fark that screenshot pic of the vid. what a barrel ..

We are the modern day conquistadors. From a few local boogers/surfers to the place looking like a Toyota Hilux showroom.

8:30 ... looks like big Cloudbreak.

I find it so hard to fathom the shift in tradition when it comes to discovering new waves. From sworn secrecy and subterfuge to open exploitation for self gain by magazines and pro's.
Staggering. And disgraceful.

That vid was good as they talk about how hard it is to surf....It looks like it would be super hard on your backhand. don't really see that many crew on their backhand in these vids....

Any waves of Taj ?

Things changed rapidly from the 60s, and ramped again through the 80s, once the concepts of 'The Search' and 'The Crossing' were heavily commercialized by those clever marketers, and with the new found wealth those companies had to throw at it, aided, as noted in the vid, by Google Earth (rather than old-school nav. charts). Around the same time there was rapid growth in surfer numbers and a global boom in surf tourism (camps and boats) catering to a massive new market, many of whom wouldn't necessarily have had the time, knowledge or desire to go off the beaten track for months. The idyll of a lone surf explorer stumbling on great unsurfed waves became a lot more challenging. Add to that the major growth in would-be pro surfers to make a living from it, rather than as a pastime, new video tech and the net, and the rest, as they say, is history, from the near sub-Antarctic to the Arctic. But that all said, there are still a few places sufficiently off the beaten track for those game enough. Keeping quiet about it is a different matter, in this 'look at me' era.

The modern mini local version of wave discovery had also been rooted by social media.

I remember when you’d find that quiet little bank that had just formed. You could surf it by yourself for days, even a week before crew knew. And even then you had the perfect tides wired which made your experience even better.

Now if there a bank anywhere the insta, whatsapp etc crew are all over it.

From admittedly vague memory, back in the '70s Bill Finnegan and his travel buddy Brian Di Salvatore wrote a series of articles for Tracks called 'Tales from the Paradise Trail', or something similar, in which they documented their travels to famous and not yet famous surf breaks (G-Land, Nias ...), and the histories of their discovery, promotion - exploitation and 'decline'. I remember, having surfed Nias back in April of 1978, how stunned I was when it appeared on the cover of Surfer mag not that long afterwards, followed by a major expose in Tracks not long after that, and then of course 'Storm Riders' basically sealed the deal. In '78 I stayed in the village, in one of the few remaining houses left standing after the attack by Botahili folk (long story), but even then the first bungalow near the point, Jamborai, was under construction. There were 5 of us surfing there during the new moon swell, Chris Simpson from WA, Sid and a mate whose name escapes me now, from Bondi, and Leeroy and me from Noosa. It got big (double+ overhead) and sets on the close-out beach-break across from the village would shake the area like repeated minor earthquakes, but as is well known the reef was deeper and far less intense than it is today, when a real earthquake lifted it a metre or more. Now of course it's a very different story both in the water and on land there, which brings me back to Bill and Brian and those Tales.

Clearly not a wave for the average punter, 60 hour+ travel times, via Jo'berg on a small plane, fark knows how much 4W-driving, goofy's only need apply by the looks and you need to be Tarzan as well (like a lot of SA's are too!). Oh yeah typical west coast setup would be onshore most of the time too. On the last day of a 3 week trip, they finally scored! I'd say it will be a fair while before that place is overcrowded. Fuggedaboutit and stick with your local.

I've been there 3 times in last 8 years. First time did a 27hr 1 way drive to score(skunked) 2ft sets with occasional bigger to give us a taste for a day then we (3 of us crammed into a fart filled polo) for 27 hrs back again. 2nd time was that heavy swell of 2014 which reminded me of big tombies with mist so thick you couldn't see em coming but you could hear em. Some guys started claiming teahpoo over sand and that was not an exageration. It scared the shit out of me,not to mention if you lost your board and then get swept down the point into the mist towards probably 15ft solid closeout shorebreak.No thanks. 3rd trip more manageable,took my kite gear up and had a great time on the windy days towing into 1km long waves while the surfers stuck to the bottom 1km section. Occasioanlly I rode thru them when I couldn't help myself. Next day it was ON! barrels so long I got pig dog knee and sore ankles from running back up the point all day. This year I can only imagine what went down there during winter...empty barrels for the few locals who care to check it out. Next year....

I met guys who had been to South Africa in the 70’s and they told me about a wave sand barrel on that west coast

It's always held a fascination this section of coast since I saw photos of it from a south African I was working with in Nigeria, mid noughties, he had worked in diamond dredging back then before starting offshore

they were not super epic shots around the 4' mark but that set up was indeed one for the wow factor

great footage

Could be wrong but I can't remember seeing anyone surfing it on their backhand .... is that right?

A good watch.

That’s a great insight into the place. Gives me goosebumps wanting to go back. Easily got the wave of my life out there last year.
It’s not the type of place which will be stacked with crew because of the risk and time involved of scoring it.

Loved seeing punters have a go. Nice reality check that maybe scratches it off this Natural footers bucket list. Some gnarly injuries!

Great footage. A lot of 'professional surfers' out there that I've never heard of.

Travelled this coast in 1996 and went surfing with some surfers from Swakopmund in basically just thumping closeouts very near there. Even fished in Walvis Bay with a few locals but there were no mentions from anyone of some mythical right point. So either it didn't exist then or they were all amazingly tight-lipped.
In fact I did see some good surf further up the coast at Cape Cross, but I didn't fancy sharing it with 5000 bodysurfing Sea Lions and their no-doubt tag along predators under the surface.

When you look at donkey bay on goggle maps there appears to be a similar set-up further up at the top of the sand spit. I wonder if there’s waves up there.

It really is a mesmerising wave. Love how in this clip there is lots of pulled back, real time, front on vision of the wave being surfed. Get a bit sick of the slow mo POV stuff.

There’s only so many 4x4 rentals Walvis Bay can sustain year round which should help keep the lid on numbers at their current levels during the 3 or 4 swell events each year

Beautiful wave. Product placement, not so good.

i still cant get over that screenshot of the video. that wave must have had the most thumping barrel. i wonder if the guy in the pic thought about swinging and going.

Had forgotten how Sick this Vid is ....

Taj pulled Back and the Kid went !