Slab surfing is just a bit more dangerous than your average surfing experience. If in doubt, don't go out. Surfer has a close call experience with the huge ocean boulders and rock beach.
I almost died in Costa Rica this Jan. Was surfing a heavy 8-10 ft day inbetween tamarindo and play grande. No one with me but 71 yr old father. There was heavy insane rips that would drag you what seemed a mile out. Was trying to stay inside the rip zone and got caught in big clean up set. Couldnt get under first wave and my leash broke on me and lost boar out there. Had to make decision to either swim in with the waves or risk getting sucked out with no board. I took the waves. It was super pitchy and hollow day, without board I would rise to top and just get thrown strait down. Dad tried to rescue me but it was too dangerous for us both to float on board cause of the waves slaming us around. He got drive to bottom and bruised chest. I told him to go in and I would just have to figure it out. After what seemed like an hour but prolly only 5-10 min, I finally washed ashore. If i wasnt from texas and used to paddling ass off I would have died. Later that day heard someone died at playa negra not too far away. Could have been me.
You play, you pay. This is the less than glorious side of surfing. It's an endurance sport. The heroes and heroine's that engage in it are incredibly strong and fit. You bet your f'ing ass. I am so glad and thankful the brother made it through.
Guys that surf this kind of place/ waves are on a different/ higher level and I admire them. "For me" even when I was fit, I'd probably (95% sure) never want to try and surf this place
I grew up most of my life surfing the Pacific Northwest swells and being out in waves that are anywhere above 6ft can feel nerve racking and exhausting to paddle through in freezing water. How that guy was even able to keep paddling after getting washing machined like that is an incredible feat of strength and stamina. Most people would have died on that.
Give me a break claiming pacific northwest swells. There are only a few spots in Oregon or Washington that could hope to provide actual waves of any consequence, 6 feet or not, on the best day once a year. All the bullshit about the Strait of Juan de Fuca and this and that are mostly just bullshit. Every wave has it's day, but having lived all over the West Coast and Hawaii, I can attest firsthand that the PNW is no where to live if your goal is surfing.
He looked like he stayed calm, probably knows his water craft and trusted that the jet ski will eventually pick him up. Absolute nightmare if a helicopter winch man had to get him at the bottom. Luckily there wasn't a massive shore break. He was able to paddle around the inside. I live close enough to that spot.
@@frosty_photo Your default needs to be that you can't rely on it, and that you'll need to be able to get yourself out of the shit, in the first instance, not as a last resort.
Great video, but I must say people who go surfing shouldn’t expect help at all times, you should only go out if you’re confident to get in on your own. More and more these days I see intermediate surfers out when they shouldn’t be. It’s great their is a ski out, but you should always know your limits.
He did the right thing, didn't fight it , stayed calm, came further inside, there's only so many waves you can duck dive on a heavy day like this. Its exhausting, I've been in similar heavy seas entering off the rocks in a lull and paddling like hell to get out the back, I never had the luxury of a jet sky ride, coming back in after a session was always sketchy on bigger days as the better surf was always on a pushing tide. Surfers have good stamina and fitness, but you know when to call it a day.
Great presence of mind. It takes a lot to slow down and figure out how the ocean will be your friend in these situations. Tapping into the survival instinct and understanding it’s a slice of wisdom. I’m unsure what went down in the ski pick up, probably exhaustion aye, but maybe a case of repeated training on hookups to the deck?
No joke, it’s not the initial impact that makes you drown, it’s this. Even surfers in warmer climates won’t understand how much extra exhaustion the cold water and being encased in 5ml of rubber, from head to toe, adds. Without the jet ski he’d be in serious trouble.
Yikes!! Been there, done that. Reminds me of the really bad day I had on Maui about 40 years ago. Taught me a valuable life lesson. LOL, then I re-learned that same lesson Whitewater kayaking. Yeah, sometimes you're the pigeon, and sometimes you're the statue.
At first I couldn't tell if they were just dazed from the slam or seriously injured, in which case we might have been observing a real-time drowning. Very disturbing. Glad they were OK.
Unfortunately this was all of the footage that I had from this event. I had to cut it together because I was still filming other surfers waves in between.
Wow! That individual just kept going fighting those insane elements. That’s some serious fitness and determination!! Must have been nice to grab that ski,…
5 paddles forward and then loose 4 stokes back. Over and over again. You must be able to paddle for hours to surf these waves and have great knowledge of waves and beaches. It takes years of experience to get to this level. Period. I use to make surfboards in the USA and sell them in Bali. The ocean is humbling.
UPDATED: His board looks too small. As for "worst case scenario" what i see here is, he is being washed in. Every wave pushes him a little farther to the beach. That's a good thing. Eventually you are on land. My worst case scenario was in normal surf 6-8 foot (head high range) but i was caught in a rip current. And it was like a 30 wave set, nonstop waves for 10 minutes. That was scary because why? Because the wave pounded me, then the rip pulled me back out, to the exact same spot where i just got hit. Then wave#2 landed on me. Each wave by itself was no big deal for me. I know how to duck dive. One of those waves would be fine. But 30 of them, back to back without a break, i began to get exhausted. Then i got nervous. I don't know how much more of this i can take. I was in a washing machine. It wouldn't let me go. Finally the set just stopped. Ocean went calm. I paddled sideways to get out of there. Leaving the rip current. Escaping, i should say. THEN i can paddle to beach, if i wanted to. But you can't paddle to beach when you're in the rip current. Location was Oxnard California.
