Been a few swells stirring the reef at Chopes this year, but 20/4 was the biggest thus far.
As usual there was a lineup full of gung-ho locals - save for Matahi Drollet who caught one wave and called it quits, still injured - and a smattering of Hawaiian blowins.
This clip is elevated beyond the usual with some wild behind-the-surfer angles; the cameraman negotiating the tight space between rail and lip.
"That board felt like the starting point for a new life."
The inner mechanics of Russell's mind.
Sniffing out the bounty on land and at sea.
From a day with a low wave count yet high consequence.
Like a hundred social media clips joined together but not on social media.
Seeking darkness on a sunny day.
And Matahi lifts the bar yet again.
Bite size humans in king size waves.
Comments
Hmm, perfectly harmless turquoise glass, looks a piece of piss to me ;)
Did I see the guy in the orange helmet navigate that barrel natural and goofy?
Yeah kauli goes switch and rides bckhand for fun
Those water angles between the surfer and the lip are pretty crazy
Very casual, those local dudes.
Absolute lords in the barrel. I wonder what these guys would look like on an East Coast point break? Still rip?
so mesmerising
some of them it looks like if you make the drop you can just stand there and enjoy the view until you get spit out.
Who has surfed it, and how gnarly is it?
I have zero delusions that I'd surf it at 6ft - but maybe on a sunny, glassy, uncrowded 3-4ft day it'd be doable for mortals?
At 3-4 ft it's not a wave you'd really travel for.
Yeah, it's fun but no more thrilling than, say, small Aussie Pipe, except it ends on live coral.
When it gets to 5-6 ft it starts breaking further out and the voodoo begins.
Cheers, Stu.
This is what I'd travel to Tahiti for (if it breaks a little smaller than that too). But it'd be fun to have a sniff at non-lethal Chopes.
https://magicseaweed.com/news/right-on-in-tahiti/5654/?fb_comment_id=62…
Yeah, hard wave to access, and even harder to get a window with slack winds like that - during surf season at least.
I guess that's one good thing about Chopes, unlike much of Tahiti and surrounds the reef is fairly close to shore so you can access it easily.