Ain't No Wave Pool - video
What if I told you there was a sand-bottom right that's 5 kilometres long, breaks 20 metres off the beach, holds 6 foot of swell and has only been surfed by 4 people on the entire planet? Would you believe me?
What if good-ol’-having-a-year-off-Mick Fanning was one of those surfers, and he told you that this wave had him haulin’ arse like an F1 driver down a strip of sand that never seemed to end. Would you believe him?
Comments
Any ideas? Mozambique?
Lucky fuck.
I'll see you there in a couple of years Mick.
Me and 8000 other fuckwits.
haha. Make that 8001
They've done well to hide all clues. Fuck knows I've just scanned the whole vid and photos for 'em
farrrkkk. Bit quick for us mere mortals but i reckon even i could sneak a couple of milliseconds tube time before copping a lip to the head. Not sure if i'm jealous or envious, either way you lucky fucker Mick.
So fast. Good to see an epic righthand barrel after all the Skeleton Bay footage.
I'm guessing Indian Ocean, in a country that starts with either o or i - or is it m?
Antarctica? Somalia? Yemen? Ashmore Reef?
Potential clue right at the end - "you run up the beach and there's guys just taking a dump".
Eugene has already blabbered the location to Mad Hueys
Could be Lennox??? Or maybe a bit too much sand- on the point???
I'd say ya better chuck a camera on it!
:)
:)
:)
Hmmm, surfing in boardies, warm water, looks like its hot weather, heaps of sand everywhere and likely an inhospitable location. Acute angle of the swell hitting it - maybe a lot of refraction at play here or an unusual swell direction or possibly a diluted portion of a huge winter swell that finds its way into a tucked away desert locale. Strong (trade?) breeze in the background too. North Atlantic winter swell meeting 1-2 semi-tropical sandy West African coastlines with tucked away SW facing finger of coast? I'll leave it there.
freddieffer - yeah they just shouldn't release this kind of stuff if they want to keep it low key. Never looked in that region in any detail orinterest and found it in under 10mins. All those clues are accurate and easy leads to where this is. You're right on the fraction - you can see it out the back in the vid and it also indicates a clear "top of a point" setup with the swell noise and bounce.
Take that to google maps and it's a no brainer. You can even clearly see the lines running down it.
Looks like the trades go hard early though and there ain't any protection...
Well done boys !
Seems like the first dumb cunt to ruin any chance of getting an amazing wave to themselves by showing off their sleuthing skills turned up an hour and 27 minutes after the first post.
Fuck this world.
Actually, the world is fine.
Fuck people.
I don't think that's the place anyway. Would have decent upwelling; not boardshort friendly. Could be totally wrong, of course.
average Feb sea temp 27C!
The stupidity!
Yeah, please delete the post.
spot on freddieffer, i found it in less than 5 mins
A few other really good looking spots about 200KM north!
Wow what a wave.
Hell is other people - Sartre
From what I can see scouting that coastline, and I just cruised from Laayoune to Dakar in half a beer, is that if the wave is there then it's a goddamn fickle bastard. That might be stating the obvious but I reckon it's even less reliable than people might think.
For one, it's gotta be somewhere that breaks very rarely otherwise we'd already know about this wave. Plenty of travel crews have gone through there. Western Sahara has been peaceful since 1991, Mauritiania since 2008, so travelling surfers wouldn't be that uncommon. Hell, I personally know a bloke from Manly who's been through there. Plus there's JS Callahan, Kepa Acero, and a thousand other Euros bored with Ankar Point.
So if it is here - and not Yemen, Oman, Pakistan, India, or a deserted island somewhere - then it's gotta be a protected stretch. Somewhere that only breaks very occasionally. That would explain it's off-the-gridness. And yeah, there are a couple of spots that face away from the North Atlantic swell engine and are offshore in the trades.
However, a quick look in the history function on Ogle Earth shows mucho sand flow. One in particular, a place I think it could be, has changed radically, even in the last three years. In some old views it looks like a prime time Crescent Head set up - burgers for days.
It's a coastline in flux. Bays are stacked with sand for one satellite pass, gutted the next.
I say good luck to anyone who's gonna put in the effort and search for it. You're gonna need it - dialling in swell and wind won't be enough.
Lastly, if you do know where it is, or strongly suspect you know, don't be a duffer and post location details here.
Put them in an email to me...
