Journey to the World's Heaviest Waves part 2 (of 2) - Meñakoz to Waimea

Journey to the World's Heaviest Waves part 2 (of 2) - Meñakoz to Waimea

by Sam Bleakley

 

Journey to the World’s Heaviest Waves #11 Meñakoz, Spain (photo : Oscar Martinez) : Premier Basque country big wave spot, with vertical takeoffs over a boiling razor sharp reef and raw power cracking into an atmospheric cove between Sopelana and Barrika. This is the traditional European home of big wave surfing, an amphitheatre-like setting, with spectators able to line the cliff, hoot the sets and holler at the hold-downs. It starts to work at 12 ft plus (paddle surfing only) when powerful rights will barrel and shift, holding over 20 ft, generating intense rip currents. The Basque coast faces north and Meñakoz needs a big NW swell to break between September and April. Many of these larger swells are accompanied by the low pressure system that produced them, which means SW winds if the depression is coming through the more southerly latitudes. Perfect conditions for Meñakoz are SSE winds.

 

#12 Mullaghmore, Ireland (photo : Peter Conroy photographed by Roo McCrudden) : Infectiously good series of extremely hollow and fast left ledges with massive cascading curtains and huge brutal tubes. In Irish “An Mullach Mor” means “The Great Summit.” And here it is, Mullaghmore, Ireland’s premier big-wave spot, pioneered by Richie Fitzgerald and Gabe Davies. 100 miles north of Aileens (Ireland’s other premier big-wave spot), Mullaghmore Head in Co. Sligo, (like Aileens) gets huge amounts of raw North Atlantic swell, (but unlike Aileens) winds are more regularly offshore (in the prevailing southwesterlies). The Head is a savage, shallow reef only surfable around high tides. But it handles unlimited size, producing massive caverns at slingshot pace, so long and perfect that from a distance it looks cartoon-like. But this is an intimidating wave that will cut a surfer in two. When it turns on, hundreds line the cliffs to watch in awe, and there is local scene of big wave chargers (famed for their great attitude, a so-called ‘Mullaghmore modesty’) who base their winters right here, commonly building up to record-breaking tow-in sessions in moss green magic.

 

#13 Nazaré, Portugal (photo : Garrett McNamara photographed by Tó Mané / Barcroft Media) : The new beast of Atlantic big wave surfing, a gigantic close-to-shore peak currently re-writing all the World Record books, 120 km north of Lisbon at one of the most westerly points in mainland Europe. Consisting of Praia do Norte – along the beach, Sítio – an atmospheric old fishing village on top the cliff, and Pederneira - another village on a hilltop, Nazaré is home to 16,000 people, and (importantly for big wave surfers) the mouth of the largest underwater canyon in Europe is just off the coast. This funnels long period swells, amplified and pushed into surreal lofty peaks of saltwater, majestically framed by the local surroundings. “There is something very mysterious and magical about Praia do Norte,” says Hawaiian Nazaré pioneer Garrett McNamara. “The wave never breaks in the same place twice and each wave is totally different.” The shifty clean-up sets look likely to swallow the entire village, but they meet a behemoth shorebreak and expel their remaining energy in rip currents as fast as jet planes. New records fly in every winter.

#14 Pe'ahi Jaws, Hawaii (photo : Hawaiian Billy Kemper winning the Pe'ahi Challenge on the WSL Big Wave Tour) : Ferocious big wave powerhouse just off the coast of Maui, commonly reaching 60-70 ft, with a long (often windy) treacherous drop, intense pocket ride under the hook and outlandish blow-out-spit. Locals John Roberson, John Lemus and John Potterick, surfing the break in 1975, noticed a sudden change in the conditions to huge dangerous waves, and gave it the nickname Jaws, comparing it to the unpredictability of a shark attack. It was pioneered by windsurfers who used the power of the wind to attain the speeds needed to drop into the massive faces, before Laird Hamilton, Buzzy Kerbox, Darrick Doerner and David Kalama began tow surfing here in the late 1980s. By the late 90’s Jaws became the media darling of big wave tow surfing - a global sensation. Then 2012 saw a resurgence of paddle surfing by the likes of Greg Long, Ian Walsh, Kohl Christensen and Shane Dorian. A wipeout here can take the rider 15 ft underwater (after 10 front somersaults and four cartwheels). But as soon as you come up for air, they’ll likely be another wave behind, engulfing you in 10 ft of whitewash.

