During the same time as Indonesia was getting hammered by “the largest swell in living memory,” Matt Rott had his eye on a sandbar that could possibly have been one of the greatest right-hander sandbars on earth. When he extended the invite for me to join on the adventure, I quickly jumped on a plane from California to meet him, Tyler Reid, and Luke Kilpatrick somewhere pretty obscure on the other side of the world.
Matt has pretty much chased every significant sandbar swell over the past few years so I knew that whether we scored or not, this would be the adventure of a lifetime… taking us somewhere that it was likely no one had ever surfed before.
Read Matt’s full story about this trip over on Surfline: https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/discovery-indian-ocean/36876
Upon first sight, these waves looked perfect, rolling in farther than our eyes could see.
All of those dots in this photograph are horse flies… hands-down the most unbearable and unforgiving part of this trip.
Chocolatey brown goodness.
Tyler Reid
Matt Rott
Luke Kilpatrick
It was MUCH more bearable to be swimming in that nasty water vs. staying onshore.
Just a little too fast.
Matt Rott
Tyler Reid
Matt Rott
Luke Kilpatrick on one of the rare waves that actually stayed open for a little bit.
Sinking down into the opaque water, you couldn’t even see your hands in front of your face. It was also nearly impossible to keep the port of the waterhousing clear from debris and water drops because of all of the junk in the water.
“The wave could’ve been just a touch slower, and just a touch bigger, and just a touch more makeable. It could have been perfect. Maybe the next one will be.”
Ran into this crew on the last day! Read Kepa Acero, Natxo Gonzalez, and Aritz Aranburu’s wild experience here: https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/return-secret-indian-ocean-sandbar/37609