Fiji Surf Goes 20-Foot And Perfect On All-Time Swell At Cloudbreak
This week Cloudbreak reminded the surf world exactly what it’s capable of. Hands down, one of the best waves in the world from two feet to twenty, with a giant, offseason swell bombarding Fiji, all the elements came together to create one of the most magic days of wave-riding we’ve seen in a good, long while. Offshore winds and 20-foot barrels were the order of the day as some of the most elite, hard-charging surfers threw themselves over the ledge.
It’s been a few years since we’ve seen a swell of this size and quality at Cloudbreak, which makes the score all the more special. Early footage from the session on March 7 has Australia’s Soli Bailey on one an absolute screamer that rifles down the reef for hundreds of yards. Nathan Florence, Billy Kemper, Kai Lenny, Laura Enever, along with a full crew took on the challenge, and for those that were successful, scored some of the best waves of their life.
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“Visions of a lifetime,” shared Florence on Instagram.
“Today was absolutely incredible, perfect conditions in waves of that size are just mind blowing what an experience,” he continued.
“To be honest when I saw the first bombs come through this morning I wasn’t sure I was going to make it off the boat,” shared Envever, who holds the world record for the largest wave ever paddled into by a woman. “I ended up watching for a while then giving it a crack! I got to be front row to some of the craziest tubes I have ever seen, I got some visions, some beatings, lost my earrings but learnt a shit ton!”
It’s been less than 24 hours since the session at Cloudbreak went down and there’s certainly more big-wave drama to come in the ensuing days. Stay tuned for updates.
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With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.