Alex Gray stars in Insta-Barrels - video

Ben Matson picture
Ben Matson (thermalben)
Swellnet Dispatch

Alex Gray stars in "Insta-Barrels": where the wacky wanderer follows a hot social media tip to empty, perfect tubes.

 

Comments

zenagain's picture
zenagain's picture
zenagain Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 2:53pm

What a beautiful wave and beautiful backdrop to boot.

Great tuberiding.

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 3:08pm

Such an incredible wave!

floyd's picture
floyd's picture
floyd Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 3:14pm

Nice to think waves like that still exist, maybe I'll dream that wave tonight :)

Craig's picture
Craig's picture
Craig Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 3:15pm

That wave to me looks to be as good as it gets, holds right up to get in and then rifles off along at the perfect speed, what a reef!

udo's picture
udo's picture
udo Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 3:17pm

OK detective Brokensha where is it....?
Phillipines my call.

Craig's picture
Craig's picture
Craig Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 3:20pm

Yep already sussed that from the blurred sticker when in transit, haha.

Craig's picture
Craig's picture
Craig Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 3:24pm

Though if and when I find it, I won't be letting anyone else know ;) Not with a real wave of this perfection.

jaunkemps's picture
jaunkemps's picture
jaunkemps Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 7:05pm

Yeh my call too homie !!!!!!!!

yocal's picture
yocal's picture
yocal Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 3:17pm

few landmarks to Google haha

mibs-oner's picture
mibs-oner's picture
mibs-oner Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 3:22pm

Craig you found where this is yet?

In all seriousness tho. I reckon he's given enough away to locate this wave. Anyone up to the challenge?

simba's picture
simba's picture
simba Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 3:25pm

Certainly a majestic looking wave.

udo's picture
udo's picture
udo Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 3:29pm

Exactly simba

shoredump's picture
shoredump's picture
shoredump Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 3:37pm

I thought anything that majestic would be riddled with crowds. I'm not so sure..

mibs-oner's picture
mibs-oner's picture
mibs-oner Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 3:35pm

I'm all over this spot. I've narrowed it down at least I reckon. Fkn social media ayyyy.
Ruining things in so many ways

R JH.'s picture
R JH.'s picture
R JH. Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 4:10pm

Biri Islands sorry if it was meant to be a secret.

ORLAX's picture
ORLAX's picture
ORLAX Saturday, 9 Jan 2016 at 6:25pm

is this really in biri? ive been there!

Coops70's picture
Coops70's picture
Coops70 Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 4:14pm

This is exactly what ruins a perfectly beautiful spot. Every one goes rabid finding where it is and in a year or two is trashed. Just out line the story and give no clues and just shoot the wave! Ain't fucking rocket science and fuck social media!

yocal's picture
yocal's picture
yocal Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 4:29pm

Found it :)

There's already a surf resort there... next.

yocal's picture
yocal's picture
yocal Friday, 8 Jan 2016 at 9:50am

Do I get a prize or what?

yocal's picture
yocal's picture
yocal Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 4:47pm

So heres a question worthy of investigation:
Did A-Gray get invited by some random caring and sharing bloke who connected to him on Insty, or did the owner of the resort engage him for some creative PR?

Booka78's picture
Booka78's picture
Booka78 Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 5:03pm

Always wanted to go here heard about it while in indo in 2005, not exactly secret

rusty-moran's picture
rusty-moran's picture
rusty-moran Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 5:37pm

I like Alex Gray. He seems like a really positive energetic chap.

But to exploit a little known wave (I know some boys who have had this place on) for ten minutes of fame to please the sponsors, is not ok.

This is the surfing equivalent to the German "hunter" who paid £40k to kill the biggest elephant in Africa, a national treasure of an endangered species.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/german-hunter-kills-biggest-elep...

lostdoggy's picture
lostdoggy's picture
lostdoggy Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 5:40pm

Booka- maybe not a secret but it's been kept quiet enough that there's not heaps of information on the web about it and that those guys could get it pumping to themselves. Watch that all change rapidly now.

I find it pretty funny that it's on wanna surf but no-one ever commented on it there.

peterb's picture
peterb's picture
peterb Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 5:43pm

A Kiwi who does maintenance up here surfed that right for a month many years ago, the bastard, and he won't shut up about it.