Stu, I just took the visual clues from the clip, evaluated what I saw, and had a stab at it, based on the clue that the mindless quantities of sand has a reverse Skeleton Bay look about it. It's obviously in a hot desert climate with warm water, so I guessed north of Skeleton Bay.
Had a feret around, and found it in 10 minutes. Just arsy I guess. The refracted energy was the other significant clue, therefore, it would need a very large long period swell to find it's way in there.
If the Rip Curl crew were there then maybe 100's of RC corporates will already already know its location. If its a regular breaking wave its all over then.
That said, its just great that waves like this go undiscovered for so long or only works occasionally (as per some comments above)
Was there in '09 for 2 weeks got it good once. Be different next time it is on...
Jimbaran Bay.
I was watching the boys film over a beer and a ripper seafood dinner.
Put a wave cam there.
How gives a fuck if there is some footage. Someone was going to do it. Put money on it's fickle and you have to be on it to get it. Who has that money?
How gives a fuck if there is some footage. Someone was going to do it. Put money on it's fickle and you have to be on it to get it. Who has that money?
How does it compare to 'la jolla'? the last righthand tuberama rip curl fucked up!!
Where were the 6 foot sets?
As for the spot attention MethHeads of the Gold Coast theres a $1000 bounty on Mick Fannings passport.
I'd give that wave 5 Garys
Also have to congratulate Swellnet on sharing a clip featuring King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard the featuring song Rattle Snake should have been saved for an upcoming cyclone swell clip at snapper though would be much more fitting.
Just to confuse things, it looks like the Caribbean to me.
Ha, 8ks long ?, more like 2k's. sand doesn't look like it sits too well. There's a stretch of sand at "22.328973, -16.503424" . Went there on holidays a year ago, never thought of bringing my board, but man once I laid eyes on that stretch of coast, I started saving every penny to go back this year. If you've been, you've been. It's amazing how many undiscovered waves there are out there. I recommend to you all to have the North Atlantic on your bucket list, you won't regret it.
Ocean temperatures are 17 c at that location, so unless Mick suffered without some rubber on purpose? Most likely not though.
Sorry mate, that's not the spot that was rather a spot I visited on holidays and was just sharing some knowledge.
i'm going with something on a north eastern coastline with that morning light/shadow?
You guys are a bunch of morons. Maybe when you all get there together you can strap on your GoPro's, slap each other on the arse and tell everyone how hardcore you are.
There used to be at least some code in surfing, not anymore.
Do you honestly think in this century people wouldn't try and figure out where the spot is? Let alone discuss it online!! Obviously is a fickle, isolated spot to get to. Relax bro and enjoy how fucked technology is!
If I had to cance to surf this spot I would shove 2 go pros up my ass! I'm sure you wouldn't mind a poo stance clip would ya??
If you can shove 2 gopro's up your ass good luck to you....you should fit right in
The boardshorts are really throwing my guesses off. Unless Mick is freezing his tits off just to confuse us.
Ive been reading the comments under this vid all over the place and it's funny how everyone thinks they know where it is, or have surfed it etc.
There is plenty of places on google earth that could be it, but i doubt the ones people thinking it is are it, if it's fickle chances are on google earth even with the history pics might not even show it with swell.
Agreed Indo,
There's gonna be tonnes of similar waves, and google earth isn't always the solution most of the time. A close mate of mine has surfed this spot a handful of times, although has also stated more than half the time the banks are just not right. The only real way to score it is to discover it and get contact details with the locals. It's all predominantly dependant on sand, then a swell generated by a fetch that lingers between the straight most of the year. Getting there is also a mission. And if your really keen to know, a massive lows just about to destroy its coastline tomorrow ;) meaning bye bye sand
That helps :)
Some (most) people will never learn.
Another one blown.
I have been reading a book about the waves in Mogadishu and I was checking out Raas Cabaad on the weekend and thought it would be nice on a southerly swell. Not a good spot for a surf camp by the looks of things. The only problem I have with my guess is the green patches on the dunes.
Yep....My sentiments exactly Eugene Green,Hope Rip Curl feels pretty proud of themselves with this "wheres wally" type marketing ploy in the hopes of increasing their Boardshort sales numbers at the expense of potentially crowding out a spot again or getting crew in-experienced in this part of the world seriously messed up in the act of trying to find it.
Not like they haven't got form for this sort of stuff before...Regardless of how quick the genie was going to eventually come of the Mentawai bottle,No one really saw photo's or footage of the place thru the excess & media fuelled 80's except for a very select & colourful few that kept there mouths shut...till Rip Curl couldn't help themselves in the early 90's and look what that become within a decade or 2...
