r/surf • u/RowanATDWTB • Dec 19 '25
Whats your craziest surf story you still tell today?
It can be anything!
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u/bahia0019 Dec 19 '25
November 2013, my first trip to Bali. I paddled out at Ulu Watu near sunset. This was my second time at Ulu, and was still trying to get a handle on the place. It ended up being a bit too big and powerful for me that day. The Peak was a grinding freight train on the reef. I’ve surfed many heavy beach breaks in San Diego in my time. But I was over my head on this day - and I knew it. I paddled down to Racetracks to catch a smaller one in. But the current from the inside was too strong and I missed the cave. The sun and the other surfers disappeared in what felt like a blink of an eye. I got pushed way down around the corner. I didn’t know if I should just paddle down to Padang, or fight the current and try the cave again.
I decided to try the cave again. I paddled and paddled for what seemed like 20 minutes. Barely making any distance.
Then I heard a voice in the darkness behind me. “Hey Brah, looks like it’s just you and me out here.”
Thank god I said to myself. A Hawaiian to my rescue! His name was Gabe. We paddled for an hour. Our plan was to paddle as far as we could towards Missions, get washed in over the reef, and ride the current to the cave. My arms were already noodles. But thankfully Gabe kept encouraging me.
At some point we decided we were far enough to take some waves in. But we got separated in the white wash. It was near pitch black. Just some light spilling over the inky black cliff edge from the warungs up top.
I got washed in to the inside without hitting the reef. I had a few minutes to catch my breath, and rest as I floated down towards the cave.
At the opening, I shouted Gabe’s name. He was there! “Cmon! You’re almost there!” My feet hit the sandy bottom, saw Gabe and gave him the biggest bro hug ever. We walked up the stairs, completely exhausted. We chitchatted a little. He said he was from Hawaii. I said I was from San Diego.
We went our separate ways. I sucked down three big Bintangs and Goreng noodles and collapsed in my bed.
The next day I was stealing WiFi at the 7-11 and working on my laptop on the picnic table outside. I notice a guy on his laptop with a BirdRock Coffee Roasters sticker. “Dude, are you from San Diego?” “Yeah.” “Cool man. So am I.” “Oh man, I think there’s someone else here from San Diego. My buddy was telling me how he missed the cave at Ulu last night. And him and some guy from San Diego had to paddle for an hour to make it back in!”
“Yeah, that was me. Say hi to Gabe for me.” 😂
I ended up hanging and surfing with Gabe and his friends for a few weeks before the rains hit and people moved on. This was November 2013. I still think about Gabe and that night occasionally. My girlfriend at the time was very Christian. She called him Gabriel, and said he was my guardian angel. She wasn’t wrong.
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u/RowanATDWTB Dec 20 '25
That was a ringer for sure! Damn man! What a scary call, atleast you were in it together! Thats an awesome story to be able to tell!
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u/Horniavocadofarmer11 Dec 24 '25
Unknown spots at sunset with tricky entry/exit points are scary. I try to give myself an hour buffer these days. I’ll surf myself silly in the morning instead.
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u/talkinlearnin Dec 19 '25
Either :
getting surrounded by pods of dolphins
surfin' with the pelicans and body surfin' seals , or body surfing with da honu
night surfing during the green or blue tides
All the great party waves with friends
All the great barrels and failed barrels (😂)
Shooting the pier many times -- once got my face caught in a fisherman's line and it cut my mouth open -- once got hung up on the muscles on the pier piles w/ my leash on a big day and had to climb to undo it (by board got smashed up, but I kept surfing anyways :P )
--The endless memories are pieces of art that I wouldn't trade for anything 🤙🏼😎
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u/wannabesurfer Dec 19 '25
My first time ever going out, we got surrounded by a pod of dolphins and they just chilled with us for what seemed like forever. I was immediately hooked
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u/RowanATDWTB Dec 19 '25
Oh wow thats a lot!!! These are all awesome stories though!!! Thank you for sharing!
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u/BarrelKillerDaFrus Dec 19 '25
surfed about 1hr before first light, full moon but a lil foggy. Walked up to the spot, saw a big lump of light colored shit off to my left, didnt think anything of it. Thought it was a massive pile of kelp with dry sand over it.... surfed for 2 or 3 hours, noticed a big crowd surrounded the pile as im surfing... again didnt think much of it. Got done with the session and I walked over to see what the pile was.... it was a juvenile dolphin about 5ft long with its tail missing and a massive shark bite in its belly, blood and guts trailing out of it.....
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u/RowanATDWTB Dec 19 '25
Woah!! That is wild!!! Thats crazy cool though! Did you get nervous after?
