Weird & Wonderful Surf Spot Names (& How They Got Them) 

Here's a story about "Phantoms" on the North Shore of Oahu. I first came there in 1983 and I rented a room from Tom Montali who became a mentor for me, teaching me about the different breaks and what swell angles make them good. I was surfing Sunset and Back Yards a bunch because I could walk there. When there was a big west swell, I noticed that a really nice big peak started to show up across the channel from Back Yards when it was about 8'+ (Hawaiian scale) but only on the West swells. I asked Tom "what's that big phantom peak?" He didn't know so I asked Robbie Naish who was the best windsurfer at Back Yards and Robbie didn't have a name for it either. Then I asked Marvin Foster who was the only guy that I had ever seen surfing it (along with two of his friends) and Marvin had no answer. Marvin and his friends were also the only guys that I had ever seen surfing Avalanche outside of Haleiwa. Marvin was also the only guy who I had ever seen going left at big Wiamea Bay. He would do that over and over and never get pinned on the rocks. So I went back to Tom Montali and told him that nobody knows what that phantom peak is called. So Tom says "why don't you call it Phantom Peak". So I said "Pantoms sounds better" and so Phantoms it became. It took me a long time to get my nerve up to paddle out for it. It was very difficult to line up at the peak because it was so far out to sea. It kicked my butt a few times trying to take off on the peak and I broke a good board after having gotten it right for a good while. I've been able to get deeply barreled there and then connect it into the smaller wide wall that it morphs into that reaches all of the way to Velzyland. Then change directions and get a big outside Vland barrel and take that all of the way into the mush that breaks on the beach and step off. I did that a bunch times and I and often surfed there alone. I could count the only guys that would go surf with me out there on the five fingers of one hand. Once, when it was just Paul Moreno and me out there, we went out for a couple hours without ever getting close enough for a conversation again. It was me getting a wave and seeing Paul paddling back out and then Paul on a wave and me paddling back out. Phantoms is one of my favorite waves and for awhile I was living in those trashy old green Vland apartments right there at the beachfront of it. This was before they got bulldozed to build the multimillion dollar homes on narrow lots that occupy it now. Rent was $430 a month for a two bedroom and I could sit on the couch and watch football with an eye on Phantoms through the sliding glass door as the swell grew. I'd abandoned the Super Bowl to paddle out to Phantoms if it was doing it's trick.

Dan. Thanks for making my evening with a drop!

The phrase "Cloud Nine' originally comes from the 13 Cloud formations first designated in the 1890s by the newly-formed U.S. Meteorological Society. Of the formations, the ninth one was the tallest, which is why someone who is extremely happy is considered to be 'on cloud nine'. Although I accept the origin of the surf spot name as Dan says.

The slabby waves on Australia's east coast have names Ive always found amusing. Waves like ; crackneck, banzi, guillotines, no toes, and deadmans .😊

Great stuff as always man!

For the whole of banzai beach my favorite name spot is off the wall 😂 just cause back in the day surfers would sit on this guys wall to watch he waves and hang out and he’d come out like “get off my wall” and so the spot became off the wall 😂 I love Hawaiian name spots for that cause they often just so simple. Like log cabins, there used to be a log cabin there so don’t need to look for to name things 😂 always gives me vibes of dude that didn’t have time to look for fancy names cause they were busy surfing

So good video 🤙

Hi Dan, congrats on another great video. Always enjoy your videos. As some of the other boys have said previously, Australia has some pretty good names. Treachery Sharkey’s Notso’s Impossibles Suck rock Voodoo Cabbage patch Sand shoes Redsands The farm Oily’s Mystics Guillotines Supertubes Blackrock And that’s just the tip of the iceberg… 😂

Trestles: the railroad behind uppers and lowers, are actually trestles (railroad bridges). Churches, where prayers don’t do shit, is a very fun wave before San Onofre State park . Probably a place where surfers would burn their old surfboards hoping to stir up waves, before modern surf forecasting Was a thing

More of this!

really cool book on a guy who spent his entire life fishing snapper rocks. the rocks are now 90 percent covered in sand. it would naturally collect and lose sand however nothing like today. it was an amazing fishing spot supposedly.

Have you heard the story of gums, next to pipeline. The rumor is some guy surfed over there wiped out and broke his gums. Thats how it got the name.... Nice videos keep it up

Nice upload mate. There are plenty of wave names just around Sydney like Deadmans, Voodoo, Mystics ect and what about Shipsterns in Tassie…. Seems Aussies are more imaginative when it comes to wave names 😏

u should check paredes da vitória near nazaré when u come to Portugal again

In Bathsheba this past weekend they held The King of The Bowl with very nice conditions if you would like to see some of the footage see Mark Harris on RU-vid and now back in Florida for another hurricane heading into the west coast of Florida at around 3pm winds hit 175 mph we're on the east coast but we're not taking any chances and battening down the hatches for Wednesday night landfall and yes we're also praying for a bright outcome Helene just hit three weeks ago Anyways another killer video my friend Be well and Safe travels 👍

Keep up the great work with the inspirational and educational surf videos.

Pleasure point, named because of the brothal on the point

Winkipop, a famous surf break near Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia, has a few interesting theories behind its name: 1. Sound of Waves (Most Likely Theory): The most commonly accepted explanation is that "Winkipop" comes from the sound the waves make when they break on the shore. Surfers described the sound as a "wink" or whistle caused by the wind, followed by a popping sound as the waves hit the rocks. This onomatopoeic description led locals to adopt the name "Winkipop." The sensory experience surfers have in the water directly influenced the naming, making this theory the most practical and widely believed. 2. Children’s TV Show: Some suggest that the name may have been inspired by a character or term from the 1950s Australian children’s TV show The Magic Boomerang. The show had a character named Winkipop, and surfers might have taken the name from the show for its playful tone. However, this theory is less likely as it doesn't have a direct link to the surf spot's characteristics. 3. Aboriginal Origins: A third theory posits that the name could have Aboriginal roots, though there is no strong evidence to support this. Indigenous names are often found along the Australian coastline, but this theory lacks substantial documentation. 4. The Crabs Story (Fun but Unverified): One of the more humorous and unverified theories circulating in surf lore is that a man witnessed crabs having sex on the beach and referred to it as "Winkipop," which was his slang for sex. The man supposedly named the break after what he saw. This colorful story reflects the laid-back, cheeky nature of surf culture, where strange and funny names often arise from wild personal experiences or inside jokes. However, it’s more likely a piece of local folklore than the actual reason behind the name. Conclusion: While the crab story is amusing and fits with the lightheartedness of the surf community, the most likely origin of the name is the sound-based theory. Surfers commonly name breaks after unique characteristics of the location, and the distinct "wink" and "pop" sounds made by the waves are a strong, practical basis for the name. Still, legends like the crab story add a fun layer of mystery to the spot! - ChagGPT

playa culito y playa pantaleta