TEAHUPOO (Pipeline Waves) Experience
Teahupoo is a little town on the southern coast of Tahiti and is best known for having one of the most challenging, and famous, surfing waves in the world. Every August it hosts the Billabong pro surfing competition. The waves here break quickly and directly onto a very shallow coral reef. The problem for spectators (us!) is that this happens way offshore, so it is impossible to appreciate from the beach. Ever since we stood on the Teahupoo beach during our trip 3 years ago it has been a bucket list item for me to get out and see the waves up close. Well, yesterday we did just that and it was impressive.
A quick google maps search revealed several ‘water taxi’ companies that will take you out to observe the waves and surfers close up. We went with Teahupoo Excursion Taxi Boat, coincidentally run by a lovely person named Michael who has been operating the company for over 20 years. The tour was an hour long. It took about 10 minutes to get out and back which left ~30-40 minutes to just sit out by the waves and watch. We thought the boat would pull up to the calm waters safely behind the reef so we could watch the waves break in front of us. Nope! Michael drove us right out into the thick of it. The waves were literally breaking just meters from our boat.
It was surreal, and nerve-wracking, to sit on a little boat level with the Teahupoo pipeline waves. Watching them rise out of the Pacific Ocean, create the spectacular blue pipeline and then crash onto the reef that sits just a few inches below the surface of the ocean. It was so much easier to appreciate the size and power of these waves from the boat than it was from the beach.
There was a lone body boarder out catching waves when we were there. We were certainly visiting after the prime season, and Michael was sure to let us know that the waves were “not very good” by Teahupoo standards, but we were still able to appreciate the awesomeness of this place. It is simply outrageous what the men and women that surf this break do, bloody incredible. We were able to watch this body boarder catch a handful of waves, which gave us great perspective on just how big the surf was. He was smart in wearing his crash helmet too! As we were about to head in he was wrapping up his session as well and decided to hitch a ride back to the marina with us. Turns out he is from Portugal and is in Tahiti for the waves at Teahupoo (you can see him in the pictures).
Whitney and I had a great time. Scarlett was cautious at first, but then enjoyed it. Nora loved the fast, bumpy ride out to the break but was then completely terrified just sitting out in the waves. She gradually warmed to the experience over the 30+ minutes we were out there, but the first little bit was rough. Hazel just went with the flow as per usual. Afterwards we found some freshly baked coconut muffins at a little road side stand which made everyone happy again!
Anyway, this was a great bucket list item checked off for me. I am always amazed by the guts, courage and perhaps foolhardiness of the worlds best surfers who compete on breaks like this all the time. This experience only fortified that admiration.
Pictures of the day below. My iPhone capabilities are apparent as they don’t give you much insight into the size and power of the Teahupoo waves, but they will (hopefully) bring back the memory for us in the future.