@@KingMrColin smashed against a cliff (smashed into rocks) is always a bad thing. One time i got really close to a jetty, and so i extended my legs, because i thought i was going to hit it. (get pushed into the rocks) Luckily i dodged it and escaped. Cliff shoreline is another big problem. (no sandy beach)
Hats off to the guy. There was a few times there when I thought he was going to pull the pin altogether., One way or another. Anybody that knows that feeling when you're beyond exhausted, orientation is all fucked up, nothing more to puke up, not even foam, pins and needles on the brain, and then something shifts. Mother ocean graciously allows you to live to play again. Too bad about the lengthy minute or so of rocks and water in the clip. Kudos to both guys.. A helluva place to do support as well. What a great St Patrick's Day hangover cure. 😂 Great clip, people.🙏
jesus this is way worse than anything i've ever been in. triple overhead was the heaviest i've surfed and i got caught inside on a big set. thrashed me around so good my head was ringing and thought i was gonna run out of air at the end. i had to just get to the stairs as fast as possible and just sat there trying to catch my breath and spitting out water from my lungs and sinuses. learned my limits that day lol huge respect to the chargers that go out on these big ass slab days
Fortunately, the current pushed him away toward the rocks in less turbulent water where he could breath all right. Sometimes, the current keeps you right in front of the heavy close outs. Frightening place to be.. Stay safe out there
Back in the old days at Waimea Bay there were no jetskis and helicopter baskets were fishing guys out all the time. But this guy had to read the water carefully and he positioned himself very well between the points of whitewater and he relied on the current to draw him away from the rocks (that's hairy). Dude kept his nerves despite his exhaustion. Could have turned out bad had he tried to go in through the rocks.
I got caught inside at the Alamo at Montauk Point during the Halloween swell from the Perfect Storm. All of Long Island was closed out except that break, even Turtles. Just me and two other guys out. There was no sand where I was, just rocks that the Corps of Engineers put in. A dozen wave watchers were at the top of the rocks. I bet they had no idea the spot I was in. It was a long fifteen minutes. And, yes, I was scared but no room for panic.
@Lily Gazou thanks. I haven't surfed places like DP in decades. In the late 70s to early 80s there were lots of really good days with fewer than eight or ten in the water. A couple of times I had it all to myself at head high. Then the Gidget factor hit. By the mid-nineties it was a skate park.
As someone who has surfed for 60 years, I should be able to say I've been there...but fortunately I haven't. I can only imagine what his state of mind is.
I had a similar situation with 5 meter waves in Portugal. O was saved by another surfer who pointed me to right direction so I could survive. Humbling for sure
Fatigue makes a coward out of anyone - old mate clearly was in shape, didn’t panic and just plugged away. Nice one! I wonder if he called it a day or went out for another one…?
So heavy. Got caught inside at Killers on Todos Santos Island once. No rescue ski back then. Just one more set wave and I would have been dashed against the boulders.
If you have never lived a similar situation, even with lower waves, you've never surfed enough. The stamina runs out as fast that you only have your mental strength to keep pushing and pushing. Good he still have another wave to ride on
I had a small taste of this surfing after a hurricane on the east coast and the waves were trying to slam me into a jetty. Luckily I made it around the tip of the jetty and simply let the waves take me to the beach. Pretty scary though watching the water slam on those rocks as you are being swept to that and desperately trying to swim away from it
I first surfed decades ago with no safety down in Bude. Took 10 to 20mins to get out to wait for a ride in. Two hours of that was tough. No wet suits either.
That initial over the friggin’ falls was gnarly, then getting pounded into Rocky Road - ugh! Hope he tipped the ski pilot well. Pause in the pounding was good timing.
Thats almost an identical scenario that happened at Jaw in Hawaii. To the T even to the rescue at the rocks. Are we living in a simulation? oh, and, nasty.
It was interesting to see how much the ocean cared about the well being of this surfer. I counted exactly zero fucks that were given. Worst case scenario would also include zero PWCs, unless they were washed up on the rocks somewhere. I would definitely stay at home on days like these.
Getting rag dolled by big white waters can completely drain you of all energy, even being out in 10 foot surf can be exhausting. Just goes to show you that you really have to train if you want surf XL swells like this.
Dude I got fucking WORKED surfing hollow 6' in warm water yesterday, heel edge lip in the head neck adjustment hold down, I don't even know what this would be like
6-8ft and I’m already scared out of my life duck diving continuous pounding set. Let alone this monster waves in sub zero temperatures and suffocating wetsuit! Kudos amigos 🤙🏽
I am a kook for life and here in SE Australia we surf in Autumn and early winter in full 4/3 wet suit gear , 6 mm booties, 3 mm gloves and a hood. Wetsuits these days are very well made and allow for good range of motion, floatation, protection from grazing on rock reefs and superior insulation of body temperature.
Wish i could, shot most of this with a big lens, some of the other footage from my second camera with the smaller lens was corrupted so it wasnt usable
