Mikala Jones and Ry Craike’s Giant Leap Forward In Tunnel Vision

Two teams, four of the best tuberiders of the past decade, a favourable swell, GoPro HERO 7s, a wave-rich stretch of coast, best footage wins.

Welcome to Stab x GoPro’s Kings of P.O.V Part II: Ry Craike and Mikala Jones. 

Hawaiian Mikala Jones and West Australian Ry Craike couldn’t be from more different parts of the globe. Hawaii’s green and lush, and West Oz, particularly Kalbarri where Ry’s from is rugged, dry and beautiful.

Two things that the locales do have in common, however, is big tubes and cruisy vibes…provided you don’t step out of line in the water. Mikala and Ry hadn’t hung out before this trip, they did get on famously, however. 

Ry Craike inside a backlit, very large and distorted howler.

There was one issue: Ry doesn’t care much for rights, neither does Mikala for lefts, so rather than competing for wave of the day at the same spot, they were more than happy to whip each other into the best wave of their choosing they could find.

Whilst Mikala clocked up endless vision at the area’s trophy right, when it came turn for Ry to grab the rope, he sussed out – and subsequently scored – one of the regions lesser-known, but still just as heavy lefts.

At the end of the day both of the boys enjoyed clinking together numerous Coopers Green, and it was all beer and skittles until someone (queue finger pointing) failed to adequately tie the boards to the roof and the whole quiver blew off, causing one of Ry’s crafts to look like it got trampled by a rhino.

Mikala is one of the world’s handiest with a GoPro in massive tubes. He’s made a career out of it, and along with Robbie Crawford (the gentlemen who edits these images), has shown the world angles from inside a tube that have never been seen.

Although Ry claimed to be in awe of Mikala’s prowess with a GoPro, trying to discern who got the best clip was a case of splitting hairs. What was clear is the mind-boggling quality that you can achieve with a camera smaller than the palm of your hand. We’ve sure come a fair way from stepping off into the tube with a heavy water housing and praying it doesn’t whack you in the scone. 

A man who has the wherewithal to shift perspectives from a handheld camera inside a wave of this magnitude is one who’s seen more views from inside the barrel than 98 percent of surfers worldwide. Here’s Ry, with not a worry in the world.

According to Harley Ingleby (2x Longboarding champion) – the crew’s more than apt tube finder, who between ensuring Mikala and Ry scored, was whipping in on his longboard and collecting his own arsenal of clips – while Shane and Walshy went one way, he took the boys elsewhere, to an area where the bodyboarders run the waves. He’d tow the boogies into some caves of their own, and after the passing of the peace rope, the boogies softened up to the presence of Ry, Mikala, the ski and their handheld cameras. When a great white made a too-close-for-comfort stroll through the lineup, all the bodyboarders hopped aboard the ski, thankful for the provided safety.

“The boys were up before the sun every day,” says Harley. “It was bacon and eggs in the morning, canned tuna and bread throughout the day and pasta at night. One of the days, they never got out of their suits! At the end of the day, we’d get all the clips onto a hard drive, pass the fuck out and do it again the next morning.” 

Mr. Jones fingers are all feel… and groove.

Ry and Mikala’s highlight #HERO moments will land on Wednesday; until then, tap the triangle to watch their mission for the world’s wildest GoPro clip. 

For fruits of Shane and Anthony’s labor, click here. 

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