My cable system is too cheap to carry The Travel Channel, instead giving us some weird station called Outdoor Life Network. The other night there was a show about, of all things, the history of surfing on the north shore of Oahu. Oddly enough, I was transfixed.
Now, being a native of central Illinois, I have no firsthand knowledge of surfing. In fact, the biggest waves I’ve ever seen have been at Daytona Beach, FL (I don’t get out much), and those seemed rather small for surfing (though a few brave souls were trying it).
Which brings me to my question: Where are the best surfing waves in the world? Obviously SoCal comes to mind, where the waves are big enough (6-8 feet) to provide good thrills but not big enough to threaten your life. Then we get to Oahu, where the winter months give us 20-30 foot waves that could easily kill a novice surfer (or a professional surfer, for that matter). I also understand that the coasts of South Africa and Australia pack some pretty big whoppers, too.
So, surfers: all things considered, where and when are the best and/or biggest surfing waves in the world?
Go rent the film of “The Endless Summer” There is no real answer.
Maverick’s; off the coast of Santa Cruz, California, has waves that often exceed forty feet in height.
K2 offered a $50,000US prize a few years ago to the surfer who was captured on film riding the biggest wave. The contest may have been limited to the Pacific, but Todos Santos off Baja took the top spot and Maverick’s took the next few.http://surfing.about.com/recreation/surfing/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.surfline.com%2FImages%2FTaylor5.jpg has a picture of the winning wave.
While the K2 contest and most surfers only paddle into waves. It is possible to ride even larger waves if you’re pulled in by a wave runner. The very cheesy movie In God’s Hands is worth checking out if you’re curious about tow-in surfing.
For general surfing goodness, you should probably watch The Endless Summer 2. The original is good, but so outdated that you won’t get a very accurate picture of modern surfing.
Ghod he’p us! We got a **turtle **infestation on the board.
They got nunchucks, too.
Actually, most surf is in 4-6’. nice waves are bigger than that (7-9), and Frickin’ HUGE waves (like at Mavericks) are even bigger, and can be quite deadly.
The average surf at Daytona is 3-7’, so it’s pretty average, unless there’s a storm kickin up.
broccoli!
