July 8, 2014

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South America, Central America and Mexico just enjoyed one of the biggest south swells in years

Update: Click here for the photo and video slideshow

Here's the thing about Playa Zicatela in Puerto Escondido, Mexico: at no other surf spot on earth are the odds stacked in favor of the wave. Kelly Slater rides Pipeline on a six-something quad, surfing as if out on a fun day at Sebastian Left; Jamie O'Brian charges at Peahi on Taiwanese soft tops; Aussie madmen tow into Shipsterns Bluff in the nude. But at Zicatela, the actual name of the beach in Puerto Escondido, you can stand on the shore, scant yards away from a 20-foot pounding shore break tube, and watch the some of the best big wave riders in the world get caught inside, catch the wrong waves, break their boards, pull back as vastly less experienced surfers get waves of the day only to straighten off and get pulverized and even scream in frustration as yet another outrageous set peaks up and reels off just out of reach. It's as if the normal rules of engagement are suspended, resulting in a crazy free-for-all that has to be seen to be believed.
Saturday, July fifth was no exception. By now most of the civilized surf world has seen the clip of Shane Dorian's epic, tip-toe drop into the inside hydraulic, another example of his uncanny cool and total mastery of heavy situations. What the clip doesn't reveal, however, is how that was not only the best wave Dorian caught all day, but the only wave.
"I remember at the time thinking how it was a great warm up wave," says Dorian with characteristic understatement. "I had no idea it was gonna be the only one I'd get. Every time I'd go for a wave I'd either be out of position of they'd be some guy on a nine-foot board paddling on my inside."
When Dorian says "some guy" he means it. On this day, at least, the unknowns had it. How else can you explain the fact that with an all-star crew of big wave hellmen in the lineup, the comment most often heard on the sand was "Who's that?" How these civilian chargers seemed to prevail over the likes of Dorian, Greg Long, Mark Healey, Rusty Long, Skin-Dog Collins, Billy Kemper, Derek Dunfee, Ryan Hipwood, Nick Lamb, Jamie Mitchell, Gabriel Villaran (who at least got the heaviest barrel of the day late in the session) is a mystery. At least Zicatela acalde Coco Nogales maintained some order, catching his share of big waves while being filmed for a Mexican television show. All-in-all it was wild show and one that went far to explain the enduring appeal of the Mexican Pipeline. On a big day it can offer up the tube of a lifetime, but no guarantees. Quite simply, Puerto rules.