Watch: Who Knew Fiji Fires in February?
Cloudbreak breaking in February is akin to a Pipeline swell happening in July.
It just doesn't happen. At least, not very often.
But El Nino winters can be weird, so when a solid off-season southwest swell flared up recently, Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, Balaram Stack and a solid group of friends jumped on a plane and headed to Fiji to meet it.
"The days are longer, and the sun feels like it's suspended directly above you — which in early February, it pretty much is," writes Surfline, who produced this clip.
"Sit for long enough in the open water lineup at the amazing Cloudbreak Reef, and it'll feel as if your eyeballs are about to fall clean out of your head. Yet for two and a half days last week, that's what a bunch of very good surfers did: sat there as long as they could stand it, because Cloudbreak wasn't just hot, it was on fire.
"The reef is exposed to south and SW swells moving up from deep storms in the Southern Ocean and travelling up between Australia and New Zealand — out of the cold and into the tropics. A three to four day journey during which they grow clean and straight, yet hang on to that South Pacific energy. Easterly trade-winds complete the picture.
"This doesn't often happen in February. It's a Southern Hemisphere winter thing, and February is tropical cyclone time in these parts.
"But when a couple of very off-season storms flared in Fiji's sweet spot, a happy few jumped on various planes and got there just in time to ride. In the lineup: Ian Walsh, Balaram Stack, Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, Nathan Hedge, Dean Morrison, Max Beach, Che Slatter, Eden Edwards, Sean Lopez, Tosh Tudor, Ben Wilson, Navi (surname), Dane Snelton, and quite a few more.
"At the end: A lot of tube time, a lot of sunburn, and if a few dozen eyes were sore, nobody seemed to mind."
***
Don't miss another headline from SURFER! Subscribe to our newsletter , follow us on Instagram , and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of surfing. We're always on the lookout for amusing, interesting and engaging surf-related videos to feature on our channels.
Whether you're a professional surfer or just an amateur, we want to see your best footage and help you share it with the world. Submit your video for a chance to be featured on SURFER and our social channels. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch high-quality surf videos.