Lanky Dean's picture
Lanky Dean's picture
Lanky Dean Wednesday, 6 Jan 2016 at 5:41pm

My guess is it's not always that big or perfect or uncrowded.......Nice promotional video though..(could they give away anymore clues).Way to blow it out, which is ironic considering A gray is from palos verdes.........oh the irony.....
In my Honest opinion, if there is a resort there, then it's too late.The ship has sailed......

jsc's picture
jsc's picture
jsc Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 7:02pm

Not new at all. There was a group of American and Australian part-time residents (courtesy of their citizen wives) who would severly hassle anyone with cameras who went there for 20+ years - maybe they have eased up or been restrained by others. That's why it isn't crowded, even though it is a known location and has been since the mid 1980's.

udo's picture
udo's picture
udo Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 7:05pm

Fickle-pines .

indo-dreaming's picture
indo-dreaming's picture
indo-dreaming Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 7:50pm

Always wanted to surf this wave ever since i saw it i think on Gripping stuff 2.

BTW. few vids on Vimeo if you know what your looking for more fun and playful when small.

cd's picture
cd's picture
cd Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 8:04pm

The waves been out there for a long time. But there's a reason it hasn't turned into a complete crowded shitfight, like Nias is.
Inconsistent and fickle as.

clif's picture
clif's picture
clif Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 8:34pm

cd knows.

funny thing is - there's a place in the 'pines with a grouping of such waves and uncrowded - albeit equally as inconsistent. ain't no social media there, though. get out there :)

freeride76's picture
freeride76's picture
freeride76 Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 8:43pm

Inconsistent, fickle and right in the storm track of typhoons.
So good luck if you get one with the wrong track.

A few hundred nautical miles north me and a mate camped at a perfect left for a month, a mirror of that wave and didn't see another whitey the whole time we were there. Somehow, no resort, no infrastructure, no social media, as far as I know. Fucking pain in the arse to get there.
Fickle-pines though, first month I didn't get the boards out of the bag.

clif's picture
clif's picture
clif Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 8:58pm

ohhh I think you mean a hundred nautical south, right FR?! hehe

bigredcouch's picture
bigredcouch's picture
bigredcouch Tuesday, 6 Jun 2023 at 8:21pm

Hey FR, just curious, ever been back to your perfect left? Heard anything of it since?

Blowin's picture
Blowin's picture
Blowin Tuesday, 5 Jan 2016 at 8:44pm

If there is such a thing as karma in this world - which I like to believe there is - then Alex Gray just bought himself a shitload of grief.

Weekend Warrior's picture
Weekend Warrior's picture
Weekend Warrior Wednesday, 6 Jan 2016 at 12:55am

To all those comments above that say that excellent wave should stay hidden? I say grab a tissue girls . A wave that has no one on it may as well not exist. I only get to surf about 20 times a year, I'm not very good but I love it and I would go out in that surf but I dare say that if I was out there with some of u blokes I wouldn't even get a wave because it would be a hassle. To all you precious ones who feel that the lesser surfers should just get out of the way, I say bit me!!!. Try enjoying the sport and worry about how you engage with you fellow surfers. At the end of the day we are all just trying to forget the life we live on land and get some well earned down time.
When I'm riding a wave my mind is exactly were I want it to be blank.
You guy's might think I am a plebe or a trog and no worthy of having my say, If you do think that way. I don't think your not worthy.
Remember fellers you don't have to have a long neck to be a goose.
What goes around comes around.
Signed
Disgruntled Weekend Warrior
P.S to the two greedy 25 yr old Pelicans who thought it was a good idea to two out me whilst in the water at Mollymook on Saturday how does it feel to get dusted up by a 50 yr old on land. A tip be weary of the quiet old fella.

ThazL's picture
ThazL's picture
ThazL Wednesday, 6 Jan 2016 at 10:18am

It's not your type that they are worried about, it's the influx of a lot of surfers of high ability, who all Want the bigger/hollower/faster/longer waves, and people disregarding etiquette completely. No one cares about your ability as long as you have etiquette at most spots

lukesripping's picture
lukesripping's picture
lukesripping Wednesday, 6 Jan 2016 at 9:12am

@ Weekend warrior Your the one causing trouble . Yes your a kook and your not the only kook that's ever thought he would be expected in the line up because he is having a go .
So your getting in fights with 25 year olds at 50 . You sound like your the type that could really ruin some bodies day .

grumpy's picture
grumpy's picture
grumpy Wednesday, 6 Jan 2016 at 11:33am

Well said Rusty and boo fuckin hoo weekend warrior . Seems like these days the endless consumer rot that is the surfing money making machine won't stop exposing new spots until the last one is gone . From the surf school surfer factories (people who need to pay money to be taught to surf probably shouldn't surf ) to the monthly Kmart catalogues ( surf mags ) and the endless trendy product drives of the surf companies into the far reaching places of the world that don't even have oceans fuck you for helping stuff one of the best pastimes ever. If you know a spot somewhere that isn't crowded with kooks yet keep it to yourself , forget about your 5 minutes of exposure fame . Loose lips sink ships , keep it to yourself and enjoy it for what it is . Bit of a rant sorry but videos like this piss me off enough to write

Lanky Dean's picture
Lanky Dean's picture
Lanky Dean Wednesday, 6 Jan 2016 at 5:47pm

I think it's a Generational thing. These days the kids don't seem to mind blowing the spots out......... pro surfers could care less.
Really no one owns the surf spots.
That being said, i in no way endorse this promotion.
Waves =Finite resources.

