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Garrett McNamara (Haleiwa, Hawaii) reaches the bottom of a massive wave at Nazaré, Portugal on November 1, 2015. The image is an entry in the TAG Heuer XXL Biggest Wave cateogry of the 2016 WSL Big Wave Awards. An El Nino weather condition is expected to cause larger waves through the coming winter season. Photo: WSL/Bruno Aleixo
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Keala Kennelly (Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA) rides the biggest tube ever challenged by a woman surfer at Teahupoo, Tahiti on July 22, 2015. The image is an entry in the 2016 WSL Big Wave Awards. Exceptionally large surf has been experienced worldwide in 2015. Photo: WSL/Tim McKenna
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Sebastian Steudtner (Nuremberg, Germany) rides a big wave past the fortress lighthouse on the cliff at Nazare, Portugal on November 1, 2015. Steudtner is a two-time winner of the TAG Heuer XXL Biggest Wave prize at the WSL Big Wave Awards. More massive El Nino fueled surf is expected to arrive later this winter. Photo: WSL/Bruno Aleixo
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Justin Holland (Coolangatta, Queensland, Australia) drops to the bottom of what is likely the largest wave ever attempted in Australia. Holland challenged the wave at Cow Bombie, an offshore surf spot in Western Australa on June 27, 2015. A run of exceptionally large surf worldwide is expected to culminate with El Nino-fueled swells in the North Pacific this winter. Photo: WSL / Nimai Strickland
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Pedro "Scooby" Viana (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is towed into a huge, stormy wave off Nazare, Portugal on October 27, 2015. One of the biggest waves successfully ridden so far this year, the ride has been entered into the TAG Heuer XXL Biggest Wave category of the 2016 WSL Big Wave Awards which will take place next April. High surf episodes are expected to increase in severity this winter due to an exceptionally strong El Nino weather condition. Photo: WSL / Vitor Estrelinha
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Pedro Calado (Rio de Janiero, Brazil) takes off on a huge outside peak on one of the biggest beach break days ever surfed at Puerto Escondido, Mexico on May 3, 2015. The image has been entered in the 2016 WSL Big Wave Awards. Much bigger that average waves are expected to continue through the winter months as an El Nino weather condition gains strength. Photo: WSL / Daniel Nava
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In a graphic provided by Surfline.com, the impacts of the 1982/83 El Nino are indicated by he purpse and red areas which consistently experienced much larger than normal significant wave heights. Swells from these storm areas traveled onward to Hawaii and the West Coast, setting many buoy height records over the course of the winter. Image courtesy of Surfline.com.
Earlier this week the WSL announced they’ve already recorded “record entries” for this year’s Big Wave Awards. And that’s with a “record El Nino” still on the horizon for the upcoming winter. And considering the entries we’ve already seen coming in since May, expecting waves that will top these is pretty mind blowing.
The North Pacific is just getting going, technically. But the above entries are a reminder that the entire world has already been pumping out massive surf since May. And the WSL Big Wave Awards are stepping things up to match the record surf. Prize money given to the top finishing surfers (key word, top finishing, not even winning) and photographers has more than doubled to $250,000. The top five finishers for the Billabong Ride of the Year category alone will see more than $100,000 handed out. Notable entries so far have come from Puerto Escondido, Teahupo’o, West Australia and most recently, Nazare. All of this without appearances from Mavs, Jaws or other Northern hemi big wave spots that are going to light up like a Christmas tree this winter.