In the documentary “Storm Surfers 3D,” Australian professional surfer Ross Clarke-Jones sticks to familiar territory: the wild waves of the Southern Ocean.

“It’s always nice to be in your home country while working on a big project,” said the surfer, who will appear Thursday at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival. “It’s even more satisfying to discover new breaks in your own backyard and showing the audience what’s out there.”

Below, Clarke-Jones — who has been surfing professionally since 1986 — discusses his career, his big-wave cravings, and his friendship with fellow professional surfer Tom Carroll.

Q: What was your introduction to surfing?

A: I first stood up on a broken foam surfboard at 11 years old. The board was a giveaway promotion at the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Manly.

Q: After 12 years on the Association of Surfing Professionals world tour, you decided to concentrate on big-wave surfing. What attracted you to the dangerous art of “riding giants?”

A: I found that riding big waves was the only time I had an edge over other competitors. When the waves were big, I actually felt more comfortable and in control than in smaller conditions. I struggled for 12 years to get in and stay in the top 30 because more often than not comps were held in smaller waves.

The true fact is I “get off” on it. The feeling of satisfaction and heightened emotions that flood through you after every big wave ridden makes this hard to stop doing.

Q: Big-wave surfing is far from a safe sport. What are some of the injuries you’ve sustained over the years?

A: Fractured vertebrae … causing temporary paralysis from the waist down, dislocated shoulder, broken neck, separated ribs, snapped bicep tendon, 300-plus stitches from fin chops, broken ankle, broken nose (three times), broken toes, broken fingers, busted eardrum and lots of sunburn.

Q: How did you get involved in “Storm Surfers 3D”?

A: I started working with Justin McMillan and Chris Nelius almost 10 years ago on my biopic “The Sixth Element,” narrated by the late and great Dennis Hopper. Since then, we have made a number of TV documentaries … “Storm Surfers 3D” was an exciting new project full of many unknown hurdles.

Q: Part of the movie touches on your friendship with two-time ASP world surfing champion Tom Carroll, who you’ve known since the 1980s. How would you describe your relationship?

A: Tom and I have shared many extreme highs and lows together including marriages, divorces, deaths, births, awesome party times, huge waves and contest wins and losses, just to name a few. … There is a deep understanding of each other and a strong bond. We just get each other….

Everyone has a friend and can relate to the banter. It’s real. It humanizes the whole experience of the film, which is quite surreal in 3D anyway.

Q: What were some of the challenges you faced while filming “Storm Surfers 3D”?

A: We all went into this project blind. … There were so many technical difficulties, but to the credit of the whole team, they worked around them and found solutions for the problems every time.

For example, having water droplets on the lens would ruin the shot completely, so they designed an air knife to blast the lens clear. … It worked perfectly. Well, until Tom tried to switch it on during a tow session and went over the falls on the Jet Ski, almost killing me in the process. But as the heartless directors stated, “It made great footage, guys.”

Q: Do you think you’ll ever settle down?

A: They have been asking me that question for 20 years now ... Still have trouble with that one. However, I’m way more satisfied these days. I’m happy to be where I’m at instead of panicking that I should be somewhere else because the surf is better.