This Kid Has Australia’s Best Reef Dialed

Once upon a time, I found myself a kilometer off Australia’s east coast, surfing a wave that to this day might be the best I’ve seen IRL. 

It was also fucking terrifying. 

Giant swell lines marched in like Hessian soldiers, sending newbies scrambling out the back to extend their worthless lives. After playing this game of tiger and turkey for an embarrassing number of sets, I realized that if you wanted to catch a wave (or at least fake the appearance of wanting to catch a wave), you had to hold your ground.

Would some waves break out the back, resulting in a last-second scramble and potential deep-sea pillow fight? Yes. But the best waves would hold, hold, hold until they reached the takeoff zone, which would provide a relatively simple chip-shot entry into an eight-foot tube.

Bodyboarders got most of the waves that day, but a few of the surfers held their own. Most impressive of the stand-up crew was a long-haired kid with a Volcom sticker on his nose, whose patience and wave knowledge were incredible to behold—he’d wait and wait and wait and then magically glide into the best wave of every hour, his long arms propelling him into waves so comically early that he was standing before the mass had peaked. The tube, at the point, was a foregone conclusion. 

What I witnessed was a masterclass in surfing this particular reef, which even Taj Burrow was rumored to call “the best in Australia”.

Three years later, I can finally identify that kid as Keanu Miller. And yes, he’s still absolutely owning that spot. See the final third of this video for evidence.