Beginning on March 28th Relik will begin accepting video clips from around the globe from which 16 surfers will be chosen as potential competitors. These lucky longboarders will then have their video clips posted online and voted on by the wider surf world, with the even luckier (and talented) top eight place-getters slotted into Round 1 of both the Malibu and Lowers events.

You read that right. Anyone who wants to can submit a clip. Anyone who wants to can vote on their favorite surfer. And that surfer is going to get a shot not only at competing for a slice of the Relik Tour’s record $200,000 purse (first-place prize money upped to $15,000 this year) but a chance to surf Malibu and Lowers with only three other surfers out. Which means that for the first time ever…it could be you.

And two of last season’s winners, Chad Marshall at Malibu and Lindsay Steinriede at Lowers, were both unseeded competitors who came up through an open qualifier round to eventually heft that hefty first-place check at the top of the podium. After surfing round after round of perfect, empty waves. A dream on top of a dream.

To submit your Open Qualifier video clip go to surfrelik.com for easy to follow submission guidelines. And do it now: entries close on April 14.

Allen Sarlo, Mr Wave Killer, takes host Brad Jacobson on a tour of Malibu.

More info at Mightyunderdogs.org.

Join THERAsurf on Saturday April 27th at 1st Point, Malibu to kick off 2019 the only way we know...some surfing, relaxing, and hanging with friends. Visit THERAsurf.org to sign up for an amazing surf day.

Check out this video from DurfReport

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A post shared by Patrick Lucas Durfsted (@durfreport) on Mar 10, 2019 at 10:48am PDT

On Tuesday, the Surfline cam got footage of this Ford F150 smashing into the guardrail near Neptune's Net.

The video above from KTLA says an eyewitness captured the footage (but he filmed the the Surfline cam's replay of it).

A pygmy sperm whale had to be euthanized after officials rescued the beached marine mammal in Malibu following multiple attempts by a group of good Samaritans to save its life on Friday morning.

It was unclear how long the whale had been stranded on Zuma Beach, but Sky5 first spotted the beached animal just before 8:15 a.m. near Tower 14.


Within minutes, a group of four women were frantically working to push the whale out to sea, aerial video showed.

Their efforts, however, were stymied by the high surf that was pounding the Southern California coastline on Friday, as each crashing wave brought the animal back to the shore.

More bystanders near the beach steadily went down to the water to help; at one point, nearly a dozen people were working together to get the whale further into the ocean.

Soon after, an individual could be seen swimming into the pounding waves alongside the marine creature as attempts to save it grew increasingly desperate. But the whale appeared to be struggling and kept moving back toward the beach.

Other people also tried to help the whale until officials arrived at the scene.

Aerial footage showed lifeguards bringing makeshift gurney to the water around 9 a.m. and rescuing the whale, who was placed into an awaiting California Wildlife Center van.

Capt. Remy Smith with L.A. County Lifeguards confirmed to KTLA that his agency as well as personnel from the Wildlife Center went to the scene to rescue the 12-foot beached whale.

The animal, however, was found to be suffering from numerous health issues, including chronic wounds, diarrhea and blindness, according to Jennifer Brent, the Wildlife Center's executive director.

"We were advised by experienced veterinarians at Sea World in cooperation with NOAA that this species does not fare well in rehabilitation and combined with other problems ... the decision was made to euthanize," she wrote in an emailed statement.

The carcass will be taken to the Natural History Museum for testing, she added.

KTLA's Jennifer Thang contributed to this story.

Venice surfer, USFS Firefighter Steven Moak, who was one of the local hero's during Malibu's Woolsey fire is currently in critical condition and on life support right now.


"This is my best friend and my uncle Steven Moak. He fell to his sickness and addiction on Tuesday afternoon. 2018 was a year that I wanted to move forward from and was hopeful that 2019 was going to be great but that’s just not in the plans at the moment. He’s a fighter and is fighting strong for his life. Right now he is on life support and around the clock dialysis which is our last ditch effort at the moment. Please send prayers to Steven. We also ask that if you know him, PLEASE respect the PRIVACY of our family and DO NOT COME to the hospital right now. He is in very critical condition and cannot have any visitors other than DIRECT family. We love you so much Steve. Stay strong my brother." - Lyon Herron


"He is a real life super hero, who risked himself for the well being of others, and helped to lead a whole community in the face of tragedy. He is resilient and strong and we are all praying 🙏🏼❤️ to see him walk away. We love you Weeeeze. Your family still needs you Brother." - Mighty Under Dogs.

For those who know him, please, do not come to the hospital per the request of family and medical staff. Respect their privacy during this very critical and private time. 🙏❤️ Thank you!

Mick Fanning is generously donating one Mick Fanning Softboard to the Boys & Girls Club of Malibu for each one sold at Rip Curl Malibu


Rip Curl Malibu
23705 West Malibu RD, Suite 100
Malibu, CA
(310)456-0110

Laird Hamilton is donating all profits from his new Surf The Ash Off t-shirts to Malibu Foundation, which is working to rebuild Malibu after the Woolsey Fire.

Volunteers needed for ranch restoration in Malibu. Join Surfrider LA as they assist local homeowners get back on their feet after the Woolsey Fire. Please RSVP in the comments and be sure you have the necessary gear to participate: boots, pants, long sleeves, and gloves.

