Koa Smith’s name became synonymous with Skeleton Bay a few years back. It was because he posted a few clips of barrels that were — and still are — some of the longest anyone had ever seen. A two minute wave with eight — count ’em — barrels. The surfing world blew up. YouTube was aflame. Since then, Koa has explored quite a bit of this world, and Africa wasn’t excluded. Skeleton Bay is one of his favorite places, so after he was finished up filming for The Ultimate Surfer, he hopped on a plane and got himself there.
It must have a been a big change, trading the slick, man-made Surf Ranch of the vast, wind-swept Namibian coastline. The swell was better than Koa could have imagined, and as you likely know, the current there is strong. Strong current and long waves mean beach laps, of which Koa did plenty. Ten laps, to be exact. He filmed the whole thing from his GoPro’s perspective, and its got everything. From going over the falls and hold-downs to the inside of long draining barrels, Koa’s first-person Skeleton Bay footage is just as amazing as that first time we saw the Octo-barrel.
