The Best Swells of 2021 – Surfline.com Surf News

You may have noticed a more focused editorial direction from Surfline in 2021. Less human interest fluff, less puffy profile pieces, less redundant sports reporting and a lot more emphasis on the waves themselves. And the swells that make those waves. And the storms that make those swells that make those waves. Its a no-brainer, really. Between our ace forecasting team, cutting-edge tools and 40-years-deep database built by Sean Collins himself waves are kind of our wheelhouse.

And us surfers? Sure, we matter, too. Our rides anthropomorphize the waves, give them personality and a voice. We cherish them like family. We name them and attribute anatomic parts to them like face and lip. But thats about as far as it goes. Waves were breaking long before we got here and they will continue to break long after we go. Life is finite, surf is forever.

Surfers are just producers the swells themselves are the rock stars.

Great Circles: How Swells Connect Us All

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Peter Mel. Photo: Fred Pompermayer

Date/Location: Sunday, January 10th / Mavericks, California

Recorded History: A raucous ending to a six-week swell bender, Mavericks went XXL and, according to Mavs pioneer Jeff Clark, the last time we saw anything close to that was that week in December of 1994, and January 10th will go down as the best day weve seen since 2000. I texted Twiggy on Christmas, 1994 Models!, but the 2020-21 stretch was better, agreed Mavs legend, Grant Washburn. The surf was bigger, cleaner, more consistent, and there were more days. I doubt I will see that again in my lifetime. But Ill be ready with my 2042 calendar!

Best Session: The North Pacific was in an unbelievable pattern for swell-making those two weeks, and the darling of the run was undoubtedly Mavericks, explained Surflines Schaler Perry. Over the span, it ran the gamut from entry-level to large and barreling to mutant XXL tow-in, and didnt spend a day dormant. There were a couple of days with bad winds, but most days saw windows of pristine conditions. Arguably the best two-week run in the history of Mavericks, and it was stamped by the largest Mavericks in 20 years.

Watch Live: Mavericks

MVP: If were talking about the whole stretch in general, Peter Mel ruled the run. But when speaking of the 1/10/21 XXL tow session in particular, another top dog emerged. Wilem Banks killed it, said Mel himself. My vote goes to Wilem for performer of the day, agreed Colin Dwyer. Im giving Wilem MVP of the day, agreed Travis Payne. So, there ya go: three agrees makes a decree.

Storm Track: Light winds, clear skies and downright dreamy conditions are typically all Mavericks needs to be good when a significant swell arrives, explained Mavs veteran Ryan Seelbach, whos been surfing and tracking swells for the place since the 1990s. That 2010 contest had a very similar storm track (17-20 feet at 17 seconds from 290-295 degrees). That swell combination comes from deep lows that build far south of the Aleutians and due north of Hawaii, tracking towards the West Coast before turning sharply northeast (about 1,000 miles out), keeping the S winds north of the Bay Area and the NW winds south of the Bay Area. The top-five storms had a similar track during our magical six weeks of surf.

Peak Readings: 20 feet at 21 seconds from 280 degrees on January 10th; 956 millibar storm 1,450 nautical miles away

Origin: Surprisingly, all of this swell was from a quintessential La Nina (albeit supercharged) pattern, Perry explained. Under La Nina, if storms take a more northerly track into the Bering Sea, the West Coast gets smaller, steeper-angled and less-consistent swell. Storms that track closer send stronger swell, but run the risk of bringing bad winds and weather into the coast. La Nina took conditions to the next level by anchoring high pressure over the Northeast Pacific. Strong storms passed north of Hawaii on a track towards the West Coast. High pressure steered them, and their winds and weather, into the Pacific Northwest instead of Northern California. Storms were able to track close and send stronger swell, but best of all, the high pressure kept California dry and mostly under good winds. Without La Nina, its highly unlikely wed have seen those great conditions.

More: Jan 10th Massive Mavs | Swell Event Coverage: North Pacific Overdrive | Watch: Two Massive Minutes at Mavs

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Jamie OBrien. Photo: Keoki

Date/Location: Saturday, January 16th / Jaws, Maui; Waimea Bay and Outer Reefs, Oahu

Recorded History: Between the female pros, the kites, the sails and preteen charger Steve Roberson, Super Swell Saturday at Jaws revealed perhaps the most diverse, inclusive, age/gender/equipment-neutral field of any XXL session anywhere, ever. And outside of the Peahi elite, the lines between tow surfer and windsurfer, man and woman, child and adult, pro and loc seemed to get blurrier as the day went on. One of the interesting facets of that day was to have the tow surfing kind of mix in with the windsurfing, said Ian Walsh. And as the day unfolded it was really fun to see the way some of the other guys and girls were approaching their lines on the waves.

