Watch: This Is One Of The 10 Best Waves Ever Ridden On A Surfboard - Stab Mag

EAST with Harry Bryant coming August 18...

929 Views
Apparently Pyzels are made to go over foamballs. Framegrab: Joao Tudella

Watch: This Is One Of The 10 Best Waves Ever Ridden On A Surfboard

Nathan Florence courtesy of Ireland.

elsewhere // May 13, 2023
Words by August Howell
Reading Time: < 1 minute

“I do believe you can have a left of your life and a right of your life. I feel like what I got in this session was probably the right of my life. 

Avid sci-fi and fantasy reader Nathan Florence is a big fan of The Lord of the Rings. The acclaimed film trilogy was filmed in New Zealand, but Nathan has excelled in making magic and slaying monsters in another country of rolling green hills. Remember that Mullaghmore tunnel last year?

Fresh off a Teahupo’o stint that fell somewhat short of expectations, Nathan ditched the gents towing six-footers for one of Ireland’s renowned slabs. On a mint 7’, Nathan found what he claims to be the right of his life. He couldn’t have been any deeper if he were a dwarf in the mines of Moria. The combination of knifing the drop, hurdling the foam ball, and blasting into the channel was so profound that his only comparison was that Teahupo’o jaw-dropper seven years ago that arguably kickstarted his heavy water career… which is fascinating considering this is a man who could see Pipeline (and Backdoor) from his childhood living room. 

“There’s a certain feeling you get when you kick out,” Nathan said of those one-in-a-million waves. “There’s an overwhelming feeling of gratitude, appreciation and disbelief at how you got so lucky as to be living the life you’re living there at that very moment that that wave came through. And you were in the spot and everything, every little piece of timing, every microsecond, you made the right on the wave decision to be as deep as you possibly could and still make it.”

We have no qualms stating that this is (easily) one of the 10 best waves ever ridden on a surfboard.

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Hossegor Beach Cocaine Episode 2: The White Tide

What happens when a sleepy surf town is flooded with sniffly white powder?

Aug 14, 2026

Shaper Reveal: EAST With Harry Bryant

10 shapers, hand-picked and delivered blindly to our first goofy-footed test pilot.

Aug 14, 2026

The Underdogs Shall Inherit The Earth

Low seeds reign on Teahupo'o finals day.

Aug 14, 2026

How To Have A Tits Out Summer On Your Terms

Stab's 2026 swimwear review.

Aug 13, 2026

Don’t Believe In Fairytales

The four things you need to know from Day Five at Teahupo’o.

Aug 13, 2026

54-Year Old Kelly Slater Just Combo’d Medina At Evil Teahupo’o

Bad day to be Ronny Nelson.

Aug 11, 2026

2026 Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico, Episode 06

100 points decide our first finalist.

Aug 10, 2026

Mason Ho On Farming, Andy Irons, And The Day He Punched Kelly Slater | StabMic Ep. 26

"Farming is completely opening my brain."

Aug 10, 2026

Kelly’s Quinquagenarian Dominance, Eli’s Gumption, And Eimeo’s Upset

Three takeaways from six heats on Day 1 at the Outerknown Tahiti Pro.

Aug 9, 2026

Hossegor Beach Cocaine Episode 1: Y2K To Infinity

A new Stab Premium podcast series.

Aug 7, 2026

Take Stab’s 2027 Audience Survey, (Maybe) Win A Trip To Kandui

...and two custom surfboards.

Aug 6, 2026

Biblical Swell To Greet The Youngest, Oldest, And Most Unhinged Wildcards In Teahupo’o History

A Tahiti Pro preview.

Aug 6, 2026

SEOTY: Michael Dunphy and His Fantastic Flying Machine Star in ‘Stream East’

To the Caribbean and beyond.

Aug 5, 2026

Can A Stab Writer Make One Heat In A QS2000?

We're about to find out.

Aug 5, 2026

Investigation: The $24 Million Plan To Kill Shark’s Cove

Eight local businesses sit in the crosshairs of the North Shore's Karen-Elite.

Aug 3, 2026

Remembering Arran Strong

Friends, family, and the surfing world remember a waterman who truly lived every day like…

Aug 3, 2026

CT Surfers Ate 80% Of The US Open’s Semifinal Points

Jake Marshall and Sierra Kerr won Huntington. The men’s result also reopened the Challenger Series’…

Aug 3, 2026

Jamie O’Brien Doesn’t Believe Pro Surfers Are Core | StabMic Ep. 25

"When people forget your value, it's time to forget about them."

Aug 3, 2026
Advertisement