Around The World In 80 Waves

By the time I arrived at Waidroka Bay I was running on auto-pilot so I was delighted to be told that a boat was heading out to the famous break called Frigates in the morning because it avoided any decision making on my part. It is named after a gap in the coral reef that was big enough to get the old warships through, called Frigates Passage. 

The waves peel beautifully off the edge of the reef, however it is not accurate to say they break off the island of Viti Levu because it is a surf spot that is 16 miles out to sea and requires an hour boat trip just to get there!

I was joined on the boat by a group of surfers from Australia and a couple of divers because it is also a great spot for checking out the marine life.

Upon arrival at the passage we were delighted to be met by head high waves which were almost mechanical in their perfection and not a breath of wind. This wave was for Peter Kraus, and it might well have been the perfect wave he was always looking for. Just a shame it was a left Pete!

With him in mind I decided I had to try and charge the waves today, without holding back. There were only six guys in the water so my efforts were soon rewarded and I was quickly into a few beautiful rides.

I was once more wearing the boots and helmet to give me some protection from the reef because this was a very serious wave. Everyone had been warning me that the sun here in Fiji was particularly powerful too, so I also added enough zinc sunscreen to have galvanised a frigate!

There was no wind to start the session but it picked up steadily through our time out on the ocean, which made conditions increasingly challenging. You can see me here dropping into another monster, and also the other surfer ducking through the clear water on the left of the shot.

After a few hours I was tired and went back to the boat for lunch, only to be told by the divers on our boat about how many sharks and other marine life they had seen swimming around underneath us. Great!

However it was the wind rather than the angry fish that was the reason for me not getting back in the water here. The morning had been a perfect session and I wanted to treasure that for my friend, preferring to watch the other surfers and enjoy a bit of fishing. By the time I had got back to dry land I had been on board for almost eight hours and can freely admit to almost walking off the side of the jetty due to still being on my sea legs!