 

#15 Puerto Escondido, Mexico (photo : Keala Kennelly photographed by Ryan Struck) : Board-breaking big-wave beachbreak in the state of Oaxaca on the northern tip of the Gulf of Tehuantepec, with daunting ledges, sledgehammer tubes, and the undisputed “world's heaviest sand-bottom wave” crown. Puerto Escondido ("Hidden Port") is fronted by an underwater canyon that amplifies incoming swells from the south and southwest so that the waves here are bigger than anywhere else on the Mexican mainland. From May to October, the surf rarely drops below 4ft, and can reach 15ft and bigger. Crowds, rips, hold-downs and exploding barrels are intense. Closeouts and morning and evening offshores are ubiquitous, but banks can align for the wedging right known as Carmelita's (or Wheelchair Bar), and a left known as Far Bar. There’s a great rocky point at the southern end of the headland for a cruisy ride. Since the early 1990s (following the opening of the Puerto Escondido International Airport in 1986) the town has become almost completely dependent on surf tourism, with a proud and talented local surf culture to match.

 

#16 Punta De Lobos, Chile. Iconic, super-consistent Southern Hemisphere left point with a number of sections, sometimes connecting for 800 metres on larger swells. Breaks in all conditions, from 1-30 ft and hosts the Big Wave World Tour contest, El Ceremonial, when monster southwest swells detonate way outside the rocks that guard the entrance to the bay. Big swells reel down the point day after day, with a brutal outside ledge barrel and a long wall. When small, there’s a fun, sand-bottomed section known as Diamante on the inside, and further up the point, the El Mirador section peels past the rock clusters for leg-burning rides. Too much south swell swell will ramp up the current, while west will shut down the outside barrels. Southwest is perfect. The paddle-out from the island rocks (Los Morros) is a nightmare - dashing across the slippery shelf from a hiding place in the rocks when there is a lull can all go horribly wrong. Punta de Lobos is the heart of surf culture in Chile. The point is also the historic home to generations of artisanal fisherman who hand-harvest kelp, shellfish and local fish species.  “Fisherman’s Son” documents big wave surfer Ramón Navarro and his life-long connection to the point. Upwelling from the Humboldt current brings cold nutrient-rich water, attracting Southern Right Whales, Fin whales, Southern Sperm whales, Orcas, sea lions, sea turtles, Humboldt and Magellanic penguins, oystercatchers, cormorants, gulls and pelicans.

 

#17 Shipstern Bluff, Tasmania, Australia (photo : John Zanussi) : Lethal coldwater right slab with a brutal mid-face ledge to navigate, breaking over a granite reef in front a boulder headland and dramatic castellated cliffs just off the south end of Tasmania. Access is via a two-hour hike around Tasman National Park, or a long boat ride from the nearby harbour. Matt Griggs’ book Surfers interviews Tasmanian David Guiney who paddled out with Mark Jackson for the first time here in 1986. Andy Campbell started surfing the spot in 1997. In 2001, Guiney chaperoned Kieren Perrow, Mark Mathews and Drew Courtney and Shipsterns was in the media as one of the most serious waves on the planet. Even without wind-born cross-chop, as the wave drains on the convoluted granite below it mutates into several sublevel sections that form ledges on the face. Navigating these steps is the biggest challenge. Mark Matthews explains, “When it gets to a certain size it becomes so unpredictable, and that’s what makes it real scary. You don’t know what it’s gonna do: it steps and might pinch, or run off the reef and close out, or be perfect. The step is Shippies’ most defining factor. It’s the whole thing of trying to get off the step and into the barrel in one smooth motion. Often your timing’s out so you’re off the step and don’t get time to put in your bottom turn so you get lipped in the back. Then there’s all that force on top of you being in an awkward position.”

