Perfect Surf Abounds For Surfing's Minor League

Since time began, minor league surfers plying their trade around the globe have affectionately referred to the WSL's Qualifying Series simply as "the grind." Before recent structural changes to the QS that saw it become a more regionally focused endeavor, feeding into the Challenger Series (which then feeds into the Championship Tour), it was a ten-month long slog to some of the world's more forgettable wave zones.

But times change and the various WSL regions have been providing a bounty of surf to get excited about. Case in point, the Taiwan Open of Surfing at Jinzun Harbor. An idyllic pointbreak that can pump, it's probably Taiwan's most recognizable wave and responsible for putting the country on the map as a surf destination. This year's iteration has drawn top talent from throughout Asia, as well as Australia. A few of the big names in the draw include the father-daughter duo of Josh and Sierra Kerr, Japan's Reo Inaba and New Zealand's Billy Stairmand. The event runs through November 16.

The end of October saw the Kerr family in the Philippines for the Siargao International Surfing Cup at firing Cloud 9, while at the same time, in Hawaii the Hawaiian Islands Sunset Pro scored some epic early-season conditions on the North Shore, and Puerto Rico welcomed the WSL back for the first time in almost 15 years with the La Marginal Surfing Pro. In every instance the QS contests more than delivered in the surf category. Cloud 9 in the Philippines isn't one of those spots that's on everybody's radar, but it's a dreamy little reef that is as hollow and shallow as they come. Meanwhile Sunset's off the Championship Tour schedule, but reminded the world how good it gets on a pumping swell on the West Bowl. Neither location are your run-of-the-mill QS stops. Or are they?