Jeff Divine: Wave Runner

NOWNESS presents us with a dream guide for surfing from none other than Jeff Divine. The former editor of Surfer Magazine is famous for his Kodachrome photography of the heyday of surfing in 1970s Hawaii, as well as chronicling the beginning of sponsorship and the “professionalization” of the sport during the 1980s in California. His book, Surfing Photographs from the Eighties, has become a classic collector’s item for wave enthusiasts and art appreciators alike. Despite the influx of surf-related merchandise, media and publicity onto the market, Divine maintains that surfing remains a sport for freedom-loving, thrill-seeking individualists. Without further ado, here are top spots from a legend:

The Hole, Mentawai Islands, Indonesia
Called The Hole for its round, doughnut-shaped perfect waves, it’s so remote that there are usually no other surfers. At high tide on a big swell, broken surfboards have been known to be tossed up into the shoreline bushes. It is a beautiful perfect wave that peels down a long reef with a deserted island background.

Lance’s Right, Mentawai Islands, Indonesia
About 12 hours away from The Hole by boat, this wave has the same perfect qualities: tropical lighting and palm-lined sandy beach. The only glitch can be if you happen upon the inside reef there called the “surgeon’s table.” It’s named after Australian Lance Knight, who walked out of his jungle encampment as one of the first surf explorations arrived by boat.

Nine Palms, Baja California, Mexico
A warm water, long-right point on the East Cape of Baja California. Bring your ice chest, umbrella, beach chairs, beers and friends, and you have paradise.

Radar Towers, Iceland
There is a spot near the Blue Lagoon spa called Radar Towers and another point about an hour drive away that is a perfect set-up off a gigantic commercial fishing harbor. The environment is so opposite of everything you have ever experienced in surfing––bizarre, but first world. Locals can’t believe that you go out into the ocean to play.

Teahupo’o, Tahiti, French Polynesia
One of the wonders of the surfing world is a wave outside Papeete at the end of the road called Teahupo’o. The big waves throw out onto a shallow long reef that bends around onto itself. The deep channel is just adjacent to these large gaping waves. You can’t believe how close you are to a natural phenomenon.