lynch

Save Southern Sea Country

Ula Majewski

The ocean between Tasmania and Victoria, stretching west, is under threat from the offshore oil and gas industry. The communities dotted along those coasts are banding together to protect it.

Save Southern Sea Country

Ula Majewski

12 Min Read

The future is grom. Ho‘okipa Beach Park, Maui, Hawai‘i.

Not Just Good Surfers, Good People

Cash Lambert

There’s more to life than three-to-the-beach, surf contest results and a clean cutback.

Not Just Good Surfers, Good People

Cash Lambert

6 Min Read

Self-Isolation, Learned from a Life at Sea

Liz Clark

Captain Liz Clark’s been self-isolating aboard her sailboat Swell since 2005; here she provides her experiences and insight for navigating isolation during a pandemic.

Self-Isolation, Learned from a Life at Sea

Liz Clark

5 Min Read

Patagonia Surf Ambassador Otto Flores walks through a palm forest post-surf on Puerto Rico’s north coast. Photo: Jeremy Koreski

Puerto Rico No Se Vende

Gabriela Aoun

Five years after Hurricane Maria, coastal land in Puerto Rico is being sold and developed at a dizzying pace. Puerto Ricans are taking the conservation fight into their own hands.

Puerto Rico No Se Vende

Gabriela Aoun

8 Min Read

Marc Chavez, left, and Reg Macarro, right, about to paddle out at a reeling left pointbreak somewhere in Michoacán, Mexico.

Point Break Medicine

Todd Prodanovich

An exchange of waves and Indigenous cultural practices on the Pacific coast of Mexico.

Point Break Medicine

Todd Prodanovich

9 Min Read

The magic of bodysurfing is that there is no system—nothing that needs to work. Photo: Jason Phillips

Pointless Beauty: The Art of Bodysurfing

Rory Parker

Where worthless and priceless collide.

Pointless Beauty: The Art of Bodysurfing

Rory Parker

4 Min

How a Storm Can Change Your Life: Maria

Otto Flores

Has it come to the point that to save humanity we must first save the planet?

How a Storm Can Change Your Life: Maria

Otto Flores

7 Min Read

Author Lauren L. Hill and her growing son Minnow enjoy a moment not to be taken for granted. Photo: Ted Grambeau

Emergent Seas

Lauren Hill

Exploring motherhood and meaningful play.

Emergent Seas

Lauren Hill

10 min Read

Now It’s Gas

Wayne Lynch

Wayne Lynch has seen his beloved Otways plundered over the years. The desecration of treasured stretch of Australian coast continues today.

Now It’s Gas

Wayne Lynch

3 min Read

Rising Tides

It’s time for surfers to read the forecast on climate change and do something about it.

Rising Tides

7 min Read

Makin' it on Your Own

Heath Joske has spent the past six years revitalising his family property on South Australia’s arid Eyre Peninsula with a few hard lessons and a lot of hard work.

Makin' it on Your Own

10 min Read

The Real Hidden Gems of the West Coast

Richard Flanagan

Big Mineral Mining is tearing up the coastline and restricting access to some of South Africa’s most pristine beaches and waves—and it’s getting way out of hand.

The Real Hidden Gems of the West Coast

Richard Flanagan

7 Min Read

A Conversation with Surfboard Designer Fletcher Chouinard

At Fletcher Chouinard Designs, the focus is on durable, high-performing equipment that lets you have fun no matter what the ocean is doing.

A Conversation with Surfboard Designer Fletcher Chouinard

#N/A

The Big-Wave Safety Paradox

Are the recent advancements in safety equipment and protocols making big-wave lineups more dangerous?

The Big-Wave Safety Paradox

10 Min Read

Anchoring for Change

How Liz Clark’s Tahitian residency opened a new chapter in her activist work.

Anchoring for Change

5 Min Read

Listen to 'Watershed Chats' w/ Belinda Baggs

The iconic waterwoman reflects on taking action on what she sees as the greatest threat to her son's health and wellbeing: climate change.

Listen to 'Watershed Chats' w/ Belinda Baggs

10 Min Read

One of the many secrets to enjoying yourself in sloppy surf is finding out whether the waves have room for two. Pacifica, California.

The Joy of Junky Windslop

Daniel Duane

Tapping into the beginner’s mind while teaching his daughter to surf.