I will admit to my curiosity getting the better of me & playing their game of the back of seeing this...and Im pretty sure within 5 minutes of doing some digital sleuth work..I narrowed down the area,found footage of the same wave ( albeit a lot smaller ) and quite likely narrowed down 2 swell systems that probably this footage was shot from (hindcasting back from the date marker in time of the type of board Mick was riding)....and here in lies the problem in this digital age of exposing spots this way...Marketing departments have to know that tying to sell product under the guise of "the search" or "somewhere" doesn't mean SFA in this digital realtime era if they genuinely want to protect it/conserve it.
I would pretty much guarantee that on the next favourable swell/wind combo that there will more than 4WD's cruising that stretch of sand than its ever seen before off the back of this clip & the (very real) minefield of hype it will bring to this area could be quite dangerous to crew chasing their next 3 minutes of internet fame.
FUUUUUUUCK I'M JEALOUS!!!!!
Did someone delete my earlier comment?
Did someone delete my earlier comment?
@Stu - the obvious social beating from these buffoons aside, is posting the google map on here something that gets a ban or a moderator edit? Seems there's so many opinions on such matters...
I mean the brand killed it. It's out. Whether in plain sight and linked directly or not. The fire has breached - does the winds that fan it really now make that big of an impact in the age of digital outing - there are those with means, proximity and desire. And then there are those without. The spot is fucked now. We all know it.
Anyone with half a wit between them has found it. They're the niche of surfer that will actually even contemplate getting on it.
Additionally if you think this forum on the other side of the world would have a % of the impact that forums of frothers across Europe and Morrocc that have already packed their Land rover and headed sth from will - I guess I don't see your perspective.
So if the answer is yes - is it just a pride thing and editorial "code". Nothing really moves the needle on whether Rip Curl does such again - does that play into your decision?
This is obviously an interesting subject
Yeah Offshoreozzie...I think this would be a very interesting subject,I would love to see a proper article penned about certain stakeholders in the Surf Industry historical bastardisation of lowkey/3rd world surf spots round the globe where the impact of the exposure doesn't harm the intended market they are pitching it back to in the affluent west.
Associating many exceptional talented surfers with this & what the actual riders feel about being used for these marketing tactics...To me this marketing system seems to be very foundation of the whole industry when you think about it.Generating media content to sell the dream & then you have the actual 3rd world labour manufacturing of the actual product ethical debate thrown in for good measure...
These salty suits & their surfers by association have made absolute fortunes from exploiting Indonesia,Mexico/Central America,the Pacific & to lesser extent Africa.
Ask anyone who has been to Mexico since 2006 looking for waves in the area where Rip Curl had their "search...and destroy" marketing campaign (this time by a comp) and I'm sure you will hear 1st hand how these type of exposures change a place for good.
Any surf writers/media with right contacts or industry types game to bite the hand feeds them ??
I am thinking maybe north of Noosa No Waves......with luck.
Relax people its Antartica...yes its hard to believe but Mick is actually wearing a full wetsuit body suit!Took Ripcurl ages to paint the ice yellow fukin penguins are slow workers but a bit of photo shop and wollah there it is.....ps..dont tell anyone.
I was surfing there recently and when I finally came in, beautiful women were bringing me drinks in a coconut and giving me a back and shoulder rub...but then I woke up...
Well, if most of us don't know where this place is, should it remain 'secret'. Of course, it won't for long for many reasons. But the question is should it remain 'a figment of an imagination' ?
For me, put it out there. It seems it would be a great journey to get to.
This does , in a way tie in with the Ox cam issue.
Swellnet shouldn't be throwing this stuff around. you guys have screwed the spot anyways. yes, the stretch of sand is 8 kilometres, but in actuality its banks usually only stretch for 2 kilometres, but thats if your lucky. This waves coastline and sand set up will be a lot more different after todays and tomorrows conditions...
...says the guy who posts lat long co-ordinates.
You got me there stu ;)
SW383
Take it to your grave Mick!
Stuff it, let's unearth this spot:
What we know:
1. It's remote.
2. Warm water (unless Mick braved the cold on purpose to throw us all of the chase).
3. It's on an East facing coast (judging by the light reflections on the wave). Most warm water spots are also on East facing coastlines.
