Best Surf Trips from Tokyo

Pipeline is the proving ground of professional surfing—a shallow, left-breaking barrel that has defined generations of surfers. The wave breaks just 75 yards from the beach over a...

Sunset Beach is one of surfing's most revered and challenging waves—a football-field-sized playing field of shifting peaks and deep-water power. West Peak is the classic heavy...

Makaha is Hawaii's original big wave spot—the place where big wave surfing was pioneered before Waimea Bay. Multiple sections (Point, Bowl, Blowhole, Inside Reef) offer different...

Waimea Bay is the birthplace of big wave surfing—a thundering right-hander that only truly comes alive when swells exceed 15 feet. When it's on, the takeoff is a heart-stopping...

Canoes is Hawaii's most iconic learner wave and the birthplace of modern surfing. Most days it's a gentle, rolling right, but when big south swells hit, the barrel section...

Uluwatu is Bali's most famous wave, a long, walling left-hander that breaks over a shallow reef at the base of dramatic limestone cliffs. The wave offers multiple sections—from...

Padang Padang is Bali's version of Pipeline—a short, violent, left-hand barrel that explodes over a dangerously shallow reef. Unlike Uluwatu which works on small swells, Padang...

Desert Point is one of the longest, most perfect barrel rides on Earth—and one of the most fickle. When SW swells combine with low tide and offshore winds, this Lombok left...

Impossibles earned its name because it's usually too fast to make—the wave races down a shallow reef so quickly that most sections close out before you can reach them. But with...

Uluwatu Bombie is Bali's big-wave arena—the deep-water outer reef that activates when massive Southern Ocean swells march north. While the famous inside sections of Uluwatu max...

North Narrabeen is Sydney's premier beach break—a long stretch of sand where lagoon run-off creates ever-shifting sandbanks that produce world-class lefts on their day. The...

Shark Island is Sydney's most punishing wave—a right-hand slab that breaks over an almost-dry rock shelf, producing thick, heavy barrels of cartoonish proportions. The wave is...

Ours (Cape Fear) is Sydney's most notorious wave—a heavy right-hand slab that breaks over shallow rock in front of dramatic sea cliffs in Bra Boys territory. Made famous by the...

Bondi Beach is Australia's most iconic beach—a crescent of golden sand flanked by sandstone headlands that has defined Australian beach culture for over a century. The surf is a...

Cylinders is North Stradbroke Island's premier point—a sand-covered reef that produces long, walling rights when strong NE-E swells wrap into Moreton Bay. The name says it all:...

Tsurigasaki Beach, locally known as Shidashita, made history as the venue for surfing's Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games. Located on Chiba's Kujukuri coast, this exposed...

Onjuku is Chiba's mellow alternative to the competitive intensity of Tsurigasaki. This family-friendly beach town offers gentle waves that are perfect for beginners and...

Katsuura sits at the southern end of Chiba's surf coast, rewarding those who venture farther from Tokyo with beautiful waves and significantly fewer crowds. The beachbreak...

Kugenuma is the beating heart of Shonan surf culture, just 40 minutes by train from Tokyo's Shinjuku station. The beach represents Japanese surf history, celebrating the roots of...

Kaifu River is nicknamed the Japanese Pipeline, and when typhoon swells funnel into this rivermouth in southern Tokushima, the name is justified. The wave produces grinding...

Baler is where Philippine surfing was born—a historic beach in Aurora Province made famous globally by Apocalypse Now's iconic surf scene, though the waves here are far gentler...