The Joy of Junky Windslop

Daniel Duane

9 Min Read

The Ghost Trees of Santa Isabel

Out on the fringes of the Western Pacific, the seas encroach.

The Ghost Trees of Santa Isabel

10 Min Read

Island Time

Dave Rastovich sets out to articulate the indescribable, immersed in one of the country's most hallowed surf spots, but with a barrage of threats on the horizon.

Island Time

11 Min Read

The Return of a Surf Classic

Co-author Kim McCoy recounts discovering the mystery of what lies beneath the waves, where ocean and land meet and compete.

The Return of a Surf Classic

10 Min Read

Biirrinba is Life

Childhood friends, Hayley Talbot and Dan Ross, are determined to save a mighty river.

Biirrinba is Life

6 Min Read

Carving Space for More Black Surfers

Building positivity, inspiration and purpose out of a racist encounter in Los Angeles.

Carving Space for More Black Surfers

6 Min Read

The Slab Hunter: Ben Wilkinson Woodwork

It didn’t take long for Ben Wilkinson to figure out that there was freedom to be had in working for himself—and that freedom was the first requirement if he wanted to go surfing whenever the waves got huge. “I left home when I was 16,” he remembers,…

The Slab Hunter: Ben Wilkinson Woodwork

10 Min Read

A New Surf Culture

This Great Lakes surfer never felt represented in the surf scene, so she created a new surf culture of her own.

A New Surf Culture

5 Min Read

On Letting Go

Ramón Navarro and Kohl Christensen bring Léa Brassy into the jaws of a Chilean monster.

On Letting Go

10 Min Read

Garbage Bins for the Ocean

Seasoned waterman, master woodworker and Patagonia Surf Ambassador Ben Wilkinson channels his skills toward a new environmental calling.

Garbage Bins for the Ocean

6 Min Read

Cooked with Gas

Australia is going down a dead end with its “gas-led recovery”.

Cooked with Gas

6 Min Read

Kimi Werner, Léa Brassy and Liz Clark: Sea Sisters

11 Min Read

United to Save Yaroomba

Former local Belinda Bags links up with surfers and campaigners looking to halt a high-rise development and protect endangered turtle hatching grounds.

United to Save Yaroomba

10 Min Read

The Never Town Grassroots Tour

Good news can be hard to find. It shouldn’t be, but it is. Good people doing good work can also be hard to hear about. They are often too busy doing the work to be out beating their chests about it and demanding attention. There are a lot of uplifting stories and inspiring...

The Never Town Grassroots Tour

10 Min Read

Unconscious and Offshore

Surfers Jay ‘Bottle’ Thompson and Dan Ross look back on a heavy day off the Australia's east coast, where quick-thinking and ocean skills made the difference.

Unconscious and Offshore

10 Min Read

'Watershed Chats' with the Karioi Project

Kristel Van Houte is a surfer and marine ecologist based in the coastal town of Raglan, on the north island of New Zealand. She started the Karioi Project just over 10 years ago.

'Watershed Chats' with the Karioi Project

10 min Read

The Eddie Must Go (On)

Clyde Aikau on why the most culturally significant big-wave event in surfing will always matter.

The Eddie Must Go (On)

10 Min Read

Not Your Average Surf Comp

Welcome to Ian Walsh’s Menehune Mayhem.

Not Your Average Surf Comp

10 Min Read

Fish Out of Water

Two hours from the coast we’re fish out of water in Canberra, but this battle has reached a critical point.

Fish Out of Water

6 Min Read

Net Positive

How discarded plastic fishing nets found their way into our hat brims.

Net Positive

10 Min Read

Dead Friends and Ocean Risk Management

Kohl Christensen discusses how BWRAG came to be and his recent near-death experience courtesy of Pipeline's reef.

Dead Friends and Ocean Risk Management

6 Min Read

Biirrinba Carries Life

The Clarence River flows through the hearts of all those who live along its banks. One afternoon, after a long hiatus of contact, help was humbly sought and lovingly given.

Biirrinba Carries Life

6 Min Read

Lessons in Activism from the Bight

The Fight for the Bight had a clear win over Equinor. It’s vital that we steer clear of complacency and devote extra effort to looking at why we won?

Lessons in Activism from the Bight

10 Min Read

Watershed Chats' with Dave Rastovich + Lauren Hill

Exploring everyday Earth repair with freesurfer Heath Joske. Between riding some of Australia’s most revered and underground waves and raising a young family, Heath is employing the principles of regenerative organic agriculture to bring balance back to his local, coastal ecology.

