Surfers ride strong waves
Surfers jet in from around the world when huge winter swells start rolling up the Namibian coastline.
One of the most promising big wave surfers on the planet Natxo “Natxete” González is chasing the perfect wave and the ultimate ride of his life at Donkey's Bay on the outskirts of Walvis Bay.
Natxete is among a group of more than 50 surfers including a number of professionals and some bodyboard riders from Australia, Spain, USA, South Africa and New Zealand, who arrived on Wednesday in search of the biggest and best waves to ride only on offer in Namibia.
He can take on any type of wave and has travelled the world to prove it since announcing himself to the global stage with a win at the Punta Galea Challenge, a big wave event that earned him a wildcard into the Big Wave Tour (BWT) event in Punta de Lobos, Chile at the age of 17 in 2013.
At the time, he was the youngest ever invitee to a BWT competition.
González says the timing is perfect due to prevailing weather conditions coupled with strong currents playing along and producing some excellent and consistent swells hitting the Namibian coast.
“Surfing at this venue is an item on the bucketlist of any surfer that needs to be ticked off. The ideal time for world class waves is from May to September, when cold fronts which hit South Africa send swells up the west coast towards Namibia. We are fortunate to be here at the right time, in the right place and to experience the best waves and ride the longest barrels in the world.”
Namibia was a virtually unknown destination for surfers and its 1 572km of daunting desert coastline was largely overlooked by the surfing world until 2008 when the winner of Surfing Magazine's 'Google Earth Challenge' paid Donkey's Bay a visit along with Cory Lopez, Peter Mendia, Hank Gaskell and Mitch Coleborn.
The longest sand-bottomed stretch of rolling waves left in the known universe then suddenly came to light when Surfing Magazine unveiled a wave called Skeleton Bay and set a new benchmark for the perfect wave.
Lopez famously pulled into a freakishly long barrel ride few could get their heads round at the two kilometre-long runway of sand which offers surfers the chance to ride the longest tubes of their lives as well as doing so deep inside the curl of the wave.
Today Surf Europe ranks Donkey's Bay as the number one place where the world's longest waves with a length of between 150 to 300m on a good day occasionally occurs.
Swell sizes start working from 1m to 1.5m and holds up to between 2m in height.
Due to it being located in the southern hemisphere the surfing season normally runs from May to September.
Subject to a limited swell window, Donkey's Bay might only turn on a couple times a year since it needs a big and long-period groundswell fuelled by the roaring forties which have to wrap in at just the right angle in order to produce some of the fastest and thickest sand-dredging tubes on the planet.
To top it all off, the wave is often influenced by super strong tidal rips, backwash and strong offshore winds.
OTIS FINCK
Natxete is among a group of more than 50 surfers including a number of professionals and some bodyboard riders from Australia, Spain, USA, South Africa and New Zealand, who arrived on Wednesday in search of the biggest and best waves to ride only on offer in Namibia.
He can take on any type of wave and has travelled the world to prove it since announcing himself to the global stage with a win at the Punta Galea Challenge, a big wave event that earned him a wildcard into the Big Wave Tour (BWT) event in Punta de Lobos, Chile at the age of 17 in 2013.
At the time, he was the youngest ever invitee to a BWT competition.
González says the timing is perfect due to prevailing weather conditions coupled with strong currents playing along and producing some excellent and consistent swells hitting the Namibian coast.
“Surfing at this venue is an item on the bucketlist of any surfer that needs to be ticked off. The ideal time for world class waves is from May to September, when cold fronts which hit South Africa send swells up the west coast towards Namibia. We are fortunate to be here at the right time, in the right place and to experience the best waves and ride the longest barrels in the world.”
Namibia was a virtually unknown destination for surfers and its 1 572km of daunting desert coastline was largely overlooked by the surfing world until 2008 when the winner of Surfing Magazine's 'Google Earth Challenge' paid Donkey's Bay a visit along with Cory Lopez, Peter Mendia, Hank Gaskell and Mitch Coleborn.
The longest sand-bottomed stretch of rolling waves left in the known universe then suddenly came to light when Surfing Magazine unveiled a wave called Skeleton Bay and set a new benchmark for the perfect wave.
Lopez famously pulled into a freakishly long barrel ride few could get their heads round at the two kilometre-long runway of sand which offers surfers the chance to ride the longest tubes of their lives as well as doing so deep inside the curl of the wave.
Today Surf Europe ranks Donkey's Bay as the number one place where the world's longest waves with a length of between 150 to 300m on a good day occasionally occurs.
Swell sizes start working from 1m to 1.5m and holds up to between 2m in height.
Due to it being located in the southern hemisphere the surfing season normally runs from May to September.
Subject to a limited swell window, Donkey's Bay might only turn on a couple times a year since it needs a big and long-period groundswell fuelled by the roaring forties which have to wrap in at just the right angle in order to produce some of the fastest and thickest sand-dredging tubes on the planet.
To top it all off, the wave is often influenced by super strong tidal rips, backwash and strong offshore winds.
OTIS FINCK
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