Teahupoo () is a village on the southwestern coast of the island of

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

, in the southern

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. It is known for the

surf break Surf or SURF may refer to: Commercial products * Surf (detergent), a brand of laundry detergent made by Unilever Computers and software * "Surfing the Web", slang for exploring the World Wide Web * surf (web browser), a lightweight web brows ...

and heavy, glassy

waves Waves most often refers to: *Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass. * Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water. Waves may also refer to: Music * Waves (ban ...

offshore, often reaching , and sometimes up to . It is the site of the annual

Billabong Billabong ( ) is an Australian term for an oxbow lake, an isolated pond left behind after a river changes course. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end. As a result ...

Pro Tahiti surf competition, part of the World Championship Tour (WCT) of the Association of Surfing Professionals World Tour surfing circuit, and used to be one stop in the World Tour of the International Bodyboarding Association. Tahitian Thierry Vernaudon and a few other locals surfed Teahupo’o for the very first time in 1985.

Bodyboarding Bodyboarding is a water sport in which the surfer rides a bodyboard on the crest, face, and curl of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore. Bodyboarding is also referred to as ''Boogieboarding'' due to the invention of the "Boogie ...

pioneers Mike Stewart and

Ben Severson Ben Severson is a Sandy Beach bodyboarder. He was the 1986 world bodyboarding champion.Severson, Ben with Jake Grubb (1986). Bodyboard Handbook. Newport Beach, California: Grubb Stake Media Ltd. ASIN: B000GKJSQ6 Biography In the early 1980s, ...

showcased the spot in 1986 and it soon became an underground spot for thrill-seeking bodyboarders. Few professional surfers rode Teahupo'o during the early 1990s and it was only in 1998, at the Gotcha Tahiti Pro, that Teahupo'o became widely recognized as having some of the heaviest waves in the world. On August 17, 2000

Laird Hamilton Laird John Hamilton (born March 2, 1964) is an American big-wave surfer, co-inventor of tow-in surfing, and an occasional fashion and action-sports model and actor. He is married to Gabrielle Reece, a professional volleyball player, television ...

is credited with surfing the "heaviest wave" ever ridden, documented in the film '' Riding Giants''. In 2003 the late

Malik Joyeux Malik Joyeux (31 March 1980 – 2 December 2005) was an accomplished all-around waterman and a professional Big Wave surfer. Known by many as the "petit prince", the Footedness, goofy-foot surfer often gained attention for charging the treacherous ...

successfully rode one of the largest waves ever ridden. Nathan Florence, younger brother of two-time

World Surf League The World Surf League (WSL) is the governing body for professional surfers and is dedicated to showcasing the world's best talent in a variety of progressive formats. The World Surf League was originally known as the International Professional ...

champion John John Florence, caught in May 2015 what some have considered to have been the biggest wave ever successfully paddled in Teahupo'o.

Keala Kennelly Keala Kennelly (born August 13, 1978) is a professional surfer, DJ, and actress from Kauai, Hawaii. After spending a decade ranked in the top 10 on thASP World Championship Tour (WCT) Kennelly took a break from the tour in 2007 to explore her p ...

was the first woman to tow-surf Teahupo'o in May 2005, getting a 10-foot barrel ahead of the Billabong Tahiti Pro contest. This challenging break has been conquered by many top

windsurfers Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

, including Jason Polakow, Ali Neil and Levi Siver. Yannick Salmon was the first

kitesurfer Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

to ride Teahupo'o; however, it was incorrectly written in publications that others had ridden it before him. Jeremie Eloy and Julien Sudrat kitesurfed the wave after Yannick.

Wave characteristics

Teahupo'o is a pillow break. The swells mainly break backwards, but the outer reef also creates left breaks that surfers must be cautious of when paddling out. Teahupo'o is renowned for the consistent number of

barrels A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...

it delivers. It is a rewarding location and is widely regarded as being on the 'must-surf' list of every enthusiastic surfer. However, only experienced surfers in peak physical condition should attempt Teahupo'o; heavy waves combined with a shallow pillow can result in serious rest and even swimming in a wipeout. Teahupo'o's reputation for wave riding is partly due to its unique form. An extremely shallow

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

, which ranges up to 20 inches (51 cm) beneath the water's surface, is responsible for a very hollow-breaking wave. The wave's unique shape, with an effect of almost breaking below sea level, is due to the specific shape of the reef beneath the wave. Its semi circular nature, which drops down sharply creates a 'below water' effect and the extreme angles in descent create an instant instability to the wave. A steep wall of reef causes the entire mass to fold onto a scalloped semi circle breaking arc. The wave bends and races along into a dry reef closeout and the lip of the wave is often as thick as it is tall.

