Big wave surfing is a discipline within surfing in which experienced surfers paddle into, or are towed into, waves which are at least 20 feet high, on surf boards known as "guns" or towboards. Sizes of the board needed to successfully surf these waves vary by the size of the wave as well as the technique the surfer uses to reach the wave. A larger, longer board allows a rider to paddle fast enough to catch the wave and has the advantage of being more stable, but it also limits maneuverability and surfing speed.
The Banzai Pipeline, or simply Pipeline or Pipe, is a surf reef break located in Hawaii, off Ehukai Beach Park in Pupukea on O'ahu's North Shore. A reef break is an area in the ocean where waves start to break once they reach the shallows of a reef. Pipeline is known for huge waves that break in shallow water just above a sharp and cavernous reef, forming large, hollow, thick curls of water that surfers can tube ride. There are three reefs at Pipeline in progressively deeper water farther out to sea that activate according to the increasing size of approaching ocean swells.
Patrick Shane Dorian, or "Shane", is an American surfer from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. He spent 11 years touring on the World Championship Tour as a professional surfer. Dorian quit competition surfing in 2003 to focus on big waves. He is currently a big wave surfer and one of the best in the world at big wave riding.
Peʻahi is a place on the north shore of the island of Maui in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It has lent its name to a big wave surfing break, also known as Jaws.
LeRoy "Granny" Grannis was a veteran photographer. His portfolio of photography of surfing and related sea images from the 1960s enjoys a reputation that led The New York Times to dub him "the godfather of surfphotography." He was born in Hermosa Beach, California.
Bryan Robert Niven is an American artist and photographer, known for his surrealistic and color-saturated images displaying families and individuals in a caricaturistic style. Niven is also known in the surf industry, and on social media, for his unique and extreme bodysurfing images, and videos. Niven currently resides in Pismo Beach, California with his wife and three children.
Peter Mel, is an American professional surfer. Mel began his surfing life in Capitola, California before moving on to Santa Cruz. He is known as a 'big wave' surfer and son of John Mel, a four time surfing National Champion.
Red Bull Illume is the world's largest adventure and action sports photography contest. Its aim is to showcase the most creative and captivating images from the adventure and action sports world, and celebrate the photographers working behind the lens. It's open to amateur and professional photographers alike, takes place every two years and features images and video submissions that showcase adventure sports such as surfing, kayaking, mountain biking, rock climbing and street sports like bmx, skate and parkour. After the winners are selected, the 50 top images are exhibited on two meter by two meter lightboxes in both outdoor and indoor exhibitions around the globe.
Greg Long is an American surfer from San Clemente, California. He has won the Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational, in memory of Eddie Aikau at Waimea Bay, the Red Bull Titans of Mavericks event held at Mavericks in Northern California, and the Red Bull Big Wave Africa event held at Dungeons in Hout Bay, South Africa. Additionally, he is the most decorated surfer in the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards. He is widely regarded as one of the best big wave surfers in the world.
Carissa Kainani Moore is a Hawaiian and American surfer. She was the first-ever winner of the Olympic gold medal in women's shortboard surfing at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is also a five-time world champion, winning in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2021 on the World Surf League WSL Women's World Tour. Moore was the first surfer in history to win a WSL world title and the Olympic title in the same year.
Surfline is a company and website based in Huntington Beach, California that specializes in surf forecasting and surf reports, live webcasting, photography, videography, as well as editorial coverage of the sport of surfing. Surfline.com is now ranked 1,180 in the US and 5,784 in the world in terms of popularity compared to other websites and is now the largest provider of streaming HD coastal cams. Since 2003 it has taken on buoyweather.com and fishtrack.com (2012), on average the family of websites receives 175,000 visitors per day. The site includes streaming video, surf reports and forecasts. Surfline.com offers over 500 streaming cameras at 150 surf breaks, and is one of the larger surf cam websites. Surfline currently has approximately 50 employees.
Sean Robb Collins was the American founder of Surfline and a noted figure in the areas of surfing and surf forecasting.
Elephant Surf is a surf company based in San Diego, California, and is the leading innovator of compression shorts for surfing. The company was founded in 2010, and specializes in lower body rash guards and compression shorts to wear under boardshorts.
Chris Christenson is an American surfboard shaper, craftsman, and outdoor enthusiast.
Zakary Noyle is a professional surf and wave photographer living on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, best known for his large wave photographs.
Sonny Miller was an American cinematographer and waterman specializing in surfing and nature photography. He achieved success filming surfing related dramas, In God's Hands (1998). Riding Giants (2004), The Big Bounce (2004), Lords of Dogtown (2005), Blue Crush (2002) and Die Another Day. Miller experienced a heart attack and could not be revived just one week after the death of his mother, Suzanne Gilliland. Married to Debra Levinson (1999-2009)
Adventure Parc Snowdonia, formerly Surf Snowdonia was an adventure park and tourist attraction, incorporating an artificial wave pool, at Dolgarrog in the Conwy valley, north Wales, owned by Conwy Adventure Leisure Ltd. It was the world's first commercial artificial surfing lake. The site cost a total of £12 million and opened in August 2015. The park closed in September 2023 following mechanical failures in 2022, which led to the waves being turned off, and searches for financial investment.
Aaron Chang is an American photographer specialized in surfing and ocean photography. He spent 25 years as a senior photographer at Surfing Magazine; he was an early photographer to practice the act of shooting waves with a wide angle lens from the water.
Ithaka Darin Pappas, known professionally as Ithaka, is an American-born multidisciplinary artist of Greek ancestry who creates using music, writing, sculpture and photography. He has authored a collection of short stories, entitled Ravenshark Chronicles published in international magazines and periodicals, which have sometimes been the basis for his travel-oriented lyrical content. In a 2005 article for the magazine Waves, journalist Ricardo Macario described Ithaka as "The Miscellaneous Man". In a 2008 review of Ithaka's sixth album Saltwater Nomad, the online surf-culture platform Surfline stated that "the artist effortlessly traverses at ease between all of his choses mediums of expression [music, sculpture, writing and photography]", and that "his life's journey is a soulful balancing act somewhere between the worlds of euphoric creation and aquatic diversion."