4. It's fickle.
5. Probably in West Sahara on the tip of a sheltered East facing bay - would need a serious Atlantic swell pulse to light up? And would need to be south enough to be fed by tropical warm water. The cold current that slices down from the Arctic along France, Portugal and Morocco packs a punch.
Disclaimer - I could be completely wrong!
2. Warm water (unless Mick braved the cold on purpose to throw us all of the chase).
The campaign and underlying product demanded I think you mean.
*peers over the top of the February issue of Men's Health*
*folds it and places it on the table*
*stands on soapbox*
Gary's view is that anyone who comments anything beyond "phwoar" is more part of the problem than Rip Curl, and you should take a good hard look at yourself. (Gary does this often, and he's consequently more man than any of you).
All this hypocritical bullshit along the lines of "SN/Ripcurl should be ashamed of releasing a clip with limited visual markers..." which then goes onto publicly publish WAAAAAAAYYYYY more details than are in the clip...
Look in the mirror. You, my friends, are the fucking problem.
I will repeat:
If you are posting any details on here beyond Phwoar, you are the fucking problem.
Yes, the clip brings attention to a new wave but your discussion in the comments that gives more info, accompanied with a 'tsk tsk' for Rip Curl is akin to saying - it's Ford's fault that they built the car that I then drunk drove through a pedestrian.
Now, back to my energetix-massive(TM) protein shake...
Besides, everyone knows the wave's name is Gary's and just like Gary it's everything you could possibly want and more.
Looks like a NICE wave GARY.
Yep, great wave Gary :-)
Phwoar ... look at those guns!!!
Rip Curl The Search! Someone else searches and finds then Rip Curl Surfers surf it the search continues for the next muppet who will give away their break. Wonder what the Curl pay those who actually search.
Come on, get it out there. Why all the secrets. All the locals do is just dump on the beach. So no problem there.
Phworrr
or Phwoarr!
it's a right. who cares.
Ban the Gary!
Who knew Gary had a serious side?
Gary is indeed serious about Gary and the use of appropriate names (Garys) when describing surf spots and surf height.
With great power-to-weight-ratio, comes great responsibility.
There's a surf camp in Dakhla ffs, if this spot IS anywhere near there surely it's not THAT secret. Obviously less so now lol. People are going to talk, no-one to blame but Rip Curl IMO.
I think Gary has always been serious, but your not taking him seriously.
He seriously likes himself.
i reckon Gary seriously licks himself ;)
Perfect opportunity for a struggling surf camp operator to drive some business.
"....as seen in Mick Fanning's latest clip!"
Long as there's a righthander there and a patch of sand, well, who could argue that it isn't Mick's wave.
Excellent idea $tunet. ;-)))
Wow, that was nuts.
Natural footers dream.
Closer to you than anyone Zen
What's weird about this video is why didn't Rip curl put some red hearings in the video?
Also all the places you would suspect it would be, you wouldn't expect it be safe to camp at the break or drive in the dark too the break then get out and about in the dark.
It's Mexico.
It's Kirra. Pre sand pump.
The Search has gone next level, using time travel.
Yep, I reckon mexico too. Up inside of the baja!!!!!!!. Mexicans love a beach dump.
Nah not inside Baja, that place is a desert, great waves though. Reminds me of a trip to San Blas where I was promised a reeling right hander for days, the reality was flat as fuck and eaten alive by sand flies and mosquitoes, every dog has its day.
It's a fickle wave. Otherwise the sand wouldn't be there.
Back in the 90s in my late teens I wished I had a time machine to go back to the 70s. These days I'd be happy to just go back to the 90s pre-google earth and Internet. A little more mystery about this planet was nice!
A little bit of mystery?
I've never seen more mystery than the last 48 hours. Everywhere from Asia, to Africa, to Australia, to the Caribbean has been touted as the potential location, and each of those places have friggen big coastlines.
How much broader can a mystery get?
Curious how you're so sure, Fong?
I had two decent candidates, but then I looked where I had failed to look before, and it bloody well lit up like a xmas tree. I'm pretty sure, too.
I reckon someone might have had a look at it about 40 years ago; that it needs a big swell, but that this coast gets those reasonably often; that the sand might not wash away easily.
Two decent candidates?
With no definitive landmarks how do you even know what country it's in?
Since it went up I've clicked and zoomed across the globe, found hundreds of potential stretches of coast, scratched some of those due to access problems, cold water, or cross referencing to photos (who knew kitesurfers travelled so widely!), and I've still got more than fifty realistic possibilities that stack up against every clue in the vid.
