Who is the best surfer on this planet? This is always a fun question to ponder and argue over among friends. However, my observations have brought me to a solid conclusion:
California sea lions are the best surfers anywhere in the world.
Picture this, a towering 25-foot perfectly formed wave with a dozen looney sea lions surfing down the face. You think our human surfers are good? You think dolphins surfing our beach breaks are good?
You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet because these whacky pinnipeds race down the face, roll down the face, corkscrew down the face, and tumble all over each other down the face of incredible waves. They are grinning ear-to-ear while they surf … I swear by my tattoo.
I’ve never seen humans surf the magic spot where I have seen the wildest sea lion surfing acrobatics, though I may not have been there at the right time to see any two-legged surfers take the perilous ride. It can be a nearly unrideable wave, unless you are a sea lion.
The spot is Rodes Reef, about a half mile off the front side of Santa Rosa Island, east of Brockway Point. It is a lone reef with a high spot that can rip the keel off a deep draft vessel.
Sets of open ocean swells come through periodically and stack up on the shoaling reef. Then the waves disappear just as quickly on the backside of the reef.
I love taking fisherfolk there because the fishing can be great around the pristine reef zone. We catch white seabass, halibut, calico bass and shallow water rockfish all within a quarter mile of the spot. But the amusing part for me is fishing the area with folks who haven’t been there before.
Everything is nice and quiet and peaceful until a set of huge swells come through, and it is usually only a matter of time before such a set occurs. All of a sudden, a monstrous wave (reminiscent of “Hawaii Five-O”) forms and breaks with a sound like a rifle shot, just 50 yards or so from the boat.
When I have positioned the boat so that we are fishing on the inside of the reef, the waves are coming straight at us and I’ve seen people freak out instantly. But the wave dies as it comes off the high spot of the reef and is not a threat when it reaches the boat.
Folks just love watching the local sea lions surf Rodes Reef. Sea lions don’t need to break right or break left as a surfer would. They just come barreling down the massive face of that wave like they want to break the sound barrier.
When the wave dies, they just swim back around and queue up to try it again. What a life!
