What are you doing when you’re not surfing? Chances are, you’re thinking about surfing. Or thinking about when you can next think about surfing.
Luckily for you, other surfers think about surfing too. And an enterprising handful of them saved up their pocket money, bought a microphone, and began recording podcasts and uploading them to the internet.
If you’ve never listened to a podcast before, think of it as TV for your ears. You can listen to them practically anywhere, at any time, while you’re doing anything. But your ears are a finite resource. And to save you wading through a bunch of junk, we’ve picked out the best surf podcasts for your listening pleasure.
Ain’t That Swell
Adam ‘Vaughan’ Blakey and Jed ‘Jed’ Smith. Two Australian surf writers, two razor-sharp intellects, one podcast called Ain’t That Swell. In their own words, it’s a radio show dedicated to “cutting fucking sick”, and there is very little about that we can’t get behind. A mixture of humour, surfing, talking, and talking about surfing with humour, it could (s)well be the best Australian-made surf podcast we have mentioned yet.
Surf Splendour
The Surf Splendour podcast network is technically six podcasts. The network’s weekly release schedule means you’ll never be without some sensational surfing nerdery to plug into your cranium. All of the shows hone in on a different aspect of the world of surfing, the recurring theme in all of them – aside from surfing – being deep conversations. The most recent episode of Surf Splendour, with surf writer Jamie Brisick, makes for some lobe-tingling ear candy.
Surf Mastery
Is surfing an addiction? Are you the master of your surfing or is surfing the master of you? Has surfing lost its ‘cool’? You’ll find grown men and women pondering all of this, and more, on the Surf Mastery podcast. Hosted my Michael Frampton, a Malibu-based surf coach of 15 years (who also appears to be a Kiwi), the show focuses on deep and meaningful things (see above), but also heavily on practical tips and advice to help you master surfing. Hence the name.
Occ-Cast: Occy’s Morning Commute Podcast
Take one Mark ‘Occy’ Occhilupo, add a slew of impressive guests (Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning, Rob Machado, Iggy Pop), hit record. That is literally the exact recipe for Occy’s very own podcast. Set aside an hour (or so) every month (or two), find yourself a comfortable spot, and tune in to Occy breaking bread with some of surfing – and surf culture’s – most iconic and influential characters.
Lipped the Surfer’s Podcast
“Lipped will kiss you where it feels good”, so goes the misleadingly erotic tagline of the third Australian podcast on this list. Another tagline they use is “so surf it hurts.” This one’s all about surfing, talking about surfing, and talking to people about surfing. It’s hosted by Cahill Bell Warren and Jimmy Miles, two guys who know a thing or two about everything we just mentioned. Guests, events, chit-chat, banter, surf forecast and epic rants – it’s a surf podcast if ever we’ve heard one. And we’ve heard at least several.