In 2025, YouTube has become the beating heart of surf culture. It’s where the world’s best surfers drop their latest edits, where underground talents break through, and where surf fans get front-row seats to the most remote waves on Earth. From soulful twin-fin sessions to 60-foot closeouts at Waimea, the platform is now the go-to destination for surf storytelling, style, and stoke.
Here are five standout independent surf films from YouTube this year—each one a unique expression of surfing’s evolving soul.
1. Mikey February – “Rincon Raga”
📺 Watch on YouTube
📈 Views: 68,000+
Mikey February’s “Rincon Raga” is a nine-minute visual jazz session at California’s iconic Rincon Point. Shot by Hayden Brosnan and scored by Justin Huntsman, the film is a meditative blend of twin-fin flow and musical improvisation, echoing the raga concept in Indian classical music.
Mikey’s signature style—loose, elegant, and impossibly smooth—is on full display as he dances down the line on a fire-engine red Channel Islands fish. The film’s mellow tone and minimalist editing let the surfing speak for itself. It’s a love letter to California point breaks and the timeless appeal of twin fins.
🗣️ Notable comment: “This is the kind of surfing that makes you want to grab a fish and go trim for hours. Mikey’s style is pure poetry.”
2. Surfline – “20-Second Tubes (AGAIN)!”
📺 Watch on YouTube
📈 Views: 199,000+
While Surfline is a larger platform, this film feels like a passion project from the creators of Maps to Nowhere. Soli Bailey, Ian Crane, Brett Barley, and Sarah Baum travel to a remote African coastline in search of perfect, empty left-hand barrels—and they find them.
The film is part surf odyssey, part buddy comedy, and part barrel clinic. Soli and Ian’s personalities shine through, adding levity to the otherwise jaw-dropping visuals of 20-second tubes over sand-bottom points.
🗣️ Notable comment: “This is the best surf film I’ve seen in years. The waves, the crew, the storytelling—it’s all-time.”
3. Drifter Surf – “Island Spell: The Sapphire Express”
📺 Watch on YouTube
📈 Views: 72,000+
This dreamy, cinematic journey across Sri Lanka’s eastern coastline is a surfer’s fantasy brought to life. “Island Spell” features a rotating quiver of longboards, twin-fins, midlengths, and fishes—each one gliding through warm, turquoise peelers.
The film is a celebration of surfboard diversity, cultural immersion, and the joy of wave-riding in all its forms. With music from global artists and visuals that feel like a Wes Anderson surf trip, it’s one of the most aesthetically rich surf films of the year.
🗣️ Notable comment: “This is what surfing should be—fun, soulful, and shared. The boards, the waves, the vibe… 10/10.”
4. needessentials – “Torren Martyn: The Ugly Duckling”
📺 Watch on YouTube
📈 Views: 90,000+
Torren Martyn returns with another soulful entry in his ever-growing catalog of surf voyages. “The Ugly Duckling” is a behind-the-scenes look at surfboard experimentation, using unused footage from last year’s Calypte voyage.
The film follows Torren and shaper Simon Jones as they develop a radical new twin-fin design aboard a 35-foot sailboat in Indonesia. It’s a meditative exploration of design, travel, and the deep connection between surfer and board.
🗣️ Notable comment: “Torren and Simon are the Lennon and McCartney of surfboard design. This film is a masterclass in style and soul.”
5. Koa Rothman – “Surfing The Eddie with 60ft Closeout Sets at Waimea Bay”
📺 Watch on YouTube
📈 Views: 377,000+
When The Eddie Aikau Invitational runs, the surf world stops. Koa Rothman’s vlog-style coverage of the 2025 Eddie is a raw, behind-the-scenes look at one of surfing’s most prestigious and dangerous events.
Waimea Bay was maxing out with 60-foot closeouts, and Koa captures the chaos, camaraderie, and courage it takes to paddle out. His footage includes pre-heat jitters, crowd madness, and the sheer awe of watching nature flex its muscles.
🌺 A Quick Note on “The Eddie”:
Named after legendary Hawaiian lifeguard and surfer Eddie Aikau, the event only runs when waves exceed 20 feet Hawaiian scale (40+ feet faces). It honors Eddie’s legacy of bravery and selflessness, and is considered the Super Bowl of big wave surfing.
🗣️ Notable comment: “This is the most honest and gnarly look at The Eddie I’ve ever seen. Koa’s storytelling is next level.”
Final Thoughts
These five films are more than just surf edits—they’re cultural artifacts of a sport that continues to evolve through the lens of independent creators. YouTube has become the new surf theater, and these storytellers are its auteurs.
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