Best Session: By all accounts this was the biggest Jaws in 10 years. And the last time Oahus Outer Reefs were this big, January 1998, nobody was paddling and packing the sets like this crew was. John John Florences XXL pig-dog, in particular, was an instant Wave of the Winter contender from the moment he kicked out.

Watch Live: Waimea | Sunset | Backdoor | Pipeline

MVP: Many, including Makua Rothman and Justine Dupont on Maui and John John Florence on Oahu. Although, You shouldve seen Kohls wave, Kelly Slater claimed from the channel, referring to Kohl Christensens massive, unrecorded Outer Reef barrel. It was one of the raddest things Ive ever seen.

Storm Track: ESE track across the western half of the North Pacific January 12th-14th.

Peak Readings: Buoy 01: 19-20 feet at 17-18 seconds on January 16th; 963 millibar low flanked by 1,021 millibar high and well-aimed fetch of 40-60-knot winds and 40-50-foot seas January 13th-14th

Origin: At the turn of the year we witnessed the strongest storm on record (921 millibars), a rather large system, develop out in the Northwest Pacific, Surflines Jon Warren explained. But due to its distance and northeastward track, the swell that propagated into Hawaii was solid but certainly not record-setting. Meanwhile, this latest storm was weaker (963 millibars), but given its favorable track toward Hawaii, close distance, and it running over a pre-excited sea state created from a previous storm, we witnessed the largest swell in years.

More: Swell Alert Coverage: Super Swell Saturday | XL Hawaiian Photo Gallery

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Griffin Colapinto. Photo: Jeremiah Klein

Date/Location: Friday, February 12th-Monday, February 15th / North Shore, Oahu

Recorded History: Favorable trade winds greeted the the largest NW swell to hit the Islands in nearly a month, explained Surflines Kevin Wallis. All the big-name breaks from Pipe to Waimea and some of the semi-off-the-beaten-path spots shined for Valentines Day and Presidents Day weekend. The first, and the largest, of two overlapping NW swells revealed a brave new world for big-wave women. The inaugural Red Bull Magnitude, an all-digital, all-female big-wave competition based in Hawaii, was running through February 28th, and this was the last chance for competitors to get their entries in for a piece of the $40K prize purse. With the Outer Reefs and Waimea beckoning, the ladies went mad. The future of womens big-wave surfing is looking really bright, said Keala Kennelly, who ultimately won the Overall Performer and Biggest Wave awards. I think this contest was a big success.

Best Session: That Sunday was crazy, said Griffin Colapinto. After 30 minutes of us being out there, the wind came onshore and Mikey Redd almost died getting knocked out and a two-wave hold-down. When that went down, everyone came in to check on him and seemed pretty thrown off for the rest of the day. We didnt think we were going to surf again until the wind started going offshore again, and there was only five guys out. About 30 minutes into the session, this wave came straight to me and nobody was around, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. That was the biggest backside barrel of my life.

MVP: Our headline said it all: Pipeline Valentine Swell MVP, John John Florence. After all, over three days, Florence snagged more ONeill Wave of the Winter entries than most do in an entire season, wrote Surfline editor Marcus Sanders. And while he has won many events at Pipe over the years including this years Pipe Masters and Vans Triple Crown the ONeill Wave of the Winter has eluded him. And it continued to elude him, with Mark Healey ultimately getting the check. But wave after wave, session after session, day after day, JJF ruled this swell. Clearly. No judges necessary.

Pipeline Forecast | Live Multi-cam

Storm Track: Upstream buoys peaked on Friday with 13 feet plus of NW swell at 17 seconds, explained Surflines Jon Warren. After that, the energy started to ease before a reinforcing pulse of fresh WNW swell moved in Sunday into Monday. Wind and local conditions were good to excellent Friday through Sunday, as moderate E to ESE trades set up straight offshore wind for the majority of breaks on the North Shore.

Peak Readings: Buoys 51001/51101: 13 feet at 17 seconds on February 12th

Origin: An impressive looking, hurricane-strength storm roughly 1,800 miles from the Hawaiian Islands on Wednesday afternoon effectively remained stationary for 24 hours, Warren explained. This non-movement aided in the eventual size and consistency of the surf in the Islands. By late Sunday and into Monday morning, a new, smaller and slightly more west NW swell built, and that came from a second low that pinched off from the current storm, then tracked toward Hawaii during the second half of the week. Although not as large or intense as its predecessor, this new storm packed 40 to 50-knot winds over a small area of already-excited seas while on a favorable track toward Hawaii all positives for sending more swell.