Surfing deaths at Teahupo'o

Teahupo'o was included on Transworld Surf's list of the 'Top 10 Deadliest Waves' and is commonly referred to as the "heaviest wave in the world". The name 'Teahupo'o' loosely translates to English as “to sever the head” or "place of skulls". There has been one recorded surfing death at Teahupo'o since 2000: Tahitian surfer Brice Taerea who was killed at Teahupo'o in 2000, just one week before the annual Teahupo'o WCT event. Taerea attempted to duck-dive a dangerous 12-foot (3.7-meter) wave but was thrown over the falls, and landed head first on the reef. He was recovered from the water, but died later in hospital, having suffered two broken cervical vertebra and a severed spinal cord, which resulted in paralysis from the neck down.

Teahupo'o WSL Championship Tour Event Champions

Billabong Pro Teahupoo Billabong Pro Teahupoo is a professional surfing competition of the World Surf League held at the break Teahupo'o in Taiarapu, Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of t ...

*1999 -

Mark Occhilupo Marco Jay Luciano "Mark" Occhilupo (born 16 June 1966) is an Australian surfer and winner of the 1999 ASP World title. Occhilupo, also known as "Occy", began his professional career in the World Championship Tour (WCT) at the age of 17. In S ...

*2000 -

Kelly Slater Robert Kelly Slater (born February 11, 1972) is an American professional surfer, best known for being crowned World Surf League champion a record 11 times. Slater is widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time. Slater is also ...

*2001 -

Cory Lopez Cory Lopez is a professional surfer born on March 21, 1977 in Dunedin, Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alaba ...

*2002 -

Andy Irons Philip Andrew Irons (July 24, 1978November 2, 2010) was an American professional surfer. Irons began surfing with his brother Bruce on the shallow and dangerous waves of Kauai, Hawaii, before being spotted by a local surfboard brand and flown to ...

*2003 - Kelly Slater *2004 -

C.J. Hobgood Clifton James "C.J." Hobgood (born July 6, 1979) is an Association of Surfing Professionals(ASP) World Championship surfer. He has a twin brother, Damien. They both compete in top-tier professional surfing events around the world. C.J. Hobgood ...

*2005 - Kelly Slater *2006 -

Bobby Martinez Bobby Martinez (born May 26, 1982) is a professional surfer from Santa Barbara, California. Career Martinez began surfing at age 6. When he was old enough, he joined the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) where he went on to win a ...

*2007 -

Damien Hobgood Damien Hobgood is a professional surfer from Satellite Beach, Florida. He is known for having once held the highest two-wave grand final score in pro surfing by scoring 19.9 out of 20 at The Quiksilver Pro Fiji in 2004 until Kelly Slater eclip ...

*2008 -

Bruno Santos Bruno Santos (born July 17, 1987) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Middleweight division of the World Series of Fighting now known as Professional Fighters League and is currently ranked as #1 contender for the belt. ...

*2009 - Bobby Martinez *2010 - Andy Irons *2011 - Kelly Slater *2012 -

Mick Fanning Michael Eugene Fanning (born 13 June 1981) is an Australian professional surfer who was crowned champion of the Association of Surfing Professionals/World Surf League (ASP/WSL)'s World Tour in 2007, 2009 and 2013. In 2015, he survived a shark ...

*2013 -

Adrian Buchan Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main ...

*2014 -

Gabriel Medina Gabriel Medina Pinto Ferreira (born 22 December 1993) is a Brazilian professional surfer who won the 2014, 2018 and 2021 WSL World Championships. With 16 WSL Championship Tour (CT) event wins and 29 Final appearances under his belt, Medina is ...

*2015 - Jeremy Flores *2016 - Kelly Slater *2017 - Julian Wilson *2018 -

*2019 - Owen Wright

Olympic venue

Teahupo'o is scheduled to host the

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

competition for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 2024), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la XXXIIIe Olympiade, links=no) and also known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event that is s ...

, being hosted in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. At , this will break the record for the longest distance between an Olympic medal competition venue and the host city.

References

External links