And you've got two, which tells me you're making some mighty big assumptions. Maybe right, likely not.
I didn't know what country it was in.
Don't get me wrong; I found lots of spots that looked like long righthand points, lots of places I wanted to visit, but I had a very particular idea of the feel of the place in terms of climate, orientation, swell exposure etc.
One of my two 'candidates' was many thousand kilometres from where I now think it is, the other one still thousands of kilometres away but at least on the same continent :-) Both of them, I think, were wrong.
So yeah, it's not like I went "maaate, that's obviously thingamajigistan!", and I could be totally wrong, but my best guess ticks all the boxes I had lined up mentally.
Edit: Oh, and btw, make that 50'ish years ago.
Beach grit reckon they have got it
I revisited that vid the other day and in it Kepa says something like, "despite the huge swell the wave was still too small to surf."
If that really is it then we've got nothing to worry about.
.
Should this place be kept for the select few. Should it be reserved for the adventureous. How long do you expect it be kept quiet and then another video is made or even a feature as "The Lost Island of Santosha"
thought Jordy outed this place for a Red Bull vid years ago? Sure looks similar...
No-one here knows where the fuck it is, it's all just wild (or slightly educated) guesses.
Give it 6 months and between Mick, Rip Curl and all the hangers on, the word will slowly filter out and it will be invaded by hoards every time it turns on no matter how fickle it may be or easy/difficult to get to.
Looks pretty fucking good though :)
Maybe, but in the last two days I've found about 83 potentially better waves via Google Earth.
Anyone been to Pakistan...?
Speaking of that corner of the world, Stu, there are very strong SSW winds howling up the east coast of Africa during N Hemi summer; SW monsoon boosted by permanent heat low over the land. So plenty of swell pointing in that direction, just gotta find a protected corner (and there are lots of those...)
کی تلاش میں کبھی نہیں ختم ہو رہی ہے
یقینا
گری
Oh, I've lost count of all the reefs and passes with perfect white wash lines that I've found of tiny little islands dotting the Pacific. Google earth can be a big consumer of time and mind :)
Looks familiar?
https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=6&ved=0ahUKEwjD65jF35PS...
Wearing a steamer. And are those permanent structures in the background appearing at 15 sec mark? They're not present in Mick's vid, they'd appear in the GoPro footy at the end.
That wave in the Mauritania video just appeared on the cover of the current issue of STAB : )
And no, it's not it.
https://snag.gy/jLzRhI.jpg
@stunet - they're pretty clearly shipping markers and the low bulk of a ship hull at waterline.
But yeah, keep on thinking this is so hard to find/pin. there's definitely no man-made tanker port anywhere near where I'm certain it is *rolls eyes*
You got the early word and a trip lined up or something?
"You got the early word and a trip lined up or something?"
Ha ha...unlikely. From what I've heard the RC staff are the most frustrated of all - even they're in the dark!
This is a good article http://beachgrit.com/2017/02/surf-ethics-outing-micks-wave/
I like this line " To pretend that GoogleMaps and the rest of our tools don’t exist is to be willfully ignorant. To be backward looking and, well, dumb. And look at Stab being dumber than The Inertia! Also holier than thou! It’s Wacky Wednesday!
There are only two culpable parties to blame for the revelation of where this new magical wave exists.
Mick Fanning and his Rip Curl."
You cant blame guys for looking and posting where they think it is, its kind of human nature.
Rip Curl and Mick would have known this would happen, Rip Curl probably don't care, but Mick and his mates i think have a false sense of security that people wont find this wave, otherwise why ruin it.
My bet is they were not to concerned because, all the sat pics of this setup don't show waves.
And they would know people would be looking in the wrong spots.
BTW. I think there is quite a few clues most have probably not considered, not just from the vid but from the pics.
I have the solution, to this entire dilemma.
A tree falls in the woods but no one is around. Does anyone hear it?
Yeah Mick surfs it perfectly those bottom turn fades that he does.
I hope we get to see more footage of pro's here, bring on a three generation trip, Curren, Kelly and John John.
Which goofy footers would you like to see out there ?
Bobby Martinez.
Nothing wrong with looking for it but to publish its location online is fucking stupid.
The shit thing is, the people writing about the location are not the ones who are ever going to go and actually surf it. So why the fuck do they care where it is?
