Alana Blanchard at the Beach in Maldives

Photos from the Maalifushi luxury resort in the Maldives.

Must be nice, heh.

On Instagram, here and here.

Julian Wilson Worst Wipeout, Pipeline, Hawaii (VIDEO)

Via Surfer Magazine:

Tia Blanco for Playboy

This is so cool!

At Surfer Magazine, "Tia Blanco Did a Video for Playboy":

Tia Blanco isn’t the next big thing — she’s the next massive thing, or the next huge thing, or the next gargantuan thing. She is the next female surfing sweetheart whose name comes to mind every single time the mainstream feels like bringing a female surfing sweetheart to mind. She’s the name that those guys you knew in college (the ones who wore backwards hats with polo shirts) will reference over Bud Lites at Buffalo Wild Wings. She’s the next star.

And watch, at Playboy, "Tia Blanco Surfs Into Her Playboy Becoming Attractions Shoot."

Surfer Fights Off Great White Shark During South Africa Competition (VIDEO)

By the size of that dorsal fin it must have easily been a 15-foot great white, if not even larger.

Terrifying. The guy's lucky he wasn't killed.

At the Sidney Morning Herald, "Shark attacks Australian surfer Mick Fanning during live competition":

The shark approached ominously from behind as Fanning sat on his board, before launching at him.

"I was just sitting there and I felt something just get stuck in my leg rope, and I was kicking, trying to get it away," Fanning said afterwards.

Fanning appeared in shock and at a loss for words as he tried to describe the attack.

"I was just about to start moving and then I felt something grab [and] get stuck in my leg rope. And I instantly just jumped away and it just kept coming at my board. I was just started kicking and screaming. Wow!

"I just saw fin, I didn't see the teeth. I was waiting for the teeth to come at me as I was swimming."

Fanning, a three-time world champion, was competing against fellow Australian Julian Wilson in the world tour event final. The event was cancelled with the surfers to split the prizemoney.

Fanning and Wilson are locked in a world title battle, but the competition was the bottom of both surfers' priority lists following the incident.

"I'm happy to not even compete ever again. Seriously, to walk away from that, I'm just so stoked," said Fanning.

Surf's Up with Anastasia Ashley

Anastasia Ashley, the world's sexiest surfer, says FHM.

15-Foot Waves at the Wedge in Newport Beach

It's been beautiful beach weather too.

At the O.C. Register, "The Wild Wedge puts on a show with waves reaching 15 feet and higher."

And at ABC-7 Los Angeles, "HUGE WAVES LURE BODYSURFERS, CROWDS TO NEWPORT BEACH."

15-Foot Surf Expected from Sonoma County to Big Sur This Weekend

Beautiful weather and big waves up north.

At CBS News San Francisco: "High Surf Advisory In Effect for Bay Area Coast Through Sunday Morning, 15 Foot Waves Possible."

Trevor Carlson Wild Card Submission

Wicked.

I found this dude on Facebook.

Hawaiian Surfer Garrett MacNamara Returns to Nazaré for Giant Waves

At NBC News:

Surfers Race to Catch Massive Waves Sparked by Hurricane Marie

It's biggest surf seen for quite some time.

At LAT, "Surfers race to catch massive waves across Southland."

More at the Costa Mesa Daily Pilot, "Newport's Wedge lives up to its reputation: 1 hurt in thundering surf: Crowds gather on Balboa Peninsula to watch the big waves as lifeguards stand ready."

And at the O.C. Register, "Monster highs: Massive summer swells bring out surf legends, gawkers, destruction,"  and "The Wedge pounds bodyboarders for 3rd straight day."

Plus, some video at WSJ, "Hurricane Marie Brings Epic Waves to Southern Calif."

20-Year-Old Nick Fagano, Killed by Lightning Bolt at Venice Beach, Was Set to Start at USC

Sometimes your number's just up.

Just a young kid looking to move forward, starting business school at USC after attending community college, and then struck by lighting.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Man killed in lightning strike was about to enter USC."



PREVIOUSLY: "VIDEO: Lightning Strike Kills Man at Venice Beach in Los Angeles."

VIDEO: Lightning Strike Kills Man at Venice Beach in Los Angeles

At the Los Angeles Times, "1 beach-goer dead, 8 hurt when freak lightning storm hits Venice."

And the number injured may be as high as 14. The man who died was swimming, according to KABC-7 Los Angeles.

More from CBS News Los Angeles:

Witnesses react after #lightning strike injures at least nine, kills one at #Venice Beach: http://t.co/ul3wufKoPJ

— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) July 28, 2014

Heavenly Surfing Video Will Leave You Speechless

From the comments on Facebook, "It's like touching the face of God."