More: Swell Alert: Coverage: Pipeline Valentine | Pipeline Valentine Photo Gallery

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Photo: Swilly

Date/Location: Tuesday, May 25th / Gold Coast, Australia

Recorded History: This first of several swell bursts it blew up the whole coast, wrote Nick Carroll, even reaching Sydney 1000 ks south with long, thumping water walls.

Best Session: Everyone on the Gold Coast knew it was coming, NC wrote. Nobody expected it at 7:50am. The expert consensus among Goldie aficionados was to wait for the afternoons low tide, but the east swell called in by Surflines forecast team showed up a few hours early. The key to its early arrival? Stronger winds in the swells original fetch off northern New Zealand, where gales peaked at over 40 knots between 48 and 72 hours earlier. In any case, it meant that longtime Gold Coast photographer Andrew Shield, who ventured up on the hill overlooking Kirra in the early-morning light, saw something almost nobody does this days maybe the finest sand point in the world, doing what it does best, with just a solo onlooker paddling towards it. Nevertheless, by 10am the whole gang was out: Parko, Stephanie Gilmore, Griffin (Colapinto), and eventually, everybody.

MVP: With too many to consider at Kirra, its a toss-up between the Cousins Parko based on the merit of a single, mental mid-morning window at Snapper Rocks, sandy cathedrals imploding way out behind the rock. There was just three of them, said Shieldsy. Joel and Mitch Parkinson and Sheldon (Simkus). They werent doing step-offs, they were just paddling. Mitch got an amazing one; if he couldve gotten to the end section it mightve looked like that one Parko got a couple of years ago. Yeah, that one on the billboard.

Storm Track: The still-intense sub-tropical low northeast of New Zealand re-intensified on Tuesday, invigorating a compact 40-50-knot SE/ESE fetch around the storms southwestern quadrant, explained Surflines Ben Macartney. Corresponding satellite passes confirmed both the wind strength and an associated spike in the seas to 35-40 feet over the remote Southwest Pacific Ocean, just over 1,500 nautical miles ESE of the Gold Coast. A resulting long-period pulse of ESE groundswell quickly covered the distance to the East Coast.

Peak Readings: ???

Origin: The 40-plus-knot winds that formed near New Zealand over the weekend of the 22nd-23rd delivered an extra punch to the swell as it formed, NC wrote, pushing the interval up to 16 seconds when it struck Australias coastal buoys on Tuesday. Long intervals like that are rare along the east coast, especially from that E angle. The strength of those winds changed things, Ben affirmed. And the longer period had such an effect. The bulk of the size came with the forerunners. Longer-period swells conserve energy so much better. They come in faster and straighter than our typical E swells.

More: Great Autumn Part One Part Two | The Greatest Week | Autumn Turns Cold | NSW Sledgehammer | Easier Waters

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Nate Behl. Photo: Margarita Salyak

Date/Location:Sunday, July 25th-Wednesday, August 4th / Indonesia

Recorded History: Ive been traveling to the Mentawai Islands for the past 10 years, said Nic Von Rupp.And this was some of the biggest, heaviest, shallowest and most dangerous waves Ive surfed around here.

Best Session: Oh, that must have been July 31st on the Bukit. No, wait, it was August 3rd at Macaronis. No no, it was Deserts. Wait, was it Padang? Nias maybe? Turns out it was none of those places. It was Greenbush, arguably the most challenging and bloodthirsty wave in the Mentawais. It might look perfect, said NVR, but trust me, this wave stands up like a train. Its steep, like looking down a cliff, and once youve made that drop and pulled in, you never know what that last section is going to do. Its a roll of the dice, whether it stays open and lets you out or just closes out because the reefs too shallow to handle such a mass of water. The boys paid: scratches, broken boards, split-up noses, and Nasty Nate [Behl] knocked himself out on his last wave.

MVP: Nic Von Rupp. Heres all the proof you need, from port of entry to Lombok to Sumatra:

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/get-indo-right-now-nic-von-rupp/125625

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/sting-stoke-desert-point/126325

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/bow-before-kandui/127009

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/practically-alone-pumping-indo/127537

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/watch-sickest-left-ive-ever-seen/127886

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/watch-nearly-empty-firing-macaronis/129604

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/watch-heaviest-greenbush-session-ever/130604

Storm Track: Fairly large and strong low on an E-NE track through the Central Indian Ocean July 26th-28th. Moderate-size area of 35-40-knot wind, with a pocket exceeding 45 knots.

