Remember Koa Smith’s Octotube at Skeleton Bay? Of course you do. We all do. Nobody can forget that wave and the viral craze that followed it. Well, this particular wave can put Koa’s 2018 banger into perspective.
For reference, that eight-barrel phenomenon lasted two surreal minutes. This drone footage follows another set wave along the sandbank with a still-unthinkable runtime of two minutes. The wave appears to be smaller than Koa’s but if you’re up for making comparisons you can still recognize many of the same sections and rhythm of the wave as it runs through the sandbank. Barrel. Foam ball. Flattens out. Rinse and repeat. And this wave was occupied by three different people, not just one.
The wave shuts down on the first surfer while in their second barrel. It’s still a heaving, thick tube at this point. The next person up is a boogie boarder working to stay as deep as possible and waiting for a barrel section that only appears in brief moments before eventually swallowing them up too. By this point, we’re a minute in and the wave looks like it’s running right up to the sand. Contestant number three drops into a section that is now significantly smaller at about head high.
It’s tough to imagine how gassed anybody would be just trying to navigate one or two barrel sections on this wave, let alone eight. And watching these three give it their best shots until Skeleton Bay inevitably runs each and every one of them down in the process is a testament to how special the place is.