Fuck rip curl, fuck mick and fuck all those people trying to expose it.
I agree in a way Carpetman, but the more people that guess here there and everywhere the more confusion and less chance people will go yeah that's it.
But i do think it's really irresponsible of websites posting where they think it is, they may be right or they may be wrong, hard to know until you went there, but people are more likely to believe a website and even if these locations they pinpoint are not the wave, they could be exposing other secret spots.
In regard to goofy backhand tube rider, i guess Neil Purchase Jr would be getting a bit old?
Did I say Mexico? I meant east coast Madagascar.
If you think you're as quick as Mick and want to travel to the other side of the world chasing beach breaks, good luck to you
Been watching this one unfold from my 1st comment and loved watching the different viewpoints coming from crew regarding the ethics of posting webclips of "wave discoveries" on various websites public forums & interviews with various insiders etc.The one comment I found most telling was from the messiah himself....
KELLY SLATER
"I'll stay out of this one. I'd rather not know about it than see another wave turn into Skeleton Bay crowds, which will surely happen. Sorry. Looks fun though."
Some food for thought there..coming from a guy who is known for not being backward in being forward expressing his opinion's to the surfing world & his history for subtle & not so subtle one-upmanship against other surfers achievements thru the media & social media.
If anyone is going to know the in's n out's & the truth of this wave,he would (or would definitely by now) and its shows a lot of class that Kelly abides by the old school code on this one.
Kelly's big step backward on this is hopefully a big step forward for future "discoveries" or "re-discoveries" being contemplated being exposed by pro surfers & their masters marketing departments...
With all signs & speculation undoubtedly leading surfers to a certain part of the world next swell (right or wrong they will go thereabouts looking),lets just hope Rip Curl doesn't end up with blood on their hands with a kidnapping, dormant land-mine accident or worse as a indirect/unexpected consequence of this "breaking of the net" to try to sell some overpriced boardshorts to the masses.
Crew could be definitely be looking down a very different type of barrel in those parts.
Forgive me if I'm being too cynical about Kelly's motives, but I think he's loving being holier than thou - and possibly trying to deflect some the limelight away from Mick.
If the shoe were on the other foot, there might be different noises coming from him.
Did I say Madagascar? I meant Frasier Island.
Obviously Joking, but it's such a pity about Waddy point that point is a few km of sand that when you look at it you think this should get epic, but i lived there and surfed it many times over a few years and it rarely got better than a B grade wave.
KELLY SLATER
"I'll stay out of this one. I'd rather not know about it than see another wave turn into Skeleton Bay crowds, which will surely happen. Sorry. Looks fun though."
Have to agree with Island bay, let's not forget Kelly and South Australia!
He was also quite happy outing the Marshall Islands.
I thought that was Martin Daly?
Guys like Martin daly and John Seaton Callahan are possibly responsible for exposing more secret spots than anyone.
As are numerous photographers.
Mr Daly was definitely the guy with the boat who'd 'found' it, but KS was happy to be in that video (along with Abe Lerner and Ross Williams), effectively putting his name to it.
That was the first I saw of it, but maybe the cat was already out of the bag (in which case I owe him a small apology).
I surfed with Martin Daly alone once, just me and him at Maccas right while Maccas left was pumping but super crowded, I never talked to him, he didn't seem interested and seemed he was in his own world.
It was a strange experience I couldn't help think what was going through his head, he was obviously trying to escape the crowds and chaos at Maccas, that ironically in a way he was partly responsible for.
He didn't stay out long though as soon as a few more guys came out he was off.
Yeah true that or maybe the marketing machine behind him was regarding those spots,but pro surfers definitely have self censored themselves from exposing spots in the past..Kelly might be in a different league as he has so many people behind him with vested interests that the media momentum behind his every move cant be stopped even by himself.
Saying that however,I know from personal 1st hand experiences in the North & South Pacific and Indian oceans over the past 25 years or so hearing about absolute 6 out of 5 star sessions going down at all sorts of waves with the footage & photos being kept in the can only for the surfers themselves.
Kelly,Parko,Rasta,Dorian,The Drollet's,David's & the Irons brothers have definitely had dream sessions where the moments are only ever going to be replayed in their own living rooms and in the memories of locals who witnessed/surfed with them.These locals are also the reason why the footage never see's the light of day,Due to a combination of respect and very physical consequences if that respect gets broken by anyone famous or not.
