20 Instagram Posts That Increased Our Screen Time In 2018

If you’re anything like the employees of this fine surfing establishment, Instagram eats up far too much of your free time. 

We all want to believe that this modern plague doesn’t apply to us, that we aren’t actually addicted to our phones, but before you get all defensive please just humor us with this Insta-Litmus test. 

Open your phone’s Settings, go the ‘Battery’ tab and scroll down to ‘Battery Usage’.

Question: where does the Instagram app lie amongst Surfline, Candy Crush, and Grindr on your device?

First, second, third?

And what percentage of your battery is used by the antisocial social app?

Twenty-five percent? Forty?

You filthy beast. 

Welcome to the depressing modern era, where lives are spent envying the experiences of others rather than forging memories of their own. It’s a disgusting downward cycle that will surely play a part in man’s demise, buuuut it’s also cool having access to the world’s most entertaining surf content 25 hours a day, eight days a week.

That’s what we attempt to achieve with @stab, and we sure hope you’d agree. 

Below we’ve collected 20 of our most notable posts from 2018, which can mean anything from the most impressions (1.6 mil views on Yeppoon), to the best surfing (Koa Smith’s two-minute, eight-barrel Namibian dream), or just some genuinely entertaining shit (the Slater pool trandem tube).  

If you’re feeling nostalgic, scroll through for the best of @stab in 2018, as featured in chronological order. 

Oliver Kurtz’ LA acid drop

It’s just fun! Shot by: @Lyles

Hawaii’s crew of synchronized backwash riders

Because paddling’s overrated. Shot by: @kap.sanderson

Simon Hetrick’s heart-breaking burn

The agony. The agony. Shot by: @ryanmackphoto

Pick your peak in Los Angeles

The odds of finding four makable tubes in LA is one in however many waves have ever broken in LA. Miracle shot by: @morganmaassen

A hearty breakfast closeout with Mason Ho

Because it takes balls to hop over the ledge. Shot by: @riordanpringle

Seth Moniz’ Waco flip

It changed surfing forever, and it’s pretty. Shot by: @rsmallcheck

John Florence’s Balinese tweak

And no, we’re not talking about his knee. Shot by: @ryzphoto

Koa Smith and the best wave ever captured on film

The gift that keeps on giving. Shot by @koasmith

David Van Zyl’s South African scramble

Who doesn’t like to turn and burn? Shot by:@tates_tea_holder

The Nias boat-slam

We still can’t believe nobody died. Shot by: @lemosimages

The Surf Ranch trandem tube

The good ol’ triple dip. Shot by: @snaketales

Ben Howard’s perfect one-footer

Australia don’t need no stinkin’ wave pools. Shot by: @danscotttt 

John Florence’s Kool-Aid man impression

The best slow-mo surf clip… ever? Shot by: @chrisbryanfilms

Griffin Colapinto redefines ‘loft’

About the only thing Griffin hasn’t ridden away from in 2018. Shot by: @jacobvanderwork

Mason Ho’s Christ Air

The coolest thing we’ve almost seen landed on a surfboard. Shot by: @corey_wilson 

Surf Lakes, revealed

The most viewed clip ever on @stab, grossing 1.7 million views. Shot by: @danscotttt

Frankie Harrer x Mark Healey’s Tahitian double-tube

Sharing is daring. Shot by: @raimanaworld

Kerby Brown’s Tahitian go-over

One man’s pain is Kerby Brown’s pleasure. Shot by: @polikromia

Shaun Manners in WA

Drop of the year? Shot by: @tomjenno

Cam Richards at Pipeline

And just like that, a legend was born. Shot by: @mattkuji