The Surfer's Journal is pure surfing. For about 10 years now, Steve and Debbee Pezman have been sharing their love of the ocean and waves with other like-minded water people. A unique feature is the absence of advertising except for 2-3 pages from companies that surfers respect, like Patagopnia and Billabong. (By contrast a recent Collector's Edition of Surfing mag, in listing what it called "The 25 Most Powerful People in Surfing" had almost half its list composed of CEO's of surfboard or surf apparel companies.) The photography is stunning (a lot of credit going to photo editor Jeff Devine), the articles are in-depth, and there are a lot more longboard shots than the more typical punching-through-the-lip shortboard aerials that dominate the other surf mags. There's also a lot of wonderful stuff from the past; it's amazing that after all this time they still come up with unique shots from the 50s and 60s and sometimes earlier, when life was simpler and waves were uncrowded. The soul of surfing, 5 times a year. It's the only magazine where I've saved every copy.

-- Lloyd Kahn

The Surfer's Journal
published 6 times a year.
$56
P.O. Box 40006, San Clemente, CA 92674-8903