Getty Image / Daniel Dreifuss / AFP
Surfers from all over the world flocked to the Bay Area over the weekend when Mavericks, one of the best big wave surfing spots on earth, saw some of the biggest waves in years.
When the conditions are right, and they were on 12/28, Mavericks sees waves up to 60ft high. It’s up there with Jaws, Waimea Bay, Teahupo’o, and Nazare amongst the best big wave surfing locales on the planet. So when the big wave surfing community got wind that Mavericks was about to see epic conditions, everyone who wasn’t in California booked a flight to the Bay Area and drove over to Half Moon Bay.
All of the big names in surfing were there. Ridge Lenny, Kai Lenny’s brother, shared this video of him riding one of the biggest waves anyone has caught this season:
@ridgelenny as terrifying as it was, it felt so good to catch one out there. mavericks is such a wild place 🌊🦈 #bigwavesurfing
The YouTube channel Mavericks Surf Awards uploaded some epic footage. In one video, they captured Rafael Tapia nearly getting ‘vaporized’ as he’s swallowed by the spray kicked up from the crashing wave:
Mavericks Bites Back At Surfing’s Best
Long Beach, NY surfer Will Skudin might’ve taken the crown for the heaviest wipeout of the day. He dropped into this behemoth wave and began to wobble. Then the wave crested and crashed on top of him as his footing on the board was unsure and he gets completely clobbered by one of the heaviest waves of the day:
On another wave, Ryan Augenstein and Matty Lopez each dropped in. Ryan Augenstein was caught on the inside and the wave swallowed him up as he was sucked up into the falls. Catching this Mavericks wipeout in in slowmo 4K is glorious and it’s the among the best surfing footage we’ve seen this Winter season:
Since this is an El Niño Winter it is hard to predict the weather but it’s likely there will be some more monster swells to come. Just as the Summer brought extreme weather conditions, so will the El Niño Winter. So stay tuned for more Mavericks surfing footage and Big Wave surfing clips from around the world.