Page 385 - Hawaii: Diving, Surfing, Pearl Harbor, Volcanoes and More

Teahupo’o and Laird Hamilton

eahupoʻo is a village on the south-west eahupo’o is a reef break. The swells mainly
Tcoast of the island of Tahiti, French Polynesia, Tbreak left, but the outer reef also creates
southern Pacific Ocean. It is known for the surf right breaks that surfers must be cautious of
break and heavy, glassy waves offshore, often when paddling out. Teahupo’o is also renowned
reaching 2 to 3 m (7 to 10 ft), and sometimes up for the consistent number of barrels it delivers. It
to 7 meters (21 feet). It is the site of the annual is a rewarding location and is widely regarded as
Billabong Pro Tahiti surf competition, part of the being on the ‘must-surf’ list of every enthusiastic
World Championship Tour (WCT) of the Associa- surfer. However, only experienced surfers in peak
tion of Surfing Professionals World Tour surfing physical condition should attempt Teahupo’o;
circuit. Bodyboarding pioneers Mike Stewart and heavy waves combined with a shallow shoreline
Ben Severson were the first to surf Teahupo’o in can result in serious injuries and even death in
1986 and it soon became an underground spot a wipeout. Teahupo’o’s legendary reputation for
for thrill-seeking bodyboarders. Few professional wave riding is partly due to its unique form. An
surfers rode Teahupo’o during the early 1990s and extremely shallow coral reef, which ranges up to
it was only in 1998, at the Gotcha Tahiti Pro, that 20 inches beneath the waters surface, is respon-
Teahupo’o became widely recognized as having sible for a very hollow-breaking wave. The wave’s
some of the heaviest waves in the world. On Au- unique shape, with an effect of almost breaking
gust 17, 2000 Laird Hamilton is credited with surf- below sea level, is due to the specific shape of the
ing the “heaviest wave” ever ridden, documented reef beneath the wave. A steep wall of reef causes
in the film Riding Giants. the entire mass to fold onto a scalloped semi-cir-
cle breaking arc.