It’s hard to grasp exactly how big these waves are until the first surfer arrives about 45 seconds in. Then you mouth drops open.
Surfing massive waves
It’s hard to grasp exactly how big these waves are until the first surfer arrives about 45 seconds in. Then you mouth drops open.
I surfed almost every day for most of my teens and twenties, and I loved the big winter swells San Diego would get pumped out of the Gulf of Alaska. Sunset Cliffs, the Del Mar reefs, and of course Black’s Beach could all handle 10’+ waves and still be totally makeable (Northern Mexico has a couple of breaks that are surfable at 15’+). It’s hard to grasp the kinetic energy of surf that big, let alone these monsters, until you’re paddling out through ‘the channel’ and breaking waves boom like gunshots in your ear from 50 yards away when the lip hits the trough.
They are moving/running/crashing mountains.
This takes place in my country, Portugal! McNamara even has a beach house on a slope nearby this little town. Just watching the surfers live gives you an adrenaline rush. Does it make your bucket list? 😉
To watch? Yes. To photography? Yes. To ride? HELL NO! 🙂