Love it or hate it,but Island style localism is the only real thing left in making crew think twice about blowing out spots...Anywhere else on the coastlines of the bigger continents,its seems like its free for all..Australia included.
When it boils down to the core of this issue & past ones.Its always the actual surfer who makes that decision who he/or she is going to piss off when performing for the camera & if the footage makes it to the marketing dept.
Guess there's a lot be learnt about pro surfers integrity from seeing the decisions they have ultimately weighed up over the years.
One thing you have to remember is the actual locals themselves at some of these places actually would like their places exposed to the world, they generally don't surf, but they know that foreign surfers have money and that more surfers equals more money being brought into their communities.
Id imagine the locals would ask what are you doing here?, what is your purpose? why do you film everything? And they would then explain that they will show it to the world.
Locals would often love this, in a sense encouraging or reassuring those exposing the waves they are doing the right thing.
It's an argument often used by guys like John Seaton Callahan use to validate exposing secret spots.
And as much as I'm against exposing secret spots it is actually a hard one to argue with.
Supposedly, only 4 people have ever surfed it. No local surfers. Mick is surfing it by himself. You could say this is really nobody's spot. It's hard to say whose specific interests are being trampled on.
How do they know only 4 guys have surfed it?
More like four guys they know off.
There could be many many others before them, even asking a local, Has this wave been surfed before? etc the answer you receive may not always reliable especially with language difficulties, the question may be interrupted as how many times this year or in recent history has it been surfed, or they might not always be in the area to know, or they might tell you what you want to hear to keep you happy.
Being contrary here. Show me any place that has been ruined by exposure. Of course, what does it mean 'ruined'. Look at how many get enjoyment from Snapper, Bells, Pipeline, etc, etc. the surf itself has not changed and as long as that is maintained, I can't see why all the secrecy. For this particular wave, it seems it's an adventure to get there, as is Skeletons, as is many other. Ok, we all like to surf with a few. Why because you can have more to satisfy the addication. Yeah, we all love the adventure to get to a place and serenity of Surfing with few. Using weather charts, it's not that hard to get one close to home base.
Ok...and I do not want to come off as dick,but I have been fortunate enough to see the early days and subsequent changes in these 3 for starters,but you did ask about what has been ruined...
Nihiwatu,once the exclusive "luxury on the edge of wilderness" resort blocked the chance for anyone not willing to pay $1350USD a night to stay there.Sure Occy & Jack McCoy didn't imagine that happening in during the filming of "Occy's Left" back in the late 80's
The Mexican points in region of where Rip Curl had their "Search" Event & countless claims of "1st strike missions" by US magazines led to slightly dubious US "surf entrepreneurs/discoverers" corrupting the local community into ultimately working for them for a pittance to give any travelling surfer who isn't using them as guide to line their pocket a extremely hard time in and out of the water.
Keramas Bali..Komune & the WCT event to market it was the final nail in its coffin after the coastal highway opened up easier access earlier in the mid 2000's..Replace at the very worst being occasionally blocked by smiling local East Coast Balinese guides working for polite Japanese surfers to the present days of hassling angry as fuck mortgage belt middle aged (mostly Australian unfortunately ) surfers hassling/yelling & dropping in at will because they feel entitled to on their 5 & 1/2 day $120 a night on a cheap as chips Jetstar ticket stay,while the wife & 2 ADHD kids marinate by the pool wishing they were back in Kuta after realising there is no shops there or waterslide parks.
I know the only constant is change & I accept that,but I think some places are fit for the cameras and some are not...Pro surfers & aspiring pro surfers can further their careers a lot more the tried & proven way on the Northshore where all the cameras of the world can capture them doing stuff like this...
Leaving some places out of the spotlight is only way to stop the greedy moneymakers ruining spots with exclusivity orders,crowds or bad vibes..While I seriously doubt "Fannings Right" could be the next Nihiwatu in 5 years,it could be if history isn't learnt from.
A magic wave breaks at a beach in the desert, no one is around. Does anyone see it?
Looks like everyone is on it
https://m.
Yeah i saw this, looks like a real possibility, especially seeing many of the other options are in countries that would be much more dangerous where you sure wouldn't be camping or even traveling at night.
We assume the low sun in the clip was morning hence East rising sun but really it could have been late arvo, could have been a subtle way to deceive.
If it is we will soon know when conditions are right and more footage appears.
So I have trawled through 3 pages of comments and no one has spotted the obvious. MF goes Goofy and the film is reversed. Well I would know wouldn't I? Even Gary can't do that.
