Waves tips

In 2024, much of Europe sweltered during record-hot summers, prompting some holidaymakers to postpone their trips to cooler months.

Crescent Head, or Creso as it’s affectionately known by salt-crusted locals and generational holiday-makers, is a surf lovers’ gem on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, the lands of the Dunghutti people. It’s the kind of place travelers discover and then return to, season after season, because the town’s coastal spirit reverberates from the shore to its lush mountain hills. Farmers from Kempsey and Glenmore drive LandCruisers through the bush and van-bound surfers stack longboards three-high on trusty roof racks in pursuit of this patch of paradise. It’s all about the swell, the tides, and the consistently rhythmic long waves at Killick Beach, which was declared a National Surfing Reserve in 2008 and welcomes an annual pilgrimage of surfers for the Malibu Classic surf competition.

Wave season is the cruise industry’s version of Black Friday—except the deals last multiple months instead of a few days. Typically kicking off in January and lasting through March, this is the time of year when cruise lines offer their steepest discounts and promotions. As such, wave season is considered the best time to book a cruise if you’re after more affordable fares.

As Paul O’Neil was tending to his new beehives one day, a family with three young children walked by. 

Wave Season is famous in the cruising industry for being the busiest booking period of the year. 2025 is set to be no different, thanks to the post-pandemic boom in cruising.

There's a lot to love about Mexico — the historic cities, the sizzling street tacos, the colorful festivals and the endless art. But undoubtedly, what draws most visitors to Mexico, first and foremost, are its show-stopping beaches. With nearly 6,000 miles of coastline split between the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Sea of Cortez, Mexico serves up a sandy buffet that appeals to everyone. Whether you're a sun-worshipper, a wave-chaser or a beach bum only in it for the tacos and sunsets, there's something here for you.

It is never a good idea to pause between a 194-degree sauna and the mind-bending frigidity of Lake Superior in February. As sweat cools on skin, the rational mind kicks in. Why submit the body to such unrelenting shock, it asks. I know this voice well. Yet here I am, on a cobblestone beach in Grand Marais, Minn., with precious heat steaming off my head, pausing to contemplate the wave-sculpted ice that appears to be growing toward the sky like stalagmites.

A wave of vandalism struck two popular beaches in Los Cristianos, Tenerife, last week. More than 230 sunbeds were defaced and sprayed with anti-tourism graffiti such as "Canarias se defiende" (The Canary Islands defend themselves) and "Canarias no se vende" (The Canary Islands are not for sale).

Ever daydream about vacationing alone on a tropical beach, where it’s just you, fluffy clouds and welcoming waves? That quiet relaxation is what I was looking for this fall on St. John, the smallest and wildest of the U.S. Virgin Islands. It has a reputation for being an off-the-beaten-path Caribbean gem. But I wasn’t sure what I’d find.

Do American Airlines AAdvantage miles ever expire? Eventually, yes — and it appears that won't change anytime soon.

On an early June morning off the southeastern shore of Siargao, pro surfer Ikit Agudo skillfully maneuvers her board through the waves. This teardrop-shaped island in the Philippines, long a domestic secret but on the verge of becoming a hot spot, has always been home for Agudo, who was born and raised on Siargao, in a community she describes as uniformly friendly and thoughtful. During the morning we spend out on the sea, I see friends and strangers saluting one another on the lineups. Experts guide amateurs; fellow surfers extend invitations to break bread together after the session. All paddle out together to face the ocean as one.

When you first enter the W Algarve in Albufeira, Portugal, you immediately notice a collection of 613 handmade ceramic plates covering a feature wall. Their intricate patterns and sun-warmed hues set the tone for what lies ahead: a stay that’s both grounded in local heritage and elevated by the hotel chain’s signature touch of modern luxury mixed with trendy touches.

Life in Tahiti for Vaimiti Teiefitu resembles most people's travel daydreams: clear blue skies, palm trees at every turn, and graceful rides on a lavender longboard atop the cerulean waves of the South Pacific. In 2023 she began traveling to host surf retreats, first in Morocco and then Indonesia (she'll be in Sri Lanka in January 2025), but nothing compares to home. When asked for her advice on how to best visit Tahiti, which hosted the Olympic surfing events this past summer, Teiefitu laughs and says, “There's no wrong way to visit Tahiti, except maybe staying in your hotel. That's the biggest mistake you can make.” Below, she shares her favorite places on the island: where to get in the water, refuel after a surf session, and unwind at day's end. Stitch them together for the perfect day (or three) in Tahiti.

Few summertime Instagram posts are as FOMO-inducing as the perfectly posed candid in front of the Eiffel Tower or Sagrada Familia, complete with a perfectly dewy makeup look.

Oct 15, 2024 • 6 min read

Oct 8, 2024 • 7 min read

One of the great hassles in surf travel is schlepping around a board. Long boards can be the size of a small airplane wing, and airport personnel, upon seeing a shortboard, sometimes hurl them, as if testing them for flight. Surfers know that it’s not uncommon to pay the oversized luggage fee, which is often north of $150 for one-way travel, arrive in some surfer’s paradise, and unzip their well-padded bag to find their board dinged badly or fully smashed.

As a prolonged heat wave scorched Greece in mid-June, with temperatures reaching over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, residents of Sifnos, a small island in the western Cyclades, faced a reality they had long anticipated and feared: Their taps ran dry.

Cruise ship stabilizers are features built into the ship to reduce its side-to-side motion (or roll). Though most cruise ships have a variety of active and passive design elements working to provide a smoother ride for passengers, the retractable wing-type stabilizers on the sides of the ship below the water line are the kind the average passenger commonly thinks about.

Kneeling up on their seats, a troop of school girls clapped as a popular Bollywood song played out from a phone. Plaited into loops, their matching hair swung to the rhythm of the train as it curled around a wide arc, the back end snaking out of a bamboo forest. I was on board the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and the climb up West Bengal’s jungled slopes was alive with music, cheering, and hoots at every turn. From the open doorway I could smell the freshness of pine, its clean scent soon overpowered by skinny eucalyptus towering overhead. Leaning into the wind, I heard another favorite filmy number start up and ducked back inside to join in with the singalong.

Another wave of hotel strikes unfurled in two major New England cities Tuesday, while one in Southern California continues to grip a Hilton-affiliated property.