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The wave at the end of the world .....

Shipstern Bluff was named after the 200m headland that rises from the Southern Ocean like the prow of a prehistoric ship, has been know of for decades but was not considered a surfable possibility. And when you see it a close quarters, it’s a totally understandable position to take.

Put simply, this huge right-hander and its brutality, kept surfers away as well as its isolation at the southern end of Tasmania

There are only 2 ways to get there; either by boat or via gruelling 80 minute walk in, so its guaranteed to be an isolated experience, made less inviting by it being the haunt of some of the globe’s biggest great white sharks and a temperature of the black water in winter of 13° C.

It’s been rightly likened to a right-hander equivalent to Teaupoo in Tahiti and has in common that even if the swell is 3 feet, then it will immediately double in size as it hits the shelf and this remains true regardless of swell size.

A swell that’s running at 10 feet will result in a thunderously heavy 20 foot wave, so this is absolutely not the place for the casual surfer.

It was only in 1997, that local surfer Andy Campbell became the first person to paddle out and in his own words:

"Sitting on my board, alone, my legs felt weak from apprehension and fear as they dangled in the cold water. Could anyone ride the infamous Tasmanian wave? Was I the first to try?

From that day my surfing took a radical new direction. I had purpose, direction, and my arena was right in my backyard. Pioneering one of the world's heaviest waves has so far been an unforgettable journey that is still far from over."

And then there’s the wave itself with the take-off always being a significant gamble.

As Kieren Perrow says:

"You can take off on an eight-footer on the outside ledge and it will be a 15-foot barrel on the inside. You just don't know what you're going to get."

A key reason for this unpredictability is that the wave drags so much water off the reef and at such speed that the end result is not only so big but also so heavy.

It is at its most dramatic on a low tide and with a big swell; then the wave displays is trademark power and drama, it’s then that the inside of it becomes a complex labyrinth of ledges and internal waves, all capped by a thick lip as it barrels rightwards.

See below for a video which captures the drama and power of the place ……