The 'Sharkiest' Surf Destination on Earth...

You can't say Reunion without immediately thinking about sharks! Here's a little insight into why the island is so sharky, and what's being done today to prevent future attacks!

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[DanHarmon]

Hey guys!! Thanks so much for all the info and shark stories!! I can't get back to everyone, but love reading your insights!!

[Keepone]

I grew up surfing in Reunion but was lucky enough that it was during the "boom", right up until the shark "crisis". Your video is fairly accurate. Until 2011 we really didn't have problems with sharks, at least not more than any other tropical location like Hawaii. The odd attack was very often happening outside of the west coast (where the nice beaches are) or when the water was murky or when a surfer would want to squeeze in a wave or 2 before it would be too dark out. So the general precaution was surfing the West and South Coast except for a few spots. Avoid the East coast (although so crazy guys would still give it a go) and by all mean, completely avoid the Saint-Paul bay area in the NW, although I did get tempted once... I still have all my limbs thank god. Avoid murky waters and surfing late.
But all of a sudden this equilibrium went out the window. Vicious and fatal attacks one after another. I wasn't living on the island anymore but was horrified and very saddened by what happened. It even caused some tensions between different groups of people as surfing was seen as a "white people activity" (it's not true, there's plenty of "kreol" people surfing in the South notably). Sea Shepherd even ran a campaign explicitly saying surfers were "assholes" ("connards" in French). Anyway, it was awful. At one point even Kelly Slater commented on it calling for a "serious shark cull" and was extremely criticized for it. The economic impact was also felt as obviously not only surfers but also swimmers would just not go to the beach anymore, leaving local businesses with fewer clients.
So nowadays the situation is a follow as I asked around when I came back in 2023:
-You can surf Saint-Leu almost every day "At your own risk" without getting fined and with the support of jetskis the town is paying. "If you lose a leg they'll get you faster to the beach" is what a local told me 😅. Shark shield devices are highly encouraged but not mandatory. Needless to say, if you're brave enough to do it, you'll just compete with 5 to 15 people on this world class break. Ready 😁?
-Other spots on the West coast only have these narrow surfing sessions organized but it's only if you're licensed :/. It's great for kids though. And yes you have divers, drone operators, boats all around securing the area. But it's only if the water is clear enough so you have to check online when they're doing it and as I said, normally it's not for everyone. You need to be "licensed" to participate.
-The spot of La Jetée in the South hasn't had any problem so far and is surfed relatively "illegally". It's a cool right hander, very rippable and it somehow went through the shark crisis without any attack.

I have no idea if fines really are still enforced for surfers or if there's some kind of tolerance in La Jetée for example.
Thanks for showcasing my relatively unknown home island! I wonder if a surfing Youtuber will dare venture there in the future like Jamie O'Brien, Nathan Florence or Ben Gravy. It would be obviously cool to see but they should make sure to be safe with shark shields (no surfers have been attacked equipped with them so far) and go with a local.

[josevasquez]

Excellent summary. I am from Peru and have surfed Reunion along 1 month-long vacations 2 times in 1992 and 1994. Amazing waves, I did adore St Leu.

Back then shark stories and incidents were in the mouth of the surfer populations. A couple of times I saw surfers without a leg or without an arm still enjoying the sport. The eastern coast had really bad reputation due to the muddy waters (rainy side of the island).

I didn’t know that surfing was banned! What a shame! But at the same time understandable.

[dncrht]

I visited Reunion and I was told by the locals that "usually" cops only enforce the surfing ban when conditions are super sharky, eg: at dusk, or after rains when water is not clear. "Usually", which does not mean you'll be fined in other conditions. However if mid morning and transparent water… surf's up on le Hermitage, Aigrettes, etc… just check local youtubers like Kai Noa.
If not wanting to risk a fine you can always surf St Leu or Roches Noires: patrolled & safe but crowded.

The marine reserve probably plays the main role here providing undisturbed food for sharks. As you say, Reunion is on the shark highway, but also is Mauritius, and there they don't suffer the shark problem.

BTW kudos for the stock video shots chosen for the narration. They really show the beauty of the island, and the empty breaks!

[winteriscoming]

Your videos are great mate. Keep them coming 🔥

[joeblow]

Excellent content as usual. Thanks! I used to live and surf on Kauai, and later live, surf and windsurf on Maui. Never saw sharks on Kauai but I know they were there. Had lots of close encounters on Maui with sharks (mostly tigers) and even during a frenzy once due to a dead Sea turtle. My regular windsurf spot on Maui was very sharky with tigers. Not a big deal when powered up, but schlepping your windsurf equipment to shore IN THE DARK because the waves were good and I wanted that one last wave was always very sketch and creepy. Even though I saw sharks often I didn’t think it was that big of a deal until while waiting in a long line at Kmart I scanned a book that was specifically about shark attacks in Hawaii. Holy crap there have been so many shark attacks in Hawaii but media plays them down because of tourism. That didn’t keep me out of the water but knowing that definitely upped the creep factor!

Just an idea but you might consider doing a video about shark attacks in Hawaii.

[alchensel]

I surfed the same reef in Florida for 3 years. On that reef their was a black tip, he would circle that reef all day long (under foot). I used to watch him hunt. When they go after something, there like a missile. They will bite what ever they go after. I cant tell you how many plastic bags i saw him attack only to spit them out. I have had 3 friends attacked by black tips (over the years), none of the attacks required hospital attention. But the curious thing was they were all attacked in the same place, the bottom of the foot. Marine biologists at the time speculated that the contrast from then top of the foot to the bottom of the foot mimics the flick of a fish in the water. The black tip locks on, bites and spits out. A bull shark will take your foot. I can remember the stories from Reunion they speculated it was due to marine construction. Scary place, I am not fond of tigers ... I almost got taken in CR.

