Surf Trip Hack: Avoid The Equator - Stab Mag
1237 Views
FT: An overwhelming amount of hair follicles and lip grazes.

Surf Trip Hack: Avoid The Equator

Want A+ waves with limited crowds? Allow the O’Neill team to guide you.

features // Oct 24, 2022
Words by Stab
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Fuego.

Want to get world-class waves with only a few heads in the water? In this day and age, there are three ways to go about it: 

-Know something that 99% of surfers do not. 
-Go somewhere that is very hard to access. 
-Pack a wetsuit. 

The last of those options is the easiest but, somehow, it’s the least common. Wetsuit tech may not be sexy enough to warrant worship in our culture, but we’re under-appreciative animals. We can now surf proper marathon sessions in purple-orange Sex Wax water — while wearing suits that feel more like sweats than straight jackets and don’t demand we sacrifice much in terms of performance. 

Which brings us (well, Noah Wegrich, Robbie McCormick, and Ian Crane) to South America. 

O’Neill sent three of their prized ponies on a strike mission to Chile — a place that is well-known for having world-class waves, yet doesn’t pull the same amount of boardbags as…well, pretty much anywhere you can surf in boardshorts or a bikini. 

They scored, of course. The cold hues of the clip get balanced out by its name — Tierra del Fuego, or land of the fire, which is the name of an archipelago Chile shares with Argentina. 

Now, here’s to avoiding the equator on your next surf trip. 

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

Who Is The Most Widely Adored Female Surfer In The World? 

Revealed by the results of our reader survey. 

Apr 24, 2026

The Gold Coast Premiere Of Ethan Ewing’s Stab in the Dark

Beers, boards, shaper banter and star talent to pack out Kirra Surf on May 3. 

Apr 23, 2026

The World’s Top 10 Favorite Male Surfers 

Or, what is marketability in 2026? 

Apr 22, 2026

Watch: Episode 02 of Stab in the Dark starring Ethan Ewing

The CT's apex predator on rail vs five World Title-winning shapers.

Apr 22, 2026

Watch: Creed McTaggart + Tom Morat On The Fender III

The EAST runner-up’s “souped up step down” gets a HP tweak.

Apr 21, 2026

“First Person To Punt Over The Rainbow Gets $5K”

Watch: A colorful Bum Rush with the Ho family

Apr 20, 2026

Two Surfers Stung By Box Jellyfish At Cloudbreak

“I'm lying in the boat convulsing going, ‘Fuck Dad, am I going to die?’” recalled…

Apr 20, 2026

The Hierarchy Holds Firm

Usual suspects progress in victory-at-sea conditions at Margs.

Apr 19, 2026

The Sport Of Short (And Muscular) Kings?

Is there an ideal body type for surfing? 

Apr 19, 2026

Is Surfing For The Rich? | StabMic Episode 10

Nate Fletcher & Dane Reynolds discuss the state of modern surfing.

Apr 17, 2026

Surfing’s Obsession With Proof

A photographer's musings on the enduring impact of surf imagery and our connection to it.

Apr 16, 2026

The Longest Day In WSL History Almost Ends In A Brawl

Twenty-eight heats and a non-interference call that spills out into the carpark.

Apr 16, 2026

Do Second Impressions Ever Last?

A preview of the Margaret River Pro, 2026.

Apr 15, 2026

SEOTY: Josh Burke Stars In ‘Real Estate’

Why we should pay more attention to the Caribbean.

Apr 13, 2026

Gabriela Bryan And Miguel Pupo Ding The ‘Pop

And the reigning world champs get knocked down a peg.

Apr 11, 2026

Have High-Performance Surfboards Already Peaked? | StabMic Episode 09

Britt Merrick + Dane Reynolds on Medina’s CI stint, Slater, Ewing, and the ceiling of…

Apr 10, 2026

A Day In The Life Of A Surf Shop  

One solar day in the strange, sacred, wax-scented world of the surf shop.

Apr 9, 2026

How Do You Score An Impossible Air?

Italo v Gab was the title fight, but the rest of Day 5 delivered as…

Apr 9, 2026
Advertisement