Peak Readings: 12 feet at 16-17 seconds from the SW/SSW 200-220 degrees; satellite confirmed 35-40-foot seas within 2,700 nautical miles of Bali.

Origin: Indonesia was already on a dream run throughout the month of July when the largest of the swells unloaded at the start of August, explained Surflines Keaton Browning. That purple blob was born from a deep area of low pressure in the central Indian Ocean, along with strong high-pressure support on its western flank. The storm touted satellite-confirmed seas up to 40 feet, with a favorable east-northeast track toward the Indonesian archipelago. Meanwhile, the lengthy fetch and duration of moderate-to-strong wind speeds enhanced the size and consistency of the swell.

Click here for more:

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/gallery-indonesia-super-swell/127458

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/splendid-sunday-padang-padang-uluwatu-lagundri-light/127149

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Matahi Drollet. Photo: Tim McKenna

Date/ Location: Friday, August 13th / Teahupoo, Tahiti

Recorded History: I was there for the Code Red swell of 2011, and for me this swell was almost the same, said Tikanui Smith. I was there for the Koa [Rothman] swell in 2013, and when Keala Kennelly got Tube of the Year in 2015, but neither of those compare to what happened on Friday. The only day we could compare it to would be Code Red. People will talk about this swell for many years to come.

Best Session: There was swell building on Thursday for Tahitian sensations like Vahine Fierro to rack up some tube time. And there there was still plenty of swell left on Saturday for some heavy paddle waves. But Fridays XXL tow session was something else entirely. Friday the 13th went down in history, that day will forever be remembered, said Lorenzo Avvenenti. A lot of historic rides went down that whole day, but there were two that were out of this world: Kauli Vaasts and Matahi Drollets.

MVP: Matahi Drollet is no stranger to giant Teahupoo, wrote Marcus Sanders. His older brother Manoa was among the first crew to really charge here and also the one towing Matahi. Kauli Vaast caught (but didnt make) one of the biggest waves ever in the morning, but Drollet played the patience game. This paid off around 5pm, right before sunset, as the swell peaked and he was whipped into the perfect spot by his brother and took the perfect line through an impossibly heavy, crazy-loud, building-sized tube and straight into surf history.

Storm Track: Merging lows in the Southwest Pacific on August 8th-12th slowly tracking eastward. The merging lows, a more northward-oriented fetch and a generally slow east-southeastward track, which is typically not the best for maximizing swell potential (not pushing toward Tahiti), resulted in light local wind and glassy conditions to greet each swell, explained Surflines Jon Warren. The merging lows were both similar in size and strength as they were coming together. Both storms were already producing swell for Tahiti in their own right, then as they joined forces, and with a huge assist from a very strong area of high pressure centered over the Tasman Sea, the fetch for Tahiti rapidly intensified and greatly expanded in size pushing the limits of what the reef can handle from that size, angle and period.

Peak Readings: 12-13 feet at 17-19 seconds from the SSW (210-190 degrees) on August 13th; low of 960 millibars, flanked by a strong 1,032-millibar high August 9th-11th; well-aimed fetch of 40-50-knot winds and 40-45-foot seas

Origin: The Southwest Pacific shifted into a more unusual pattern, but also a very productive one, explained Warren. Developing lows either crossed over New Zealand or dropped down from the north, then merged with another developing low sweeping through the lower latitudes. They ultimately combined forces into one stronger storm in the Southwest Pacific, and right in the wheelhouse for Tahiti.

Click here for more:

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/raw-realtime-xl-teahupoo/128126

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/gallery-day-days-teahupoo/128689

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/xl-teahupoo-august-13/128433

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New England. Photo: Scott Sullivan

Date/Location: Sunday, September 5th-Wednesday, September 15th / Caribbean Islands, U.S. East Coast, Western Europe this storm ultimately traveled 2,000+ nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean basin.

Recorded History: It was the best surf Ive ever seen on the East Coast after ten hurricane missions over 20 years, said longtime Surfline editor, Marcus Sanders, who actually flew east to New England to take part in this very special swell event. And as an editor, it was far and away the most and best submissions Ive ever seen from an East Coast swell more than 60 different contributions and hundreds and hundreds of photos and videos.