[bonbondesel]

Hello I'm from Reunion and I worked 8 years on this crisis. The safety protocol of Saint Leu has been made by one people of my family and other very dedicaced people.

I would like to mention few things.
You're right when you say we changed things but it's not the same as before the crisis.
Most popular beaches for people bathing is over. It shows how things are not back to normal.
But hey we got out of the worse.

Concerning the possible causes, you're mainly right. And yes it's a multifactorial thing.
But the explosion of people surfing does not explain anyway the issue. It's not a point of view this is what gets out of the numerous studies. The worst of the attacks happened when there were less people in the water and this during almost 7 years. And when I say few people I'm talking about less than a hundred people out during years on the whole island. That's when the highest rate of attacks and the highest frequency was recorded.

The problem of the pollution is very debated and there is also no proof that it played a role. Other regions way more sharky with way more people in a water where sharks could be don't have this issue.

Other factors where EVERYBODY agree on:
- a fish farm for decades over a bull sharks nursery where the currents go directly to the most popular beaches where attacks started. Feeding everyday, sharks going crazy, foods falling on ocean floor with antibiotics etc etc... Crazy thing.

Most surfers and fishermen and a part of the shore population are conviced by some studies showing that a marine reserve deshinibit sharks and rise their numbers. No more pressure from human for a long time. Sharks aee binary: you're a possible prey or a possible threat.
One of the member of the marine reserve even raised concerns of making such a reserve inside a populated area. He warned about the high possibility of such a crisis. He was not listened and was put aside. He did not changed his mind about the incompability of implementing a reserve inside human activity with the presence of bull and tiger sharks. It's not done in most countries for a reason...

One clue of this is that surfing did not stop at Saint Pierre la jetée during all the crisis without any issue and despite the known presence of sharks.
This place was always known to have more bull sharks and tiger sharks than the West coast where the crisis happened. Human is there as a predator with a long tradition of fishing with the village of fishermen near the harbor. One of the last surviving fishing place on the island...
It's not about fishing sharks. We don't fish a lot. It's very few. It's about being a predator facing the sharks.

Personnally I surf Saint Leu when it's protected but also when it's not but you gotta be extremely carefull about water conditions etc. It's almost a science you learn and yes it's a lot of constraints.
I also surf la jetée (the jetty) at Saint Pierre, without shark shields.

Thank you for your video on this subject.

Friendly.

[johnmartin]

No more scary than the first paddle out to Jbay, 600 meters from shore 10meters deep, can't see your feet most days.

[comfortablynumb]

As a native born Florida Man all I can say is "let's go fishin'". Those sharks have to eat something so there must be a lot of fish around. It might be tough to get fish past the sharks but trying would be fun.

[faurep]

Hi. Thanks for the video. I think it's great that more people know about this story. I wrote a few articles about it at the time. Just wanted to point that contrary to what people said at the time, there was no increase in the number of bull sharks in Reunion, nor had they been attracted to the coast by the Marine reserve. Today serious experts agree on the fact that the three main causes for the attacks were : some surfing spots with very murky water (prone to bull shark attacks) due to water flooding down the ravines (volcanic island), absence of sewage system which means all the dirty water goes into the sea attracting fish which attract sharks, increased number of people in the water (surfers) on bull shark hunting ground. The reaction was the culling of sharks first via fishing then through drum lines, when the real answer should have been to fix the sewage problem. But that costs money.

[thatguy]

This is normal surfing on the west coast of South Australia. Big, heavy sharks go with the big heavy desert waves.

[christiancasado]

Thank you for your vidéo, you give here a precis resume of what happened to surfing in Réunion Island.
I've been living and working on the Island for almost 22 years now and never stop surfing a couple of spots here and there. As you said, scientists never realy dare to say that a great part of the reasons of shark attack on thé west coast occured a couple years after the marine réserve took place. (some of them were working and diving right in the réserve 😏... And receving great money from européen fondation)
Today we fear for a new attack as new comers dont réalise the danger and many tiger sharks are around. (bullsharks seem to leave from the human activities for other spots of the Island) but tigers are fearless and we guess it could be another épisode of attacks any time.
Pray for safe surfing 🙏

[brentohara]

Nice one, decent analysis of the situation there. Yet another theory is the increase in building along the coast resulting in more rainwater running into the sea, attracting bull sharks closer to shore. I think the use of shark shields has stopped the attacks there, even the 2019 attack was on the one guy who wasn’t wearing one. I’d say Recife is probably even sharkier though, with a more concentrated number of attacks along a 20km stretch of coast.

[michaelmantalos]

Jack Mc Coy chronicled St Leu early 90's. Iconic movies. CT was 15 years later.

[SB-vhbs]

Dan video idea for all the surfers like me who are scared of sharks

Top 10 LEAST sharky surf locations

Cornwall, Ireland, Scotland, Norway, France, Spain, Portugal, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Jersey/Guernsey

[ufapmc]

That book behind you... South America surf tales... got me curious

[mymusicpage]

Absolutely fu/ing terrifying mate. Them Tigers and Bull sharks at Reunion are aggressively on the hunt. Like walking and hiking on an African safari without the safety of a guide or vehicle. What do you think happens when you come across a lion?

[brentohara]

The Reunion shark attacks in paradise podcast series is an interesting free take on surfing and attacks during the crisis

[iancook]

I never realized there are repellants etc available nowadays. The recent study with leds flashing is interesting too. I guess it will end up as having personel drones overhead ai programmed to spot sharks