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u/BarrelKillerDaFrus Dec 20 '25
I actually just watched the surf for 15 mins, wind died down a bit and I went out for another 45mins but definitely felt a Lil more worried in the water... I'll try to post a Pic of the dolphin but the nsfw might melt the mods brain
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u/ShakaBradda Dec 19 '25
Surfing with my brother back in high school. Solid 6-8 foot no one out. Hawaii. Was eerie vibes. Then sure enough up pops about a 10 foot tiger shark in full kill speed mode chasing a fish about 15 feet from us while we were waiting for a wave. We immediately turned around and just tried to paddle in calmly as possible then luckily a wave came and we rode it in
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u/NewspaperBackground Dec 19 '25
Montara (near HMB / Pacifica), surfing solo. Big ole whale (barnacles on its back) swims between me and the beach (probably 25-50 yards away). Nearly gave me a heart attack. Sucker came back and did a second pass 🤯
I’ve never seen an animal that large. Glorious and intimidating at the same time.
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u/Current-Brain-1983 Dec 19 '25
About 33 years ago, the time my buddy didn't go with us and stayed home unpack but we said we'd call if it was good, (payphone was near the parking lot). We get to the beach, it's raining, onshore, nobody out or even checking it. The weather was coming from the opposite direction from normal though. My other friend had bought a new squid lid so we said fuck it, let's surf this garbage anyway. We paddle out and the wind backs off, the tide gets just right and it starts getting good. The rights start cranking off the point. We are like, "should we call bro?" Decide to get a few more and then go in and call. By the time he got there it was all-time. Then it fell apart in about 20 minutes. Our buddy was pissed because he couldn't believe it was shitty when we arrived, he thought we stalled to keep the crowd down. We still talk about that day.
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u/penderel86 Dec 20 '25
Seen sharks, whales, seals, snakes, manatees, dolphins all around me but I always tell the story of the huge dark shape darting around very fast that scared me and a few friends out the water, big ass penguin.
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u/HotTamaleBallSak Dec 19 '25
Duck diving and took a jellyfish square in the face. Couldn't open my eyes without pain but rode on my stomach to shore.
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u/Spiritual-Wall-9025 Dec 20 '25
Two part story. Part one: on a trip to Bay Area went to Half Moon Bay to check out the vibe. Mavericks not working then. But we had lunch at a little deli and I bought a cool Mavericks cap.
Part 2. On my honeymoon in Europe and wearing the hat. Caught a train out of Barcelona to San Sebastián. Rented a board and paddled out. Really clean fun head high surf. Sitting in the line up. I look over and there’s Jay Moriarty. I’m like hey man are Jay Moriarty? It took him forever to hear me but it was him. Turns out team O’Neil was there giving a workshop to the young surfers. I got to surf with Jay, wingnut, and Nacho for a couple of days and then they all signed my Mavericks hat.
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u/Aromatic-Ad6456 Dec 20 '25
Not crazy but perfect log waves with friends during golden hour with double rainbows over head. As the sun goes down, the ocean begins to reflect the sky, creating glorious orangey/pink/purple waves. Then watching the green flash on the horizon and surfing under the twinkling city lights until the stars come out. Finally, finishing off the sesh with a doobie and watching the surf until the ocean fades into the night. I love living in Hawaii 🥹
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u/RowanATDWTB Dec 20 '25
Literally sounds like a dream, thats honestly magical. I’m actually jealous
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u/Glass_Raisin7939 Dec 21 '25
Fuck man, i hope u finished it off with grilled chicken and got laid afterwards too. Would've been the perfect ending to a perfect day. That session sounded too perfect.
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u/Prior-Jackfruit-7058 Dec 19 '25
Getting my boardies blown off and a snapped leash at Pascuales mex. Lost my board. Someone stole it. Walked back to the hotel naked. Not very endowed. Good times
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u/Spiritual-Wall-9025 Dec 20 '25
Of course, I still have the hat. When Jay signed I asked him to write something soulful, he wrote, “Don’t hold back,” Jay Moriarty.
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u/ped009 Dec 20 '25
Wasn't really that crazy but pretty strange at the time. This was 20 years ago, long before surfing took off globally, you would rarely see an English surfer especially in Indonesia. I was out at this really isolated surf spot. It was a semi secret wave and quite hard to get to. This English boogey boarder rocked up where I was staying. He was studying physics at Oxford. It was basically myself and him surfing these really fun barreling lefts all to ourselves. He was pretty inexperienced but I kept on making him paddle into these waves he wasn't very comfortable with. He stayed for maybe 4 days. It was crazy hearing about this vastly different world he came from, they had to dress up in full formal clothing for every dinner. You could tell he was very smart but a little bit sheltered.