Best Session: Florida got really good Wednesday through Friday, but Thursday was the day, thanks to assistance from the quickly formed but short-lived Tropical Storm Mindy, which tracked from the Gulf of Mexico across North Florida and out into the Atlantic, putting the state squarely under offshore winds, explained Surflines Mike Watson. It was the best three-day run of surf Floridians have seen in a long, long time. The star-studded cast of Reckless Isolation just happened to be in town premiering their movie at the Florida Surf Film Festival and stumbled upon the best surf New Smyrna Beach had seen in years. They were met by Surflines own Eastbound & All Around crew and all the local NSB aces, resulting in a masterclass of cutting-edge shredding in the glassy, wedging, occasionally barreling, head-high-plus peaks. That was the best three-day run of waves at our inlet that I can remember, said longtime New Smyrna Beach ace, Nils Schweizer. Everything just came together perfectly: the sandbars finally got good, the tides were right, the wind was light all day, and the long-period swell and direction were ideal. Id say it was about as good as it gets. And there was some serious ripping going down!

MVP: NSB local Jeremy Johnston pig-dogged the wave of the day, the swell, and probably the year right in his backyard. And between the Californian stars (Griffin and Crosby Colapinto, Kolohe Andino, Ian Crane and Luke Davis) and the East Coast pros (Cam Richards, Noah Schweizer, Evan Geiselman and Robbie McCormick) going blow for blow, the performance barometer was incredibly high. Just watch Eastbound & All Around, Episode 1 and judge for yourself.

Storm Track: Classic Cape Verde storm taking a westward track before recurving N/NNE into the North Atlantic; skirted east of Bermuda and brushed Newfoundland overnight September 10th-11th then became a large extra-tropical storm in the North Atlantic on the 12th.

Peak Readings: Texas Tower Buoy: 11 feet at 16 seconds on September 10th; South and West Bermuda Buoys: 15 feet at 15 seconds on September 10th; satellite observed 38-foot seas on September 8th

Origin: Our forecast team tracked Larry ever since it was a cluster of storms over the African continent and long before it ever generated its first swell, explained Watson. Being peak time for storms here, with the atmosphere and ocean as primed as they could be, the long-range models showed lots of potential in those clouds. At the end of August, those clouds took the form of a tropical wave that moved off Africa to become Larry on September 1st. Larry became a major hurricane on the 3rd and maintained hurricane status until going extratropical off Canada on the 11th And if you wanna get technical, a whiff of swell was even able to make its way back over to Africa a full two weeks after Larry was nothing more than a cluster of clouds moving out over the Atlantic.

Click here for more:

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/swell-alert/chasing-hurricane-larry/130670

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/larry-almost-perfect-storm-part-1-southeast/131540

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/larry-almost-perfect-storm-part-2-northeast/131666

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/larry-almost-perfect-storm-part-3-europe/131804

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Carlos Burle. Photo: Lucca. Biot

Date/Location: Saturday, September 25th-Sunday, September 26th / Avalanche, Brazil

Recorded History: Like all of Rios slabs, Avalanche is such a fickle beast, pretty much every session that goes down here is, to exhaust a cliche, one for the books. The swell was a typical storm that comes from the southwest and throws all the energy on the south and southeast coast of Brazil, explained big-wave legend Carlos Burle. This one in particular had more of a SE direction. Thats good for Avalanche. We followed all the forecast info before we could make the final call. It was a very interesting swell.

Best Session: The next day ended up being a good surprise for us, said Burle. The swell connected better to the reef shelf, and we saw and surfed bigger waves. After towing Lucas Fink and friends into a bunch, I gave the rope a try. Thats when that mutant came. I felt the adrenaline running high, and I made the first part of it, but I was going too fast. So, I tried to slow down a bit by putting my hands on the wave. What a mistake! Having to slow down under the peak and then having to deal with the gigantic spit Everything was so intense.

MVP: Day One, Lucas Chumbo Chianca; Day Two, Carlos Burle. Chumbo was obligated to surf a contest the second day (which he won), but he certainly made his intentions clear on the first day. Avalanche is a solid slab pretty close to our home, so its easy for us to do a strike mission out there, said Chumbo. It breaks way out to sea, like five kilometers from the shore. Its a pretty heavy wave. Youre out in the middle of nowhere, then boom, it just shows up. You take off behind the peak and then straight into the barrel.

Storm Track: Large low pressure tracked through the western and central South Atlantic while flanked by strong high pressure that moved off Argentina September 20th-23rd.

Read more:

The Best Swells of 2021 - Surfline.com Surf News