This episode is a quiet one.

This is a poem we discovered on the Surfing Waves forum, written by Old Man Surfer from Kauai. Untitled and unpolished in the best possible way.

In this episode, we tell Silvia's story: about learning to surf as an adult in male-dominated lineups, surfing solo at dawn, navigating injuries, impostor thoughts, and balancing surfing with motherhood, a corporate job, and running her own surf gear business, Surf Halo.

This is a problem that shows up again and again when people learn to surf in certain vacation spots: you stand up, you ride to the beach, you feel stoked—and then you go home and can't catch a single wave on your own.

In this episode, we talk about the downside of being pushed into waves, why standing up isn't the same as surfing, and how that "help" can quietly set beginner surfers back.

This week, we're doing something we may never do again: a celebrity edition of our surf news roundup.

We talk Prince Harry dropping serious cash at Kelly's wave pool (and whether he can actually surf), Jason Momoa's real-life connection to Hawaiian surf royalty, and John John Florence stepping away from the Championship Tour to follow waves—not trophies. Plus, the strangest non-celebrity story of the week: why U.S. Ski & Snowboard still hasn't given up its quest to absorb action sports culture, and why skateboarders will almost certainly say no.

Cass, also known as Surfer Cass on social media, is a late-starting surfer and content creator based in Los Angeles. In this episode, we talk about navigating lineup anxiety, body representation in surf culture, and why Cass is intentionally keeping surfing as a passion—not a job. We also dig into wave pools, surf travel, coaching, board choices, and what slow, realistic progression actually looks like when surfing has to fit into a full, real adult life.

What should your first surfboard actually be—and why does everyone seem so confident (and wrong) about it? In this episode, we tell you what your first surfboard should be and why it's a foamie.

This is a question I've been circling for years, we start with an uncomfortable but necessary place: safety, power, and violence in the lineup.

Sparked by a recent court case involving the alleged attempted drowning of a female surfer by a male paddleboarder, this episode looks at how gender dynamics play out in surf culture when things go wrong. This is part one. There's more to come.

This week's Sunday Surf Poem comes from Hawaiʻi: Prayer for Surf by Ryan Oishi. Oishi is a Honolulu-based educator, writer, and community advocate whose work is rooted in Hawaiian culture, education, and care for community.