Inherent Bummer, January 2026
Check out the full piece on Substack for the full original content HERE. Brendon Gibbens is a MANERA rider, and we are proud to support his journey!
A Conversation with South African Pro Surfer Brendon Gibbens
Cowabunga, Cape Town and the What Youth years.
“Brendon Gibbens is the most polite surfer on planet earth. Years ago when I met him, he came into our office and was so kind and unassuming I figured he was merely a family friend of Vissla team manager Corban Campbell. By the end of the meeting I put it together and we watched some clips of Brendon. Mind blown. “That’s you?” I think I asked him.
From that moment on, Brendon was in. He become part of the What Youth generation, bringing an enthusiasm, skillset and accent none of us could replicate. He always maintained his kind, unassuming demeanor…until he hit a dance floor — where he dominated. Stories of his solo dancing made their way around the world and he’s maintained his status as one of the most likable professional surfers of all-time and his technical forehand air games remains top notch. He was a star in Kai Neville’s Cluster and Joe G’s Strange Rumblings and will always be one of our favorite people.”
“He has a new video called Cowabunga out and you must go watch it below. Cape Town is beautiful and Beeg still has it. It was a pleasure to catch up with him and I thought I’d share.
Travis Ferré: So first things first — Cowabunga. How did you land on that title?
Brendon Gibbens: Going back as far as when Dillon and I made The Dill & Beeg Project, I’ve always liked silly quirky titles. The videos have kind of a serious tone because it is still my livelihood, I guess, but I’m just trying to find the balance between taking the whole process seriously but also having fun with it and not being too serious. So Cowabunga is what I came up with [laughs].”
Watch Cowabunga HERE
“What’s your day-to-day look like? You’ve been back [living in Cape Town] for a while now, right?
Yeah, I left Costa Mesa almost four years ago now. It’s insane how time goes by. Surfing still takes precedence over everything. My folks run a guest house here which I help them with, and I have a few projects of my own that I dedicate time and effort towards. But primarily surfing still takes precedence. I’m still with Monster Energy, Manera, Octo. There’s a cool crew of youngsters here that inspire me to surf too.”