Monster Gallery: 100 of the Greatest Photos of 2016

Last winter was my first time in Hawaii. I always wondered what it was like in person. When the time finally came, a big swell hit the and it was even better than I had ever imagined. Photo: Mariana Marenelmar

This is somewhere in Central America. A couple of years ago I got the privilege to work with VISSLA for their spring catalog. I got to shoot some of their best riders in some epic surf! Photo By: Damian Davila

Photo: Sean Evans

Photo: Magnus Endal

Ivy Thomas—Secret Spot, Australia. Some days are just unique. Ivy Thomas is like my little sister, and we do heaps of road trips up and down the coast in search of waves and cruisey days. On this particular day, we turned up at one of our favorite spots to find it virtually empty. The tide was extremely high, so it seemed the whole shortboard fraternity had ventured elsewhere, and we were left with long walled peelers, perfect for a log. This image is very reflective of Ivy herself. Simple pleasure. Simple beauty. Ivy is an incredibly positive human, she would smile and have a chat to the boogey man. I watched Ivy catch twenty or more waves in this solo session, and she kept looking up at me, grinning, sharing the joy she was having down in the water below. A wonderful memory. Photo: Fran Miller

Photo: Juan Medina

Awake in My Dreams blend series Too Much to Dream Last Night. Courtesy of Holly Shoebridge

Photo: Mike Smolowe

Balaram Stack. Photo: Patrick Ruddy

If you look closely, you'll find Garth Englehorn and Gary Linden. Photo: Ben Ginsberg

Neal Campbell during New York winters. The sun sets directly over the ocean, making for some intense silhouette situations. Photo: JAMES PARASCANDOLA

Photo: Larisa Cevallos Oganova

Singlefin sunrise, East Coast. Photo: Dan LeMaitre

Slater Jaws Green board. Kelly Slater at Pe'ahi (Jaws) on Jan 16, 2016. Photo: Shannon Marie Quirk @shannonreporting

Photo: Juan Medina

Photo: Luke Dawson

Balaram Stack. Photo: Patrick Ruddy

Grant Twiggy Baker of South Africa (pictured) holds his line during Round 2 of the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikua at Waimea Beach, North Shore, Hawaii on Thursday February 25, 2016. Photo: Keoki Saguibo

Barrels for breakfast.

Photo: Krzysztof Jędrzejak

Photo: Che Chorley

This is the best known wave in the area, sometimes called C land. Due to the slow drip of media exposure, it's now a rare sight indeed to few people on it whenever it breaks. Photo: Scott Wicking.

Photo: @Baileykphoto

Photo: Hayden O’Neill

Right place at the right time. Two years ago - while briefly working in an orphanage teaching English in South Sri Lanka - we woke up to horrible weather with gale force winds and rain. We went about our day like any other. It hadn’t even crossed my mind to check if there were any waves about. We got to a river around lunchtime when I realized that the wind was blowing straight offshore. In the distance I could see lines stacking up to the horizon. We frantically drove to the coast where we found these things rolling in with not a soul in sight. Photo: Nick White

Photo:Mahdi El Hanafi

Photo: Dave Sandford

Photo: Dave Sandford

Ten days after waiting for the sun to poke its head out. I had arrived on Mexico’s Pacific Coast two days after a hurricane had sent an XL swell and flooded the majority of the coastal village. This led to the weather being pretty unsettled for the following week. And for some reason the sun seemed to be covered by a thick blanket of cloud every morning when the wind was blowing offshore. We had delayed our exit a few days hoping that one morning would be clear. I took this photo the morning of the day we left—no clouds anywhere to be seen and super fun 2- to 4-foot peaks were rolling through a lonely lineup. Photo: Nick White

Photo: Claire Murphy

As we all know, Puerto Escondido is the king of the Mexican beachbreaks. Nobody can resist the charm of this place when it gets XXL. Last year was one for the books in big-wave surfing, and especially one of the best seasons for Puerto. May 3rd was a day to remember. A huge SSW swell arrived bringing 30- to 50-foot waves. And while Mark Healey was riding the biggest wave ever paddled on Mexican sand, Pedro Calado was getting one of the worst wipeouts of his life (pictured above). Photo: Mariana Marenelmar

Photo: Kyle Jenkinson

Photo: Kyle Jenkinson

Photo: Aaron Goulding

Photo: Peter Dunigan

Photo: Adrian Emerton

This was the day of days. It was so big this winter, but still inviting. The wave heights were huge, but the period wasn't too long so you could still manage to catch them. I ended up taking this one on the head and got dragged underwater further than I had ever gone before. I popped up near the rocks. Luckily, the rescue team was there to save me. There is no doubt in my mind that if Kurtis Chong Kee wasn't there, I would have gone into the rocks! Photo: Tom Servais

Photo: Aaron Goulding

Photo: Kyle Jenkinson

Photo: Andrew Semark

Photo: Andrew Semark

Photo: Frances Miller

Puerto Escondido Lineup. Photo: WSL

Photo: Ridge BenBen

Photo: Nick White

Jai Abberton performs during the Red Bull Cape Fear in Sydney, Australia on June 7, 2016. Photo: Brett Hemmings / Red Bull Content Pool

Photo: Brent Bielmann

Photo: Brent Bielmann

Photo: Cameron Watts

Photo: Cameron Watts

The mighty Morro Rock. Photo: @danlemaitre

Victoria Vergara. Photo: Fran Miller

Photo: Krzysztof Jędrzejak

Photo: Nico Palacios

Paige Alms. Photo: WSL

Photo: Vasco Lazaro

Photo: Luke Horner

Billy Kemper. Photo: WSL

Emi Erickson. Photo: WSL

Golden hour at Pipeline—early season empty one. Photo: Gavin Shige

Mid-December Pipeline was perfect and a rare empty going through the crowded lineup. Photo: Gavin Shige

Waimea Bay in the afternoon. The shorebreak is always a place to photograph with awesome light. Photo: Gavin Shige

Greg Long. Photo: WSL

Photo: Kevin Schultz

"It was a decent sized canyon set after sitting outside for a while so as to minimize the irritation to the rest of the crowd, and while trying to get over the hump and onto the face the wavestorm suddenly caught air and flipped up from under my feet, leaving me to get wrecked much like I had hoped (if somewhat early for my preference). Ended up getting chased out by the big shot guy on the red board who thought he owned the break and couldn't or wouldn't appreciate having a bit of fun, but then I grabbed my shortie and paddled back out for a few more hours." - Troy Hamner Photo: Jack Delulio

Photo: Brenton de Rooy

Ezekiel Lau. Photo: WSL

Photo: Shane Grace

Photo: Shane Grace

Alex Knost. Photo: Photo: RVCA

Photo: Mike Smolowe

Outside sets poured through. Photo: Ben Ginsberg

João Bracourt

Photo: Colin Nearman

Photo: Pedro Miranda / @plmiranda

Photo: Pedro Miranda / @plmiranda

Photo: Pedro Miranda / @plmiranda

Photo:Mahdi El Hanafi

Photo:Mahdi El Hanafi

Niccolo Porcella. Photo: Aaron Lynton

Photo: Duncan McKenzie

Tikanui Smith. Photo: Aaron Lynton

Photo: Mark Kronemeyer

Paul Kelly. Photo: Tim Torchia

Water Colours Series-no. 7 Part of an Evergrowing Series Combining Colour Texture. Courtesy of Holly Shoebridge