Big wave surfer Matt Bromley. Ryan Franklin
Cape Town - Kommetjie local Matt Bromley has just returned from two weeks of record-smashing big wave surfing at two of the most legendary and dangerous surf spots in the world: Jaws and Mavericks.
Bromley, 29, braved some of the biggest rides of his life alongside the world champions of big wave surfing, making it one of the first massive sessions back in international surfing since travel reopened worldwide.
“It was the most stressful time of my life, travelling two and a half days with Covid restrictions, leaving the nest after 10 months at home and then surfing 50-60-foot waves,” he said.
There was no room for error: Bromley booked his ticket, flew out the next day, and arrived in Hawaii the night before the swell was due at first light.
Camping in his tent in a friend’s garden that night, jet-lagged, nervous and exhausted, he could hear the roar of Jaws from 10km away.
“That wave Jaws is the most terrifying wave in the world. I was struggling to sleep. I would hear the sets exploding and I would just wake up with this fear throughout the night.”
With a prayer and some morning stretches, Bromley mastered his nerves and paddled into the massive barrelling Jaws surf.
His first wave gave him the humbling treatment as bad foot placement and wobbly legs made for an instant wipeout.
“Luckily it was a smaller one cause it was a disaster. It was the jet-lag wave,” he said.
“The wave rears up over you, you’ve got a split second to decide whether you're going to go for it. Your instinct is telling you not to, but you have to lock out all feelings of fear and paddle without hesitation.
“As you look over the edge, it can be totally vertical, and that's when you have to lean forward over the edge and air drop into the wave with full confidence.
“I put myself right in the danger zone and had this beautiful long steep take off. When I turned at the bottom, the wave was just blue and vertical above me. I rode right in the jaws of the wave. It shot me out into the channel with the boats and people whistling. From that wave, it was just this relief and everything was worth it.”
It wasn’t all smooth-sailing, as one misstep sent a Jaws giant crashing down on top of Bromley, holding him underwater with the immense force of the ocean.
“It felt like a truck was hitting me. Your limbs can literally get ripped out their sockets,” he said. “It was violent, it sent me super deep under the water. I thought my eardrums were both going to burst.”
With the help of his inflatable vest, he made it to the surface and out of the impact zone after three pounding waves.
As if the intensity of Jaws wasn’t enough, Bromley snuck in a second stop on his swell-chasing trip as another storm system fired up the waves at the infamous Mavericks break near San Francisco on the mainland of the United States.
“It happened to be the best day of the year so I was fortunate to be there,” he said.
“When you’ve got one of your heroes like Kai Lenny or Shane Dorian cheering you into the wave, it gives you extra motivation to paddle even harder,” he said.
Bromley and Australian cinematographer Andrew Kaineder are currently wrapping up a film called Over The Edge, which will take audiences along for the exhilarating ride from Cape Town to the biggest waves in the world.
For the last two years, the pair have been chasing storm swell around the planet to find the big waves that deliver a heart-stoppingly steep drop. They’ve filmed in South Africa, Tahiti, Indonesia and Ireland so far – and this trip to Jaws and Mavericks will hopefully provide the footage they need to finish the film.
“We’re hoping to release it around April next year,” Bromley said. “It’s a 40-minute surf documentary on my life, growing up in Cape Town, using that Cape Town base and the big waves we have here to launch me on to a global swell-chasing platform.”
Follow Bromley’s wave-chasing adventures on Instagram at @mattbromleysurf.
Weekend Argus