The 31st of May 2021 proved to be one of the most perfect swells this past winter absolutely lighting up a undisclosed South Coast reef. With many big name surfers and underground rippers in attendance here is a flashback of what went down.

When I rolled up to the packed car park of this renown South Coast reef my eyes were promptly greeted by solid swell lines in the overhead to well overhead range, perfectly groomed by the crisp winter offshore breeze. I immediately knew it was on within moments of my arrival when I witnessed an unidentified surfer scoop into a large set wave on the outside bombie section. He fearlessly proceeded to backdoor the unnervingly shallow inside rock shelf and was rightly greeted by large hoots throughout the carpark as he exited behind the spit as the wave exhaled it’s last breath with fury. I couldn’t get out there fast enough!

After rocking off into the icy water I was greeted by a hungry but super friendly crew. I took up my front row seat on the end section of the inside rock ledge along side fellow surf photographers Ben Bagley, Zach Bowden and Joel Holland. My finger was firmly poised on the camera shutter button frothing for all the action to unfold.

There were a host of big names in town with the likes of Dylan and Summa Longbottom, Ianacio “Spud” Salazar, Lennix Smith, Laurie Towner, Laura Enever, Ellis Nicol, Ben Dunsmore, Aaron Cox all out in force. This highly skilled surfing crew definitely where not holding back trading off on heavy and thick kegs all morning long.

While not to be out done a strong bodyboard contingent was also out in force to snavel up any barrel possible including Aaron Gilmore, Roo, Joel Stibbard, Big Bip, Craig Archer and the infamous Lilly Pollard. The boogs were definitely in their element taking off late on the heavier double ups on the inside rock ledge before being spat out to the glory of the shoulder. It was akin to a feeding frenzy out there with almost no waves coming through unridden.

It was refreshing to see so many riders coming together to share amazing waves in such a stoked and respectful manner regardless of what board type was being ridden. Drop-ins were rare as everyone was patiently waiting their turn and everyone was genuinely stoked for each other. This is what surfing is really about, good vibes all around!

Over the next exhilirating three hours I witnessed countless perfect barrel after perfect barrel rear up and unload on the shallow rock shelf with most expertly ridden by all the chargers out there. While some heavy beat downs did unfold, none more heavy than when Dylan Longbottom ever slightly miscalculated his line on a solid backdoor bombie wave, potentially the wave of the day to boot. With waves of consequence like this it is a fine line between pleasure and pain as Dylan clearly illustrates below.

Despite all of the big names in the water that day it was local knee boarder Simon “the Sparrow” Farrer and a 16 year old underground charger Lennix Smith who stole the show. The Sparrow was a close contender for surfer of the day taking off deep and back-dooring set after set on the notorious bombie section. He’ has this spot absolutely wired and constantly caught and made the best barrels of the day.

While super grom Lennix Smith almost broke the internet this day. Lennix calmly lined up a perfect bombie section and stood tall with style and poise throughout the barrel to easily claim the wave of the day. I definitely see a big future for this kid who is surfing well beyond his years and is already one of the most renown barrel riders in the region. He comes across as super humble down to earth kid who is doing everything right at the moment. I’m calling it now, I firmly believe that if he can keep his head on his shoulders I would not be surprised to seem him competing on the WSL in the future as the kid has the perfect balance of smooth flowing technical surfing and strong prowess in heavy barreling waves.

I shot until my memory cards were full and my cameras battery exhausted. It was such a perfect session that will forever last in my memory. I had captured so much gold that it took me close to two full days of editing to get through all of the content. It was a truly epic session and it will definitely go down as one of the best of what was a great winter season.