Mick Fanning Goes To Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch

“That was, like, real,” stammers Mick Fanning upon exiting Kelly Slater’s magic wave pool after his first ride.

Out of all the surfers in this world, Mick would know. After revealing the spinning, right-hand sand point at an undisclosed location “somewhere” in the world that not only rivals Kelly’s pool but exceeds it, it’d be understandable if Mick was a bit jaded. But he ain’t. That’s why we love him and that is what you call proof of concept.

“It didn’t feel like a wavepool, it felt like a real wave,” continues Mick.

At present, it’s not exactly clear when Mick made his strike to the Kelly Slater Surf Ranch in Lemoore, California, but he made an Instagram post on June 17 and the KS Wave Co. feed followed it up with a #tbt hashtag on the last day of June, so until we find out otherwise, we’re assuming Mick snuck over to California in the last month before dashing back for some Kirra love and now on surfari in South Africa. Somehow it took until now for the hype machine to churn and burn on this one.

“Eventually, you’ll be able to surf everywhere,” marvels Mick.

True…as long as Kelly’s your mate and you got a bankroll across the pond and back.

And thus far, Steph Gilmore has won the award for looking the best dressed in Lemoore.