Skookumchuk Narrows is home to one of the weirdest waves you will ever see. First of all, it’s nowhere near another wave that breaks in the ocean because it’s tucked away by the entrance of the Sechelt Inlet on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast. Its unique position draws all the water that flows around Vancouver Island to create one of the world’s heaviest tidal rapids, which can reach speeds around 20 mph. The point features what looks like a perfect little — or not so little, really — wave that had one local surfer for a time. Kayakers have frequented the whirlpool/tidal surge for a long time, but a guy named Nick Legge-Wilkinson was the only guy showing up with a surfboard under his arm.
All that makes Skookumchuk a spot Jamie O’Brien and Ben Gravy would absolutely have to surf one day. It was inevitable. They are the godfathers of surf vlogs and their entire livelihoods have surrounded sniffing out weird waves on camera to redefine what the rest of the world deems “surfable.”
As the two showed on their recent visit, you can’t just show up and paddle into a wave there, like you could at any other spot on the planet. Surfing the tidal surge is like learning to ride waves all over again. They brought their camera crews and friends out to Skookumchuk after having their own go and did their best to teach others the ins and outs.
“I tried to foil but that’s just like another level,” O’Brien says before eventually deciding to give it another go…on a foil. “This place is nutty, man. It’s scary. There’s a full barrel over there but I’m not going anywhere near it. I’ve surfed big Pipe, I’ve surfed big Waimea, but those whirlpool rapids are nothing to mess with.”
