Shark Island is not a place for a relaxing session. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
If you are the kind of surfer who looks for a session that’ll calm your nerves, Shark Island is not the place for you. If you’re a surfer who looks for a session that’ll keep your heart beating a little faster for the next few months, well, you know where to go.
Shark Island is a a rocky outcropping sitting off the coast of Cronulla, New South Wales, Australia. It’s one of the world’s most notorious slabs, and it’s notorious for good reason. Pound for pound, it’s one of the heaviest waves on the planet, and blowing a take off there usually means ending up on White Rock. That, in case you were wondering, is not a good place to end up. It’s a shallow rock ledge that’s covered in sharp barnacles waiting to flay the skin from your body. The barrel created by the bathymetry there is unique, generally wider than it is tall, and the lip it throws is oddly thick.
“Shark Island has to be one of the most incredible waves that you can ride on a bodyboard,” said Australian bodyboarding veteran Dave Winchester. “It breaks quite close to the land, it is extremely shallow, and the locals charge harder than anyone. Although many people have been hurt there, it’s a break that you just want to go to and score. It’s so good.”
The video you see here was filmed by Shaun Petersen of Helihaus.tv.
“Shark Island doing what it does best,” Petersen wrote. “Serving big, glassy perfection while trying to kill you at the same time!”
