Emi Erickson lives a quiet life on the North Shore. The seasons don't really change there—just the direction of the swell, the light, the way the wind rises in the afternoon. She spends plenty of time on the road, but when the winter swell starts to show up, everything in her world quietly centers around Sunset Beach.

Baja has a way of stripping things back. Away from civilization. No crowds, no schedule, no pressure. Just the rhythm of the tides, the relentless sun, and a stretch of coastline that quietly demands your attention. For Rachael Tilly, three-time WSL World Champion, a few days in Baja became something more than a surf trip.

What happens when you drop a bunch of salty, feral athletes and anglers onto the Baja peninsula with only a loose plan and a couple tanks of gas? After a winter spent holed up, that’s exactly what we did. We hightailed it to Baja to chase the kind of weirdness you only find in the chaos and heatwaves of the desert—a mashup of dusty roads, cacti, and trippy coastal views.

Watch as legendary big-wave surfer, Mark Healey, trains and prepares for once-in-a-lifetime swells.

This year, we logged 48,548 flight miles. Along the way, two cameras “went swimming” and one drone took a very impressive nose dive. We flew to the Keys for an *almost* Grand Slam. We chased grey ghosts in Hawaii. We designed our first-ever surf collection. And we earned our B Corp Certification.

It’s been a big year. So we rounded up a few highlights—photos, notes, souvenirs, and moments that made 2025 one for the books.