 

#18 Teahupo’o, Tahiti, French Polynesia (photo : Keala Kennelly photographed by Brent Bielmann): Crystalline left-reef delivering both spiraling glassy brilliance and hideous danger. Widely considered the most challenging wave on the planet, and the measuring stick of giant barrels, claiming five lives since 2000, notably local Briece Taerea, who was sucked over-the-falls following a duckdive, hitting his head on the coral. Located at an ultra shallow reef (just 20 inches in places) next to a deep channel, it is extremely photogenic, with camera crews and boats able to hone in tight on the action. What makes Teahupo’o unique is the top-heavy nature of the wave, dropping from sea level more than it peaks up, looking like the ocean is folding over itself during large southwest swells. In Tahitian folklore the first surfer to ride waves in ancient Pererure (now Teahupo’o) was a brave girl called Vehiatua. A local chief became very jealous of Vehiatua's ability to surf such dangerous waves with grace, and killed her expecting to absorb her skills to master the art of riding Pererure. He tried many times but failed, and when Vehiatua's best friend found out about the Chief's crime, she killed him as well! Bodyboarders Mike Stewart and Ben Severson first surfed here in 1986, and it became an underground legend for hardcore bodyboarders before stories filtered back to Hawaii of an insane blue-water tube like no other. Groundbreaking sessions would follow from the likes of Corey Lopez, Laird Hamilton, Malik Joyeux, Garret Mcnamara, Ian Walsh, Koa Rothman, Nathan Fletcher and Keala Kennelly. The annual WSL event is always a spectacle, won by Mark Occhilupo in 1999, Kelly Slater four times between 2000 and 2011, Cory Lopez, Andy Irons twice (2002 and 2010), both CJ and Damien Hobgood, Bobby Martinez twice (2006 and 2009), Bruno Santos, Mick Fanning, Adrian Buchan, Gabriel Medina and Jeremy Flores in 2015.

 

#19 The Right, Western Australia (photo : Taj Burrow and Mark Mathews, capturing the ultimate angle, photographed by Russell Ord) : Thick and brutal bombora-slab frequented by Great Whites and delivering wild heaving barrels, triple-lips, sensory overload, or the worst big wave hold down in the Southern Hemisphere. When waves hit the shelf (off Denmark in southern WA) they transform from a lump of rolling water to a sheer faced mountain in the space of a few metres, with no tapering at the back, the lip not even separating from the bulk of the swell, but lunging forward like an ocean avalanche. So far this spot has only be towed. Mark Mathews explains that during a wipeout, “The Right pushes you way deeper (underwater) than anywhere I’ve ever surfed before. To the point where you feel like your ears are gonna pop every wave, and you’re trying to equalise as you’re going down. You’re getting rolled and you feel the pressure, and you’re grabbing for your nose to get rid of it. No where else does that. You see two burst eardrums every swell. I don’t know if it can be paddled. I’ve seen a couple of bodyboarders paddle it, but where they’re dropping in is the edge of the barrel. It looks like it’s such a peak, but the distance from where you could paddle into it, to the part where you’re actually going through the barrel, is really far, further than you think. Even making a drop in the spot back where it’s doable, you’d be too deep to make the barrel.”

 

#20 Waimea Bay, Hawaii (photo : Sean Davey) : The undisputed granddaddy of big wave spots, with suicidal lefts (once tackled by Marvin Foster), feathering peaks that get you scratching for the horizon, wild drops, huge right walls and then the notoriously dangerous shorebreak. Waimea is situated in a beautiful bay just down the Kamehameha Highway from Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu. For a while overlooked during the boom in tow-surfing that began to favour outer reefs, the resurgence of paddle-ins has reminded us that Waimea is still the measuring stick for big waves worldwide. Packing a life-threatening punch, Waimea has set the standard since 1957, when Greg Noll, Mike Stang and a small group first rode giant waves here. The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, one of the most respected events in the world, is still held when the surf is 25 ft or bigger. It was conceived in 1984 in honour of the original lifeguard at Waimea and esteemed big wave surfer who died in 1978, aged 31. The Polynesian Voyaging Society was performing a 30-day, 2,500-mile journey to follow the ancient route of the Polynesian migration between Hawaii and Tahiti. The double-hulled voyaging canoe developed a leak and later capsized south of Molokai. In an attempt to get help, Aikau paddled toward Lanai on his surfboard. The rest of the crew were later rescued by the US Coast Guard, but Aikau removed his lifejacket since it was hindering his paddling, and despite the largest air-sea search in Hawaiian history, he was never found. With the combination of neck-breaking shorebreak and wave faces that can stretch up to 60 ft, Waimea claimed the life of Dickie Cross in 1943 and Donnie Solomon in 1999. Legendary Kauai waterman Titus Kinimaka also had his femur snapped in half after a particularly nasty wipeout in 1989. Hawaiian shaper Dennis Pang articulates North Shore wipeouts like this: “At Pipeline, it’s white when you’re underwater, and at Sunset it’s grey. Waimea is black.”