Surfing Life — Issue 337 2017

ATOLL s

The definition of an atoll is

‘a submerged island’. The

Pacific Ocean is full of them,

and there’s no better surfing

definition of this than Fiji’s

Cloudbreak.

A slightly submerged reef

atoll with fingers of reef on its

outer fringes extending out into

deep water.

At low tide on a calm

Cloudbreak day (with a good pair

of booties), you can walk from

one side of the reef atoll to the

other in about 40 minutes. On

the north-eastern flank of this

atoll lies one of surfing’s true

jewels.

You can see the judging tower

at the bottom here, with the

perilously shallow and sharp

stretch of reef known as Shish-

kababs straight out front of the

tower. Further up the reef is the

take-off, and where you take off

depends on your skill level. The

Hobgood twins are renowned for

paddling each other right up into

the reef, where it borders into

deathset closeout territory. >

Matt Wilkinson on his way to winning the Fiji Pro, 2017. After his

victory, Wilko attributed figuring out the lineup and where to sit

for the good ones as his secret to taking out the event. Among the

world’s best surfers, figuring this out, is the difference between a

winner’s cheque and the title lead, and not.

PHOTO: MILLER

Don’t be fooled by

their beauty!