More info at Mightyunderdogs.org.

A short video montage of the surf therapy evnet in Malibu from from The Dark Side Riders and The Mighty Under Dogs of Malibu.

Malibu's Jamie Brisick:

The text message came just before 7 a.m.: “Mandatory evacuation for the entire city of Malibu.” I grabbed my car keys, wallet, phone, laptop, writing stuff, and a change of clothes. It was Friday, November 9th. I was not worried. Malibu gets a fire nearly every year. Never do they creep down the Santa Monica Mountains, leap the Pacific Coast Highway, and take out homes where I live, in Point Dume.

But this one did. And it took out my home with an almost personal vengeance. Watching KTLA news with a friend in his Venice Beach studio the following evening, he pointed at the screen. “That looks like your house.” The camera zoomed in. “That’s definitely your house.” The shot—a firefighter blasting water at my inflamed bedroom—would play on repeat throughout the weekend. I became a kind of poster child for the Woolsey Fire.

The next few days threw into sharp relief my conflicted relationship with Malibu life. Many of my fellow-evacuees landed comfortably in Venice and Santa Monica. I received invitations to festive dinners and brunches at upscale eateries. Designer fashion labels offered free clothes to folks who’d lost their homes. A two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar gift certificate for luxury bedding showed up in my in-box. Compared to the extreme loss of life in the Camp Fire, it felt way too easy. Even in evacuation mode, we kept up our tenor of self-congratulation.

Meanwhile, I could not get back into Malibu. Roads were closed on the north, south, and valley sides. The “stayers,” several of them surfer friends of mine, posted on social media about “never feeling a stronger sense of purpose” and “being honored to serve their community.” The Point Dume Bomberos, a vigilante group that formed in the fire, were saving houses. Supplies were coming in by boat; surfers were paddling them to shore on longboards. Malibu moms were cooking up hot meals in jury-rigged kitchens. I was hit with a sense of fomo/shame. I’d got out of the fire, and now all I wanted was to get back into the fire.

I got in the following day with a makeshift press pass. Driving west past Surfrider Beach, the Pacific Coast Highway eerily quiet, I watched a set of waves peel across First Point, no riders. Malibu is one of the most crowded breaks on earth. The road closure would create empty lineups akin to the pre-“Gidget” days. I reached back and pawed the nose of my five-ten twin fin.

I passed places of great personal significance: the surf spot where I got my first tube, in 1978; the former home of the Malibu Inn, where in my tormented teens I consumed a half decade’s worth of soggy oatmeal and burnt coffee hoping to get closer to a particular waitress; the rocky outcropping where my late wife and I shared one of our last meals together, a picnic of cheese and avocado sandwiches, the shore break slapping and hissing below our feet. I started surfing in the late seventies. Malibu was my playground; it’s as close to my heart as any geographical place I can think of. But to be a surfer is to be a traveller. In my early twenties, I started travelling, and pretty much kept travelling.

The first sightings of the fire were just north of Pepperdine University. The charred hills took on a certain vulnerability, vegetation gone, trees skeletal, bald black curves in the midday sun. Born and raised in L.A., now fifty-two, I have come to understand that it’s essentially a race between the Santa Ana winds and the rain. If the rain comes first, the fire hazard is mitigated. But, if the fires come first, as they had now (and as they did last year, with the Thomas Fire and the ensuing mudslides in Montecito), we’re in big trouble.

Read the entire story on THE NEW YORKER

Segments of a 20-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway in the Malibu area will have to close down starting on Monday to repair damage caused by the Woolsey Fire, Caltrans announced Friday.

The work will be done to stabilize hillsides and repair roadway infrastructure weakened in the fire. The closures will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. starting Monday on the right lane and shoulder of northbound PCH from Topanga Canyon Road to Decker Canyon Road. Caltrans expects the work to take place every day but Sunday, weather permitting.

Drivers should expect delays, Caltrans warned. Officials advised planning for extra commute time.

The repairs will include guardrail replacement, clearing of drainage lines, removal of burned debris, restoration of damaged signs, placing of netting along affected slopes and the installation of silt fences on the lower ends of burned hillsides.

The Holidays are upon us!

Give the perfect gift for your favorite surfer. A private surfing photo shoot from RJP Surfing Photography

At just 17 years of age, Malibu's Soleil Errico has become a World Champion of surfing.

At the 2018 WSL Women's World Longboard Championship, which took place in Taiwan, Errico eclipsed an international field of loggers in Jinzun Harbor's playful blue walls. She defeated fellow-Californian and 2015 World Champion, Rachel Tilly, in the final.

"I want to thank all of my friends and family, especially my mum and dad who have supported me so much to get here and done so much for my surfing career. There is no way I'd be the surfer I am today without my coach Taylor Jensen (Reigning Men's Longboard Champion), he is incredible. All of the women's competitors at this event are my idols and it's been an honour to surf with them all. My hometown of Malibu has had a tough time recently with the Fires and everything and I want to dedicate this to Malibu and I can't wait to bring it home."

Frankie Harrer joins the Crap® Surf Family

A fixture in Los Angeles' unique surf scene, Frankie is a pro surfer from Malibu, CA, known for her world class shortboarding and hard charging in waves of consequence.

Sale over at Vintage Surf Art