Life is a mystery. Sean Collins, the founder of Surfline, has passed away on the 26th December, after suffering a heart attack while playing tennis with his wife, Daren. Collins, 59, was probably the best surf forecaster in the world. He leaves the world of surfing and the his Surfline co-workers in a state of shock.

Sean Collins was born on April 8th, 1952, in Southern California. He became interested in meteorology, through sailing and then surfing. He started riding waves at the age of eight. "I was always looking at charts to plan my surfing and sailing, and developed a keen sense about the ocean", he once said.

Sean Collins worked for Yary Sports Photography, Berzon Talent Agency and for Surfing Magazine. In the 80's, he was already a swell guru and passed information about the wave conditions to his close friends.

The North Canyon Tow-In Trials presented by Wavejet is on high alert. The yellow flag has been raised and a big swell pump may ignite Nazaré, in Portugal, for perfect big wave riding conditions.

Tow in surf teams will face the power of the waves of Praia do Norte, where Garrett McNamara surfed the biggest wave of all time. The winning team will have a direct right to participate in the international big wave event that will take place until the end of the year 2012.

Ramon Laureano and António Silva (Portugal), Al Mennie and Andrew Cotton (Irlanda/UK), Axi Muniain and Jerome Sahyoun (País Basco/Marrocos), Yuri Soledade and Sebastian Steudtner (Brasil/Alemanha), Benjamin Sanchez and Eric Rebiere (França) and Will Skudin and Cliff Skudin (EUA) will battle for the golden ticket in the 2012 Xtreme Waterman Challenge.

The Burleigh, Currumbin, Kirra and Snapper-Greenmount surf breaks will be Queensland's first National Surfing Reserves, in February 2012.

The Australian surf spots of the Gold Coast will join Maroubra, Angourie, Lennox, Crescent Head, Cronulla, Merewether, Killalea, North Narrabeen, Margaret River, Kalbarri and Manly in the list of protect surf breaks.

There are basic criteria for waves to be picked National Surfing Reserves. The quality of the waves, a place considered sacred by the local and national surfing community and long term usage of the beach and wave environment by local and national surfing community.

Burleigh the perennial site of major contests, Kirra the legendary screaming right; Currumbin another long more variable right and Snapper-Greenmount ala SuperBank, long long rights. Numerous excellent beach breaks, home of world champions and the Australian "capitol" of surfing - very worthy of NSR status. First nominated in 1992.

National Surfing Reserves are 'iconic' places of intrinsic environmental, heritage, sporting and cultural value to a nation. NSR embrace all peoples to enjoy, understand and protect special coastal environments of universal value to the surfing world. A Surfing Reserve does not attempt to exclude any user group.

There are nine NSR's in New South Wales, six are planned for Queensland, five for Western Australia.

Kai Sallas has won the Bear Pro and Taylor Jensen took the 2011 ASP World Longboard Tour title. After a long flat period, the best longboarders in the world have finally put an end to the Levanto curse, in Italy.

In the a high-scoring final held in small 1-2ft waves, at the back up site of Andora, 180kms NW of the main event site in Levanto, Sallas scored 17.17 points against Jensen's 13.50 points.

"I haven’t got it all in yet but I will feel pretty good tonight for sure," began Jensen. "I was stressed out. I’ve been stressed out all week with running or not running so we got into the event and it is a relief. In the last couple of minutes he (Silvagni) needed a 9 and the conditions were tough. I mean Kai (Sallas) got a 9.5 in the heat before but it is very hard to get one. As long as I didn’t let him get a good wave I was okay. I just held on and it worked."

Inflatable toy surfing is the new wave riding trend. A group of avant-garde surfers have unveiled a new way of enjoying clean three foot waves.

If you've lost your surfboard or if you're in a place where there are no boards for hitting the line-up, find an inflatable toy or a blow up beach mattress. You'll find it very useful to show off your surf skills and impress the locals.

So, what is inflatable toy surfing? Alex Grey, a member of the Volcom family, has gathered a few friends and took the most out of a small swell to test and fine-tune the new surf trend. Watch how you can ride waves in inflatable turtles and dolphins, here.

Christmas is coming to town and Santa Claus is preparing to deliver great surfing gifts for the well-behaved riders. It's time to give and to buy something for ourselves, too.

When it comes to Christmas surfing presents, the list is long. There is a wide offer of surf-related products that we would love to own or give. From surfboards to cold water wax, there are options and great deals for all pockets and income.

Surf movies are one of the most popular choices. Start by collecting the best surf movies of all time, one by one. Another cheap alternative for a Christmas gift are surfing video games.

Board shorts, wetsuits, sandals, rash guards, booties, shoes and sunglasses are mid-range surfing products that also can be bought online for a fair price. If you're willing to spend more in, we know you've always dreamed of trying the incredible GoPro HD cameras.

It's rare, but it happens. No waves, no glory at the ASP World Longboard Tour (WLT) Bear Pro, in Levanto, Italy, as the as the event enters the final 48 hours of the waiting period with a very slight chance of being able to be surfed.

Surfers have been waiting for swell for more than a week. A last effort is being made to take the event mobile and despite the difficulties involved with obtaining permits, event officials have not discarded the option.

"We had a meeting with all the contest and basically the forecast has got worse. We have gone from a 55% chance to a 40% chance of swell coming in. The options of having another location are out the door because of permitting problems. There is a possibility on Saturday for a little wave. The wind has to turn around to bring it in and so the possibilities of it being 1-2ft and contestable are there but not very strong. As of right now we are praying that there is some kind of bump that could roll up and we can run some heats. To run a round or maybe two would be better than nothing", says 2010 ASP WLT champion, Duane De Soto.

Alessandra Ambrosio has joined the list of surfing celebrities that have been enjoying the pleasures and joy of wave riding. The Brazilian model was spotted surfing in Hawaii, while taking a break for the hard word on the catwalk.

The beautiful model showed quite a few skills for surfing waves and that was proved by her boyfriend Jamie Mazuer. Alessandra Ambrosio is a stylish surfer, too.

The 30-year-old model enjoyed the warm waters of Hawaii with only a rashguard and a purple shorts, as she paddled for each set of waves. Where did she learned to surf?

The Quiksilver La Vaca Gigante has entered the waiting period, at Playa de El Bocal, in Santander, Spain. The event consists of a one-day competition. The selection of the date will be done by taking into account the most favourable maritime conditions.

Surfers may hit the water until 29 February 2012. La Vaca may moo any day. The spot of La Vaca was discovered in 2006 by two Cantabrian surfers, Óscar Gómez and Luis García, who one sunny Sunday morning decided to explore the coast from El Sardinero (Santander) to Liendres (Piélagos) in search of waves.

They hadn't even covered three kilometres of coastal road when, close to El Bocal beach and opposite the range of steep cliffs known as Las Canteras in Cueto (Santander), they made out a breaker that seemed to present a swell much bigger than that of the adjacent beaches.

The Hawaiian Air Show will award 250,000 Hawaiian Airlines miles to one surfer who executes the most exceptional single aerial maneuver of the Vans Triple Crown series.

The new surf event has been announced and put up by the Hawaiian Airlines and the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. Aerials performed across all three events will be eligible for the winner-takes-all prize, starting with the Reef Hawaiian Pro, at Haleiwa, and continuing through the Vans World Cup of Surfing and the Billabong Pipe Masters.

In a fusion of the most dynamic elements of vert ramp skateboarding and surfing, aerial maneuvers have evolved to heights and intricacies previously undreamed of. Today, aerials are no longer seen as an optional component of a pro surfer’s arsenal, but rather a necessity.