Six of The Sickest, Most Secret Surfing Swells

To some, surf­ing is an adren­a­line sport; to oth­ers, it’s a spir­i­tual con­nec­tion to Earth. Regard­less the size of wave you chase, the sport is an excuse to dis­cover  new and excit­ing seascapes—and there are still plenty of unknown swells to add to your bucket list. Pack your bags and get started.

Here are some of the sick­est, most secret waves in the world:

Black Rock, Aus­tralia
Locals call this spe­cial place the “Aussie Pipe,” which is 100 miles from Syd­ney to Jervis Bay – the clos­est town to the reef break. Just south of Bood­eree National Park, surfers need to expect a 10 to 15-minute walk along a trail, which leads to the east point of Wreck Bay or Sum­mer­cloud Bay. Known to have the best waves on the east coast, the rides are short but excit­ing with eight foot super hol­low bar­rel­ing on the left with a four to five foot right.

Rin­con, Puerto Rico
Rin­con is a small town located on the west coast and known to be the surf­ing jewel of the Caribbean. The locals are not too keen on hit­ting the waves as they range from two to 40 feet in height. This penin­sula fea­tures nine named surf­ing spots on the south and seven named on the north. Although there are many waves in between, the swells are con­sis­tent and the West Coast Surf Shop offers expert advice about trade winds and when to surf at what loca­tion and time.

The IDK, Mentawai Islands
The IDK, or “I don’t’ know,” swells were that secre­tive that no one named this region accord­ing to surfer, Tyler Wright. Her expe­ri­ence included swells com­ing from extremely deep water, which con­cocted bar­rels. To find this spot its best to take a char­ter with Quest 1 and chat with long­time surf guide, Cap­tain Albert Tay­lor, and head to the south­ern most area of the islands – sit­u­ated west of Indone­sia in the Indian Ocean.

Mal­dives
This coun­try com­prises of 1,192 islands and count­less surf breaks. Best time to surf is April through Octo­ber (March and Novem­ber offer excel­lent weather). The islands are bro­ken into three sec­tions, north, cen­tral and south Atolls. The south is known to be the last fron­tier and con­tains the most secre­tive swells, but due to pol­i­tics a spe­cial gov­ern­ment boat is required for boats to travel the south­ern waters.

Secret Suma­tra, Indone­sia
This villa and bun­ga­low hotel are foot­steps away from count­less waves – soft to heavy to reef breaks to beach breaks. They cop the brunt of the south and south­west swells of the Indian Ocean and come from the deep­est parts of the ocean in Indone­sia. Peace­ful and solo swells are wait­ing for you.

Boca Bar­ranca, Costa Rica
With very few surfers, you’ll be guar­an­teed a wave-filled day. The long left comes from the river-mouth, which is con­sid­ered the sec­ond longest wave in Costa Rica. Rides can last up to a kilo­me­ter, or 0.6 (near two-thirds) of a mile in Amer­i­can lan­guage. Swells are great for long boards and short boards can catch a lip. Best waves are on the south swell dur­ing low-tide.