Massive Nazaré Swell Lights Up Port Of Amsterdam, Locals Approach Novelty Wave With Surprising Earnestness

Most surfy places have an around-the-corner joint that breaks only on massive swells. 

While some of these waves are truly sublime (see: Sandspit), most are surfed for the novelty factor more than a perceived sense of excellence (see: Fort Point). The one connection between all of these waves, regardless of quality, is the promise of hardened locals holding down the peak. 

Recently, on the same mega-swell that green-lit the Nazaré tow event and subsequently brutalized Alex Botehlo via jetski, the Netherlands had one of their secret cubbies ignite. Somewhere in the Port of Amsterdam exists a left jetty wedge that, on its day, provides chest-ish high corners good for a couple of redirections. 

“We can’t get more specific about the location,” said Jan Blaffert of Blue Magazine, who produced and sent the video our way. “The Dutch harbour crew is fucking gnarly. Either way, this place isn’t supposed to ever have waves and we got it quite chunky.”

‘Chunky’ is a fair descriptor. ‘Moderately awful’ would also apply, but who are we to denigrate their day of the decade? 

While the surfing leaves something to be desired, we found this edit amusing and thus decided to share. Also the acid drop was pretty neat.