NORTH Stradbroke Island has been the perfect place for world number 23 ranked surfer Ethan Ewing to hone his skills on the water.
The 22-year-old Point Lookout local has lived on the island his whole life and has memories of being thrust into the Straddie waves at a very young age.
He has achieved impressive results on the Men's Championship Tour this year in what should come as a big boost for Redlands surfers.
The pro said despite travelling to other parts of the world as an adult, he has never wanted to move from the island.
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"There is such a variety of waves on Stradbroke," he said. "From small, gentler waves for beginners to bigger, more powerful waves for the more advanced.
"The weather conditions really determine where we surf and the type of waves that we have.
" ... Sometimes you come across isolated waves with no one around. It's pretty amazing."
Ewing finished fifth with 4745 points at the Narrabeen Classic in April.
He reached the quarter finals where he was eliminated by Frederico Morais of Portugal, who is the current world number 12.
"Right now I feel like there is a huge gap between how I free surf compared to how I surf in competition," Ewing said.
"I don't feel like I've shown any of my best surfing in competition yet so that is definitely one of my objectives for this year.
"Outside of competition, I'd really like to further my relationships with supporting brands like Mazda Australia."
Ewing said one of his first surfing memories was being pushed into the island waves by his dad.
He was about three-years-old, and has had a special connection with Straddie ever since.
Ewing's advice to young surfers was to not focus too much on competitions.
"Surf a lot and in as many different waves as you can," he said.
"... Just try to enjoy riding the waves. It's an amazing feeling."
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