Shark-Attack Survivor Bethany Hamilton Wins Surf n' Sea Pipeline Women's Pro 2014

This is awesome.

Soul surfer, at London's Daily Mail, "'I usually lose so this was great!': One-armed 'Soul Surfer' who survived shark attack wins major title for the first time in nearly ten years."

South African Grant 'Twiggy' Baker Wins 2014 Mavericks Invitational Surf Contest

At NBC Bay Area:

With the best of conditions under sunny skies, the Mavericks Invitational, the so-called Super Bowl of surfing, was won by South African Grant "Twiggy" Baker.

Baker also won the title in 2006 and reclaimed the title on Friday afternoon, with Hawaiian Shane Dorian coming in second in  his first Mavericks contest and Ryan Augenstein of Santa Cruz coming in third.

Fellow Californians Tyler Fox of Aptos, Greg Long of San Clemente  and Anthony Tashnick of Santa Cruz rounded out the six surfers who made the finals.

“I got lucky today. I didn't get bucked off," Baker said.

Now Baker takes home the $12,000 -- and a lot of respect from fellow surfers.

"Mavericks is a one-of-a-kind wave that you've got to prepare for, for life and for years,” competitor Rich Peters said. “So it's not something to take lightly. I really respect these guys. They're athletes just like any other athlete."

The competition kicked off Friday morning off the coast of Pillar Point north of Half Moon Bay, Calif.

As predicted, the big waves reach astounding heights of between 40 and 50 feet...

Afternoon Alana Blanchard Rule 5

Oh, to be young and free again.

Via Twitter.

Previous Alana blogging here and here.

Surfboards or Bodysurfers? Who Owns the Wedge?

Well, it's a public beach, technically. But bodysurfers want surfboards banned at the Newport Beach Wedge.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Surfers, bodysurfers battle over Newport Beach's iconic Wedge":

An old surfing battle is resurfacing in Newport Beach.

A city panel, the Blackball Working Group, will take the first step toward a possible review of surfing regulations at a public meeting Monday night. This has set off murmurings among surfers over one particular place: the Wedge.

A storied spot at the end of the Balboa Peninsula, where the west harbor jetty extends from shore, the Wedge has set the stage for world-famous waves that have brought thrills to generations of surfers and spectators.

Here, on occasion, large swells send surf crashing into the jetty. These waves bounce back toward the ocean, where they may meet, in a wedge shape, another oncoming swell. This creates massive walls of water reaching 20 to 30 feet — a dream for surfers — that break close to the shore.

The question is: Who can lay claim to the Wedge?

For roughly two decades, bodysurfers have held claim to set times during summer months when only they can ride the break. They say they need the part-time ban because it is unsafe for them to try to compete with other surfers.

On a popular morning at the Wedge, people might be spotted on surfboards, bodyboards and skim boards or even clinging to a plastic fast-food tray. But current regulations require that they get out of the water by 10 a.m.

For a bodysurfer to ride among them would be like asking a bicyclist to assume position in a lane on a highway, they say.

Bodysurfers shirk any flotation device, wearing only wetsuits and flippers. This makes them slower and the last to catch waves. Those with boards pose a threat because they may collide with bodysurfers or lose their boards, which may then go flying.

The City Council recognized these safety concerns in 1985, allowing bodysurfers some piece of mind by banning boards when the blackball flag, a yellow flag with a black dot, was displayed from June 15 through Sept. 10.

In 1993, the council extended the ban to May 1 through Oct. 31. At that time, a hardened group of bodysurfers called the Wedge Crew, or Wedge Preservation Society, collected 80 signatures calling for a full ban on boards. A counter group called Save the Wedge collected 700 names in opposition.

Now a new petition is circulating. Nearly 1,500 people this week signed an online petition that calls for an end to time restraints at the Wedge, according to Times Community News.

"I figured I might as well put something together so that people could have a way to voice their own opinions," said Aaron Peluso, who created the petition and owns a skimboard company. "I've been hoping it would have happened a decade ago."

More at the link.

PREVIOUSLY: "Huge Waves at the Wedge in Newport Beach."

Whale Knocks Surfer Unconscious In Australia

At the Guardian UK, "Surfer knocked unconscious by whale at Bondi."

Garrett McNamara Surfs 'World Record 100-Foot Wave' at Nazaré in Portugal

This is cool:

Surfer Garrett McNamara Sets World Record for Surviving Biggest Wave

This is pretty much obligatory. I've been seeing this clip all around the web.

And you don't just "ride" these waves --- you survive them.

At Guinness World Records, "VIDEO: 78-FOOT WAVE SURFED BY GARRETT MCNAMARA CONFIRMED AS LARGEST EVER RIDDEN."

See also USA Today, "Surfer sets Guinness record riding 78-foot wave."