Mick didn't go switch foot but your close, the image has been flipped to go left and then flipped again to go right. The double flip is the latest way to confuse people, you can't even tell it's been flipped.
Did I say Frasier Island, I meant the north coast of Tassie.
Been searching through Sean Dohertys Pilgrimage-50 places to surf before you die.
What page is this one on??? :-)
The only way you will get this on is to be in Europe when the charts blow up with the right swell. I did a similar trip to another African country in 96 and scored what I still say was the best surf I had ever. Perfect rights and no one around. The issue you have is to get there it takes about 32 hrs by plane and then many hours of driving and that is the quickest I have found so far. I have no doubt it was a one day swell as well from looking at the charts of 2016 from the Beauro in that area. Cost alone will knock about 99% of the world out of getting there.
There are a few meteorological , archaeological , and geographical clues . But the biggest clue remains in clear site . Micks year would tell a tale , and the timing / dropping of this clip would be the main method of putting people off the trail .
This isn't waiting for a big swell go scenario , it's wait for a rare swell . But be brave enough to travel before it forms .
dead right southman, one would have to wait for an east swell squeezing between two islands and hitting the tip of a third island, just as the cool change came through. Straight away you think Port Albert and it's outer banks, don't you. ;-)
There is a great spread in SW mag. Lots more photos and page after page of endless froth.
All this debate is mute. Get on with your lives.
Just heard of a new reef break about latitude 55 deg S, looks epic but not going to tell a soul.
Dudes (Stu) come on--isn't anyone 'sick to their stomach' with Rip Curl 'Exploiting' more waves--just so they can put 'stinking money in their pocket. Nobody remembers Salina Cruz? Hey-- even if Rip curl is an Aussie company--lets call a snake--a snake. If I was an Aussie--I'd boycott Rip curl in a heartbeat--just liked I've stopped buying other surf industry garbage years ago (these surf companies are not your friends)--they care about one thing it seems--'their bottom line'......
I reckon the brouhaha on secret spots is overdone. Sure, Ripcurl only care about their bottom line. But don't most companies? Ripcurl isn't anybody's friend; true again, they're a business. And they exploit the earth's resources. How many other companies do that? They may be, most likely are, bastards but GoogleEarth is probably exposing more secret spots than Ripcurl and the surfing mags put together. Keep using Google's app and the cash registers at Google keep on ringing.
I'm just amazed at how many surfers surf at spots they discovered themselves. Must be nearly everyone. Never looked at a mag, never looked at Wannasurf, never read a book on surfing Australia's east coast.
If this new spot has never been surfed before, and the locals aren't interest in surfing because they have more urgent matters like trying to survive, who is Ripcurl's latest advertising campaign actually hurting? The video is outrageous but we all had to look.
Why let all those great waves flow through unridden? Wouldn't a bit of extra economic activity help the locals have a better quality of life or at least afford a toilet? Ask yourself if you're being a bit selfish about it. No one likes the prospect of larger crowds but the surfing population is always increasing so they may as well spread out. Go ahead and boycott the surfing companies if you think their advertising is exploitive, but could someone please ask Need Essentials to make a 38" board short if we're going to put Ripcurl and Billabong out of business.
Dude--lame reply. Surf and exploit a place and let Rip curl get away with it. Then bring in a decadent Western influence (drugs, alcohol, loose morals, to help ruin a society). I sponsor a couple of kids in 3rd world nations now through responsible organizations, maybe you should start their, if you want to change the world-- (if every surfer sponsored one child--they're would be over a million changed lives). Maybe someone should go back to Salina Cruz, interview the local Elders, moms and dads, and see if they think the rip curl rape of their point--really changed their town for the good. And if you haven't read the news, the Billabong CEO just went to jail for about 10 years, (and it looks like most surf companies are struggling to survive ) Rip curl included). Maybe this will be the one that sinks Rip curl. Who wants to wear a t or surf trunks from a company that only cares about their 'bottom line' and wants to take a dump on the surf community.
From shooting a video - to ruining a society - to jail. Really, really long bow.
I think we can cross Somalia off the possible list of location shttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-14/somali-pirates-hijack-commercial-s...
Surfed it about 3 months ago at half the size.
It will be firing on Sunday and probaby into Monday. Problem is its 3 hours from my house and its the wifes birthday.
Same spot?
Remember sand bottom waves can change quite a bit.