Capturing the Moment

Your Best Source of Local Info No Swimming Allowed   I just returned from one of the most dangerous surfing spots in the world. Reunion Island has crystal clear tropical water with ultra-consistent waves, however the world class waves like St. Leu are going unridden. There are the typical dangers of powerful waves breaking over a razor sharp shallow reef (I am still  nursing a few scrapes and cuts), but this is not why thy lineups are empty. There have been 19 shark attacks since 2013 along the west coast of Reunion Island, and surfers seem to be the main target. Residents, surfers, and concerned politicians have tried everything from shark nets to enforcing an all-out ban on surfing. Lifeguards now act more as beach monitors, making sure no one goes into the water. Surfers however, are surfers through and through and will still find ways to go out. After a short respite from the attacks the surf community was rattled again a month ago as a surfer lost an arm a...

  The judges podium Sets rolling in              Cloudbreak A boat from nearby Tavarua Island watches on as surfers in the distance catch massive waves at Fiji's Cloudbreak   When I first saw the movie "Endless Summer II" I wanted to be good enough to travel the world to surf. Luckily after a few seasons in Hawaii I am just getting to that level where I can handle most anything that is thrown my way. However I never thought that I would surf a wave like Cloudbreak. In the movie the two stars head to the outer reef, about an hour boat ride, only to see a low lying cloud hovering over the ocean. It turns out this is just the sea spray and white wash from massive waves crashing against the outer reef near Tavarua Island. This was is known as cloudbreak to the international community and that movie really put it on the map. It is still a 45 minute boat ride to get there from the main island, and it is stil...

Frigates Passage, Fiji View from the boat Long walls at Frigates    The big reason for coming to Waidroka, on the south east corner of the main Fijian island of Viti Levu, was to surf a wave way out at sea called Frigates. Frigates is a reef passage that picks up way more swell than any of the local breaks. It takes about an hour to drive out there by boat but it is usually worth the extra effort. We spent the last two days exploring Frigates above and below the waves, and sometimes right through them! Just under the surface- Frigates Checking out the wall at Frigates Twilight Cavern   The reason that Frigates has such massive waves is because the force of those waves from the south are totally unobstructed until they smash upon a huge wall rising from the depths here. Our mission today was to explore that wall. What we found is that instead of being a solid wall, it is pocked with deep canyons, swim throughs, and caverns. Light filters down thro...

It has been a slow summer. So it has been until now that I have gotten out into some surf with my buddy's GoPro camera. It mounts on the front of the surfboard and has a super wide angle lens to capture a much larger area even at close range. Having the camera on the board also give you some idea of how big the wave is, although it can be misleading if I am the top of a wave vs at the bottom. The south swell was wrapping into the bay perfectly this morning. The wind was non-existent. And there were only a few other surfers out. A perfect combination.   The tide was low so I had to watch out for shallow coral when the waves would close out on me. I think I stayed in the waves a little longer than I normally would if I didn't have the camera attached. But if you don't have a pro photographer following you to each session the Go Pro can be a great addition. It also lets me critique my surfing style from an angle I have never seen before.