Video: Mexico's Todos Santos Turns On For Mega West Swell
As a giant, extreme-angled west swell hammered the West Coast on December 28, it was Maverick’s in Half Moon Bay that stole the show. But about 800 miles south, across the border off the coast of Ensenada, Mexico, Isla Todos Santos was doing its thing. The big-wave break known as Killers definitely lived up to its reputation as sets topped 30 feet.
What separated Todos from Maverick’s was the conditions. Up north, the winds and tides were challenging all day, while down south, the morning was clean and pristine.
“The conditions that day were chingonas! The wind never showed up, we had light offshores. It was such a beautiful morning,” shares Jesús Salazar, who was filming during the day and is dedicated to documenting Mexican surf culture both past and present.
“That’s how you want Todos, no texture,” he continued.
10 Must-See Waves From A Historic Day At Maverick's
Making the trip all the way from England was big-wave journeyman Tom Lowe, who headed out to Todos on the boat with Salazar. Earlier this year, Lowe nearly died while surfing in Tahiti and has been on the comeback road ever since. For him to be able to enjoy a day like this is a beautiful and special thing and speaks to his dedication and passion for riding big waves. An invitee to the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational at Waimea Bay, hopefully we see a lot more of him doing his thing this winter.
The waiting period for the new big-wave event, the Thriller At Killers, at Todos Santos is officially underway. It runs from January through February and will feature the likes of Greg Long, Paige Alms and other chargers when it’s called on. There’s a lot more swell in the water and this El Niño winter is really rolling now. Stay tuned as more waves come in.
Video: Maverick's Goes Giant As Historic El Nino Swell Slams California
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.