Watershed Chats' with Dave Rastovich + Lauren Hill

10 Min Read

Framed

An exploration of Ireland's waves of consequence. Fifteen years ago, Patch Wilson began traveling to Ireland from his native Cornwall to catch incoming swells.

Framed

6 Min Read

Keeping a safe distance, Yusei Ikariyama and Kohl Christensen gaze down the gullet of a hungry, typhoon-generated slab. Photo: Hisayuki Tsuchiya.

The Unridden

Kosuke Fujikura

If you don’t get what you came for, be sure to enjoy the ride.

The Unridden

Kosuke Fujikura

4 Min Read

Watershed Chats' with Dave Rastovich + Lauren Hill

The second episode in the new podcast series, journalist and author Sean Doherty reflects on activating a coastal constituency around Australia.

Watershed Chats' with Dave Rastovich + Lauren Hill

10 Min Read

Outdated Children': A Review

Filmmaker Mick Waters packed up his young family for a road trip around Australia’s sparse southern coasts. He encountered all sorts of interesting critters… some of whom surfed.

Outdated Children': A Review

10 Min Read

Bunna Lawrie: The Bight Goes On Forever

Mirning elder and whalesong man, Uncle Bunna became a totem figure in the campaign to save the Great Australian Bight.

Bunna Lawrie: The Bight Goes On Forever

6 Min Read

Los Plástico': a Short Film

Five hundred miles off the Chilean coast, there’s a small island that carries the name of a famous castaway.

Los Plástico': a Short Film

10 Minutes

Patagonia NZ

Lāhainā, One Year Later

Lāhainā, One Year Later

Land of the Midnight Surf

Land of the Midnight Surf

The Money Motive

The Money Motive

Mother Knows Best

Mother Knows Best

Save Southern Sea Country

Save Southern Sea Country

Not Just Good Surfers, Good People

Not Just Good Surfers, Good People

Self-Isolation, Learned from a Life at Sea

Self-Isolation, Learned from a Life at Sea

Puerto Rico No Se Vende

Puerto Rico No Se Vende

Point Break Medicine

Point Break Medicine

Pointless Beauty: The Art of Bodysurfing

Pointless Beauty: The Art of Bodysurfing

How a Storm Can Change Your Life: Maria

How a Storm Can Change Your Life: Maria

Emergent Seas

Emergent Seas

Now It’s Gas

Now It’s Gas

Rising Tides

Rising Tides

Makin' it on Your Own

Makin' it on Your Own

The Real Hidden Gems of the West Coast

The Real Hidden Gems of the West Coast

A Conversation with Surfboard Designer Fletcher Chouinard

A Conversation with Surfboard Designer Fletcher Chouinard

The Big-Wave Safety Paradox

The Big-Wave Safety Paradox

Anchoring for Change

Anchoring for Change

Listen to 'Watershed Chats' w/ Belinda Baggs

Listen to 'Watershed Chats' w/ Belinda Baggs

The Joy of Junky Windslop

The Joy of Junky Windslop

The Ghost Trees of Santa Isabel

The Ghost Trees of Santa Isabel

Island Time

Island Time

The Return of a Surf Classic

The Return of a Surf Classic

Biirrinba is Life

Biirrinba is Life

Carving Space for More Black Surfers

Carving Space for More Black Surfers

The Slab Hunter: Ben Wilkinson Woodwork

The Slab Hunter: Ben Wilkinson Woodwork

A New Surf Culture

A New Surf Culture

On Letting Go

On Letting Go

Garbage Bins for the Ocean

Garbage Bins for the Ocean

Cooked with Gas

Cooked with Gas

Kimi Werner, Léa Brassy and Liz Clark: Sea Sisters

Kimi Werner, Léa Brassy and Liz Clark: Sea Sisters

United to Save Yaroomba

United to Save Yaroomba

The Never Town Grassroots Tour

The Never Town Grassroots Tour

Unconscious and Offshore

Unconscious and Offshore

'Watershed Chats' with the Karioi Project

'Watershed Chats' with the Karioi Project

The Eddie Must Go (On)

The Eddie Must Go (On)

Not Your Average Surf Comp

Not Your Average Surf Comp

Fish Out of Water

Fish Out of Water

Net Positive