I guess i'm from a different generation of surfers, I also grew up surfing without crowds.
For me it seems funny that you would want to tell other surfers where the waves are.

Do they not realise they are doing it?

Lanky Dean's picture
Lanky Dean's picture
Lanky Dean Wednesday, 6 Jan 2016 at 5:39pm

Fickle-pines , lol!

Weekend Warrior's picture
Weekend Warrior's picture
Weekend Warrior Thursday, 7 Jan 2016 at 3:51am

I have been surfing for forty years and never had a disagreement with anyone.
What do you do when a couple of fools run 150m up the beach because i call one of them a cock head when he drops in twice in a 15 min period when there is 5 guys in the water and the waves just rolling in every 5 min with 4 to 5 waves in a set. I'm past the stand up for your self shit!!! i have a motto MIND OVER MATTER? i don't mind, because they don't matter.
Sometimes the youth of the day have to be torte a lesson in humility.
i got punched twice in the back of the head before i retaliated.
So to you Lukesripping put your three middle fingers up in front of your face and read between the lines.
notso disgruntled Weekend Warrior

SurferSam's picture
SurferSam's picture
SurferSam Thursday, 7 Jan 2016 at 4:30pm

There was an article on a joint called majestics - it's not that place is it?

Wharfjunkie's picture
Wharfjunkie's picture
Wharfjunkie Thursday, 7 Jan 2016 at 7:05pm

Weekend Wazza no one cares if you surf once a year or 50 mate so long as you take your turn no probe. As for the wave staying hidden theres probably plenty of people who have been there and go there who are pretty pissed off as it will go from one extreme to another.

As for your altercation if you were sticking up for yourself good on you but I wouldn't single piss poor behaviour in the surf on young blokes as theres plenty of older blokes who can be difficult to surf with its a personality thing not an age thing mate.

justanothercreep's picture
justanothercreep's picture
justanothercreep Friday, 8 Jan 2016 at 1:26am

this is a perfect example on how things go in this mad world.
surfspot with few guys, everyone having fun, keeping it fairly quiet, some pro shows up, gopros, drones, socialmedia, featured on surfermag, swellnet, surfline etc.
over 15k likes on instagram cause everyone of them wants to surf a wave like that with no one out. as some dude said, another spot bites the dust.
as it happend i was there when agray surfed that place, some oldskooler aussies told him off and said no camera. he surfed on lower tides, therefore only him and a booger.
so it looks even more inviting to all them uluwatu dudes who do it for the photos.
what can we do, cant play god and change the world. maybe pingpong as a hobby will do it for me in 2016. happy new years yeyyy

yocal's picture
yocal's picture
yocal Friday, 8 Jan 2016 at 9:49am

So he disregarded the advice of other people out there? Do you know if he was on there on his own merit or was he put up at a surf resort there for free?

justanothercreep's picture
justanothercreep's picture
justanothercreep Friday, 8 Jan 2016 at 2:45pm

Well he paid everyones beers and assured no names on location. As far as i know he did not get free accomodation.

justanothercreep's picture
justanothercreep's picture
justanothercreep Wednesday, 13 Jan 2016 at 10:11pm

Loose lips sink ships. Good one. Lesson learned.

penmister's picture
penmister's picture
penmister Sunday, 10 Jan 2016 at 6:13pm

He charges in out back session's too awesome dvd...

rusty-moran's picture
rusty-moran's picture
rusty-moran Sunday, 10 Jan 2016 at 9:31pm

Hey Creepy, that's really sad to hear that Alex was asked to keep a lid on it but ignored those requests of the guys to keep it quiet.

The one positive from discussions like this is that younger less experienced surfers might gain awareness that exposing any good spot will eventually attract crowds and eventually depletes your own surfing enjoyment in the future.

Lanky Dean's picture
Lanky Dean's picture
Lanky Dean Monday, 11 Jan 2016 at 1:52am

Well said. "Out of sight, out of mind "
Lessen exposure from all parties involved.

wally's picture
wally's picture
wally Sunday, 10 Jan 2016 at 10:07pm

I couldn't tell where it was, until the people complaining explained to me its location.

Lanky Dean's picture
Lanky Dean's picture
Lanky Dean Monday, 11 Jan 2016 at 1:49am

ha ! nice one wally !