A TOLLs
The hold-downs at Cloudbreak
are like nothing else in surfing.
In fact, it’s widely accepted the
easiest place in all of surfing to cop
a double-wave hold-down is right
here. Blow the take-off up the point
where you get thrown down into
the deeper water, and you won’t
return to the top in time for the
wave behind it to land on you.
A good policy for your first fewwaves out here is to take the last
wave of each set for this very reason.
Out here, your best landmark
is underneath you. Kelly Slater is
famous for having this place wired,
because he knows where to sit. Watch
Kelly closely out at Cloudbreak, and
he’s always looking below. And that’s
where the secret lies.
The long fingers of reef will guide
you. Each finger of reef has its ownbirthmark to look out for. Maybe
there’s a coral head on it, or it’s a
thinner (or wider) finger than the
ones around it. Learn the fingers and
which ones to sit on, and finding
your own honey pot out here – and
at many other reefs around the world- is achievable in your first session
off the boat!
Cloudbreak as you’ve never seen it before. From the very top of the Atoll where the waves
break long and straight, before descending down the outside flank and refracting the swell
back out into deep water. Draw a line from the contest tower to the big WSL boat in the
channel, and that part of the reef is Shish-kebabs, where giving mercy isn’t her strong suit.
PHOTO: GIBSON