The Seven Most Viewed YouTube “Surf” Clips Of All Time

Some days are slow. I’m on the North Shore right now and the swell’s dropped, but at home in Los Angeles, it’s dead flat. So there’s no room to complain. The typical busyness of Kam Highway during the Pipe Masters has yet to be seen, the lineups however are a different story. With the first two jewels of the Triple Crown polished, and the Pipe Trials awaiting small – for Pipe – surf; the QS guys are starting to pack up and vacate. Slowly, because there’s no real hurry over here.

Yesterday, a random email thread from Sydney to LA to Oahu sparked a conversation. It was a Childish Gambino music video, filmed at Dockweiler Beach, just north of Los Angeles’ infamous El Porto – a low budget production utilising soft tops, blunts and a car in a parking lot by the beach. “The Worst Guys (Feat. Chance The Rapper)”, released in 2014, is pushing 21 million views. To put in perspective, Joe G’s conceptual short involving ten Russian models, a Lamborghini, a wavepool and Dion Agius called Electric Blue Haven (2012) hit one million views a few months back. And in surfing, one million’s to be respected. After all, we are niche. So, it got us thinking about the most viral surf clips of all-time. We went ahead and compiled this cure for boredom, on a day that’s slow. 

1. Mike Parson in “Struck in Tsunami” The opening scene of Billabong Odyssey at Jaws. Filmed by Helicopter but now, a drone can do it. 39,407,434 views (featured above) 

2. Code Red at Chopes, 2013. 26,956,221 views

3. When Robbie Madison brought his motorbike to Tahiti. 24,932,089 views 

4. The shark attack… er, encounter, uh, whatever you want to call it. 23,996,692 views 

5. That one time a whale nearly devoured this gal. 17,910,762 views

6. See CJ Hobgood, be CJ Hobgood. 17,766,708 views

7. Jamie O’Brien stuck Poopies on a surfboard and sent him down the sewer. Who is JOB: Season two, Episode six. 16,639,914 views