Teahupoo: The Deadly Tahitian Surfing Wave

Welcome to Teahupoo, Tahiti, one of the world's biggest and heaviest waves and the official Olympic surfing venue for the Paris 2024 Games.

Teahupoo, a notorious surf break in Tahiti, is renowned for its extraordinarily heavy, thick waves, making it both a thrill and a hazard for surfers.

Known as "The End of the Road," this reef break produces life-threatening waves due to the sudden transition from deep to shallow water. Some key highlights include:

1. Historical Significance: First ridden in 1985 by Thierry Vernaudon, Teahupoo's challenging waves have since drawn top surfers from around the world.

2. Dangerous Nature: The waves break about 500 yards offshore over a sharp coral reef, with the depth dropping to over 300 feet just beyond the reef. This sudden change creates powerful and dangerous waves.

3. Record Rides: Notable rides include Laird Hamilton's "Millennium Wave" in 2000, Nathan Florence's massive paddle-in wave in 2015, and Jamie O'Brien's fiery ride the same year.

4. Deadly Reputation: The wave has claimed the lives of five surfers, highlighting its perilous nature. Briece Taerea's tragic death serves as a stark reminder of the dangers.

5. Unique Characteristics: Teahupoo's wave faces are two to three times bigger than their backs, and the break has three main take-off spots catering to different surfing styles and levels of risk.

6. Cultural Impact: The spot is steeped in local culture, with its name meaning "the pile of heads" in Polynesian, and it has become a legendary venue featured in films and documentaries.

7. Sporting Milestones: It hosted its first pro surfing event in 1998 and will be the surfing venue for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Kelly Slater also made history here with a perfect score in 2005.

8. Extreme Stunts: The wave has been surfed blindfolded, ridden on a skimboard, and even tackled by a motorcyclist, demonstrating its broad appeal to extreme sports enthusiasts.

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[reneerossouw]

Awesome wave riding. Love it! 🏄🏼‍♀️🏄🏼‍♂️💖

[jimmyneedyquinteroaleans]

El surf es un deporte muy emocionante.

[leinad.s]

If it's super huge when the Olympics are suppose to be on. it's becomes a tow in wave at some point, then they'll have to move it to a different wave.

[flowcommotion]

this seems like a prank. i am astounded and stoked... i researched this guessing they would use something manmade similar to kayaking. way to go 👍

[mikeferrini]

Teahupoo is a world class legendary wave but I'm a little disspointed because we don't get to see great roundhouse cutbacks or lip snaps, etc. Really the surfers will be judged more on how they ride this massive wave for 15 seconds, which is basically setting up your position and speed on the wave and getting the tube. No easy feat to be sure for mere mortals, but at this level I would like to see more variance in surf performance.

[PennyPlaysXx]

It looks so scary, like I’m scared at the beach when little tiny waves come because I think there’s gonna be a tsunami. THAT IS LITERALLY. A TSUNAMI 🌊

[thomashudson]

Hopefully gets bigger during the week right now it's pretty small Medina might have got the best one

[thomashudson]

But all I know not everybody is going to be able to even ride that not just your average surfing dude from some country is going to get on that thing that's an elite group of people that can ride that

[peterb]

I wish all olympic surfers could be of this caliber. Truth be spoken that this is a elite group above wsl surfers.

[andyetheridge]

Should have used a wave pool, had one built for everyone after the Olympics, with a wave pool, everyone gets the same conditions for their cutbacks and snaps etc, i mean did they not construct a kayaking course for the event?

[M.EngelhART]

Malicious Tongues Claim That Colonialism Fits In Very Well With The Values Of The IOC. Both Stand For Exploitation. Just Ask The Indigenous People And The Poorly Paid Athletes.