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HomeExploreSportsFamous Surf Breaks Around the World
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A wave can wrap into a long wall, pitch over a shallow reef, or rise in a towering peak offshore. These photos show the breaks in motion, from Pipeline and Teahupoʻo to Nazaré and Mavericks. Look for the surfer, shoreline, or reef that helps put each wave in scale.

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1
Banzai Pipeline, Oʻahu
Banzai Pipeline, Oʻahu: The surfer drops down a turquoise face as wind blows spray off the crest. Pipeline breaks over a…
2
Teahupoʻo, Tahiti
Teahupoʻo, Tahiti: The thick lip at Teahupoʻo pitches over the reef on Tahiti’s southwest coast. The surfer in this…
3
Praia do Norte, Nazaré, Portugal
Praia do Norte, Nazaré, Portugal: A surfer draws a thin white line across a towering face at Nazaré’s Praia do Norte. In…
4
Mavericks, California
Mavericks, California: At Mavericks, a heavy lip breaks offshore from Pillar Point near Half Moon Bay. The spray rising off…
5
Supertubes, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa
Supertubes, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa: The right-hand wave at Supertubes runs down the point at Jeffreys Bay. Here the…
6
Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia
Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia: A breaking wave runs over the reef at Uluwatu on Bali’s Bukit Peninsula. The projecting lip and…
7
Waimea Bay, Oʻahu
Waimea Bay, Oʻahu: At Waimea Bay, the wave stands up into a steep face before collapsing into whitewater. This photo from…
8
Cloudbreak, Fiji
Cloudbreak, Fiji: A curling wall of water breaks across the offshore reef near Tavarua. The open-water view isolates the…
9
Playa Zicatela, Puerto Escondido, Mexico
Playa Zicatela, Puerto Escondido, Mexico: A wide barrel breaks off Playa Zicatela in Oaxaca. At this beach break, the…
10
Shipstern Bluff, Tasmania, Australia
Shipstern Bluff, Tasmania, Australia: Off Tasmania’s Tasman Peninsula, the water can fold into a step before the lip…
11
Peʻahi (Jaws), Maui
Peʻahi (Jaws), Maui: A breaking wave towers above the surfer at Peʻahi on Maui’s north coast. The rising crest and open…
12
Mundaka, Basque Country, Spain
Mundaka, Basque Country, Spain: At the mouth of the Urdaibai estuary, swell breaks left over a sandbar. This view shows the…
13
Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia
Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia: The wave sweeps across the reef at Bells Beach on Victoria’s Surf Coast. Its open face…
14
Chicama, Peru
Chicama, Peru: Lines of swell wrap along the headland near Puerto Malabrigo. At Chicama, the breaking edge traces a long…
15
Skeleton Bay, Namibia
Skeleton Bay, Namibia: The water pitches into a long barrel along a sandy spit near Walvis Bay. From inside the breaking…
16
Manu Bay, Raglan, New Zealand
Manu Bay, Raglan, New Zealand: A surfer tucks beneath a green lip at Manu Bay. The clean wall beyond the spray shows how…
17
G-Land, Java, Indonesia
G-Land, Java, Indonesia: The surfer cuts across a bright blue wall at G-Land. The wave breaks left over a reef off the…
18
First Point, Malibu, California
First Point, Malibu, California: At First Point, swell wraps into the cove and opens a long face. The longboarder in this…
19
Snapper Rocks, Gold Coast, Australia
Snapper Rocks, Gold Coast, Australia: The wave bends around the point at Coolangatta and begins its run along the…
20
Lower Trestles, California
Lower Trestles, California: The face at Lower Trestles opens on either side of the breaking peak. In this photo from the…
21
La Gravière, Hossegor, France
La Gravière, Hossegor, France: A thick lip pitches out over the face at La Gravière, one of Hossegor’s Atlantic beach…

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