On the cover: Mason Ho, mid-expectoration at Backdoor.

Viewpoints inside the magazine include the mindset of a big-wave bodysurfer, North Shore snaps by a skateboard icon, a chase for birds and swell in Southern Europe, the arrested development of a 1970s surfing playboy, the purist standards of a big-board surfer and shaper, impressionistic brushstrokes, and organics ringed by hyper development.

On the cover: The mirage-like Palmetto Point, in all its “everything aligns” glory. With access and, potentially, natural sediment distributions at risk due to big-moneyed interests, Barbuda’s already ephemeral wave could become nonexistent, wiped out in place of vacation estates and tee boxes. It’s the rare cause worthy of spot exposure in the name of preservation.

On the cover: Simon Murdoch, making every use of his residential knowledge and hanging on by the tip of his single-fin against the sundowner winds, somewhere in the 805.

Other drop-ins include the peer study of a shaper’s half century in the game, the surf holdings of an island in the Bering Sea, and channel bottom masters showing proof of work. Cultural check-ins include the contemporary surf scene of a once-romanticized Mexican beach town, an in-depth look at a Southern California landscape in 1950, a folk-rockstar’s Atlantic-set island redoubt, and more.

On the cover: John John Florence at Rockpile, brushing up against what Hunter S. Thompson called “The Edge,” conjuring an ocean-based version of fanging it on a Vincent Black Shadow. Pistons and gears inside the issue include the arc of Dane Kealoha, Indonesian isolation amid a pandemic, the physics of tube riding with Mike Stewart, and toolbox analysis with master shapers.

On the cover: New Yorker Balaram Stack is well acquainted with tunnels. From the complexities of his hometown’s subway system to the depths of Mainland Mexico tubes, he knows the importance of choosing the right line. Threads inside the issue trace equally varied paths, including digital renderings of natural wave patterns, a window into the halcyon days of Aussie surf media, modern thrashing in Tasmanian waters, and other throughlines across the seascape.

On the cover: David Nuuhiwa shows the 22nd Street locals some barrel-strength beachboy style. 1964, Hermosa Beach. Photographer LeRoy Grannis’ back-of-print note reveals it was a Friday.

From the symbolic figures to the modern punters, the culture pillars to the remote outposts, the hero shots to the candid representations, TSJ 31.1 offers a perspective found nowhere else in surfing.

On the cover: Chippa Wilson double mugs it while, in the immortal words of The Beverly Hillbillies’ Jed Clampett, taking a dip in the “cement pond.”

Features inside the book offer cuts that span the gamut in craft, era, place, and perspective: A character study of pro surfing’s biggest cryptic. Two decades worth of under-the-radar lineups from across the globe. Slide slipping the masses in a wave riding boomtown. First-person narratives of big-wave surfing’s heaviest feats. A 1960s epoch-marking cartoonist. The figure behind South Africa’s establishment as a surfing powerhouse in the 70s. Modern captures of Waikiki rollers and Pipe lip throws from a shooter decidedly in the mix. Authentic surf, printed and bound.

On the cover: Nathan Fletcher takes a no-frills, only-pop-matters approach above the horizon line at Pipeline’s end.

Inside, you’ll explore the surprising wave resources of an overlooked Caribbean island, chase right-hand points up the East Coast of South Africa, and study once-thought-lost photographs of Sydney’s burgeoning 1960s surf scene. Trace the surfing germ of a French playboy and socialite, and be schooled on the contributions of a contemporary big-wave pioneer. And for those seeking wider-breadth of the topic, check the seascape paintings of a nineteenth-century Swede, and hang in the yard with a modern California surf-boat builder. It’s a range found nowhere else in surfing.

On the cover: Yes, it’s still out there. Kael Walsh finds just what he’s looking for—and finds it all by himself—at quite possibly the most crowded lineup on Earth: the Superbank.

Peel back the lid, and the issue offers full-breadth in the topic. Wider-culture points abound, from an investigation into the seminal artist who first sprayed paint on a surfboard to an overlooked but holding region in Brazil. Tracking the path of a 60s-era luminary and an examination of the title-holder at one of the world’s heaviest waves provide in-depth written portraiture. Where place is concerned, a memoir of an 80s Baja mag trip and a visual study of the seasons and peculiarities of coastal New England set immersive scenes.

On the cover: Kainehe Hunt finds room to stretch amid the backwash chaos on an otherwise picture-postcard afternoon in Hawaii.

The issue’s inner workings offer a far-and-wide trip in era, avenue, and geography: Smugglers laying down the original tracks at a famed Indonesian reef pass. The Southern California showdown between a sitting US President and a surf culture-maker. A written portrait of one of the world tour’s all-time leading proponents of surf progression. Modern exploration in a harsh, boom-or-bust European sea. High-action photography from one of the world’s most wave-rich regions. 30.3 is fully composed from end to end.

On the cover: Mid-morning light. A locked inside edge. Body English born of pure reaction. Some frames just embody the whole big thing. Sam Hawk, Off The Wall, 1975.

Page one is backed by a full tracking of the cover subject’s transformation from Huntington surf rat to Pipeline groundbreaker in the 1970s. Spot studies also abound, including the history of big-wave surfing at South Africa's Sunset Reef and the risk versus reward of surf tripping to a Mexican prison island. Find high-art lessons in an excerpt from celebrated author Paul Theroux’s new surf-centric novel and a page-by-page look at photographer Slim Aarons’ ocean-peripheral work. As to contemporary happenings, a visual roundup from a dozen of the game’s best photographers hits on global action points.

For the first issue in our 30th year of print, we lead off with an image as pure and irreproachable as the pursuit itself.

The inner workings of TSJ 30.1 are framed by culture checks: Tracing the early 1960s surf-exploitation film genre, the underappreciated role sanders play in the surfboard-building process, and the recounting of the fantasy and realities of finding a surfing Eden by the always worth-reading Bryan Di Salvatore. Chart-plot pointbreaks in West Africa, rain-dodge in the Pacific Northwest, and take stock of Portugal’s ascension as a major surf destination. The high-action water photography of Laserwolf and the intimate illustrations of artist AJ Dungo present disparate but equally personal representations of the life.