Dylan Graves has made a living surfing weird waves, from narrow rock cervices to barrels draining inside harbors to freezing arctic swells. But his latest surf oddity scared the hell out of him — an Australian tidal bore that he called “the most intimidating wave I’ve ever surfed, hands down.”
Graves linked up with pro surfer Anthony Walsh to seek out a powerful tidal bore wave in the Kimberly region of Western Australia. Even though a local friend warned that it’s a “boat-killer” and to “not go anywhere near it,” the two set out on a journey to be the first to ride the wave. This phenomenon occurs on the Kimberly coast as water moves in and out of an area known as King Sound from the Indian Ocean.
Walsh described the series of tidal bore waves like dropping into small Huntington Beach with a Teahupo’o wave behind it. On one of his wipeouts, the current held him under for 38 seconds, rivaling even the gnarliest hold downs at the world’s most infamous big wave spots.
It was “the most amount of water I’d ever seen moving anywhere,” Graves said, who lost his board forever in the salt-water rapids. Despite the scary breath-holding exercise, the two lived to tell the tale and document their pioneering efforts.
This region of Western Australia is one of the true natural wonders of the world. In an area known as Talbot Bay Broome, the tide is an actual river, forming rapids through tight cliffs known locally as the Horizontal Falls. You can watch drone footage of them, here or just get locked in to Graves’ adventure, below.