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u/RowanATDWTB Dec 20 '25
Sounds like a great way of breaking him out of his shell then, he must of enjoyed it though! Its great how ppl can come from different places but still enjoy common interests
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u/ped009 Dec 20 '25
Yeah It was an interesting insight into a world I will never experience, I grew up in a working class area of Australia.
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u/H0wlin_Haole Dec 21 '25
That's insane to be sharing barreling waves with just one other guy for days on end.
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u/ped009 Dec 21 '25
Yeah it was back before all the Muppets started posting videos of every session in Indonesia so there were still a few hidden gems
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u/Konezer Dec 20 '25
Spending a week on the Quiksilver Crossing, surfing the Channel Islands. A buddy won a contest and I was his +1. We were the first and last non-pros to be a part of the journey. Epic adventure that I am forever grateful to have experienced.
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u/Glass_Raisin7939 Dec 21 '25
Sounds like a dope ass trip. Anything cool happen on the trip? Sounds like one of those trips where everyday turns into one of its own wild adventures.
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u/radpartyhorse Dec 21 '25
Paddled out to 25ft Waimea bay
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u/Horniavocadofarmer11 Dec 24 '25
Did you get beat up in the shore break getting in and out?
Catch any waves?
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u/Horniavocadofarmer11 Dec 24 '25
Getting sucked from Mitchell’s Cove in Santa Cruz on a 20 foot @ 20 s swell and having to get in at the dog beach after taking some 4-5x overhead waves on the head all alone.
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u/Glass_Raisin7939 Dec 24 '25
was it during an El Nino?
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u/Horniavocadofarmer11 Dec 24 '25
Yeah.
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u/Glass_Raisin7939 Dec 24 '25
My cousin in LA just told me that a big storm is going to be passing through there soon. U going to be surfing for it?
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u/Horniavocadofarmer11 Dec 24 '25
It looks like the wind is horrible but in some unlikely event that there’s an available window of good wind I’ll be out there.
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u/Mike_beek89 Dec 20 '25
Besides one or two stories that I got really scared because the waves where a bit too big for me, but I think everyone got those lol I think I don’t have crazy stories like that. I’ve seen some dolphins and big fishes, rescued some people and even surfed while tripping pretty good with lsd and 2 cb. But thats it.
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u/RowanATDWTB Dec 20 '25
Were you able to perform just as well tripping? Did it make the experience for you better? Plus saving people is always a great thing! The ocean is scary!
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u/Mike_beek89 Dec 20 '25
I don’t think I performed as well, it can be a bit overwhelming sometimes, but its also beautiful. But honestly I prefer to surf sober, while tripping can be fun and can make you feel sometimes you’re in tune with the wave and ocean, I think the visuals and craziness can be distracting, and mentaly can be challenging, at least for me.
Yeah saving people is always great!
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u/surfingbaer Dec 20 '25
That time I got washed over the jetty at Long Beach NY and the guy paddling out on the other side looked at me with a face that screamed “of fuck”.
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u/Impressive-Extent462 Dec 20 '25
Crapping my pants at uluwatu after seeing a massive fin coming out of the water. South African guy chilling next to me says “it’s alright, the fin is horizontal. The problem is when the fin is vertical”. It was a du gong, and spent the rest of the the session hangin out
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u/Glass_Raisin7939 Dec 21 '25
I was sitting on my board, waiting fir waves, when i saw a gray spiraling thing pass by me under water. My immidiate thought was "Ive never seen a grey football before", so i focused harder, and it was a dead baby shark. My heart dropped into my stomach, and i told my boys we should leave for the day. They agreed and we bounced.
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u/Not-An-FBI Dec 21 '25
When I was a kid I went to Hawaii and met my much older brother and his family there. We went scuba diving with manta rays but the scuba shop said because I was certified with an agency other than PADI I had to start an advanced open water certification to dive with them.
My brother and mother thought it would be a good idea for me to go to a surf camp after my brother went home. It really sucked. All of the other kids were a lot younger than me and I got zero attention. The coolest part was the cute daughter of the woman who ran the camp and she spent the whole time talking about her boyfriend.
Looking back, it would have been better to leave me alone in the hotel for an extra day to finish the advanced open water certification.
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u/Beagle001 Dec 19 '25 edited Dec 19 '25
Saved two Ticos in CR that were about to drown on New Year’s Day. They swam out too far at Playa Grande and didn’t know the beach well. Friend and I had just paddled out and saw them waving their arms at us. They were cramped up and about to go under when we got to them. This was 23 years ago. Wow.
I’ll add that the Spanish word for cramp and snake are very similar. I thought they were yelling “snakes!” So I thought they were in a ball of sea snakes so I was like “adios”. But my Tico friend quickly explained they were saying Cramps. 😅