feature photo courtesy of Tom Dugan/ESM
Most Florida surf spots are are just variations of your standard beach break- mostly distinguishable from one another by the fluctuations of swell, tide and wind. Some distinguish themselves from others due to subtle variations in bottom topography. Fewer still have achieved mythical status that often doesn’t hold up once the hype is separated from reality. Monster Hole is where reality and hype come together.
Surfing Monster Hole is not easy. The sand bar forms 1/3 of a mile offshore due to the tidal flow from Sebastian Inlet. Since there are seldom other surfers out it is hard to gauge the size or shape from the shore. The paddle out takes a solid 15 to 20 minutes and the peak is not really distinguishable until you are nearly out to the break. The length of the paddle gives you ample time to reflect on the fact that you are paddling through a current that constantly funnels chow into the mouths of unseen predators lurking just beneath the murky water.
Once you make it to the line-up you may find that the take-off zone is shifting all over the place- the waves are not as good as you hoped- and you just wasted most of the morning when you could have surfed a half dozen other breaks that were firing as you sped down A1A.
Or, if the tide and wind and swell and planets are aligned you may find this-
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Love this place , surf it giant and small …both fun …..
It was the 1st time I saw Mike tabling It was about 8 ft. And I was in awe. He definitely left me With’a lifetime memory 1970
Yes. Tabeling left an impression wherever he went.
Anyone around here surf the shoals off Canaveral? I am watching it going off 10 miles out from my CCB lanai. Size should not matter; willing to up for gas, etc. Dan
PS retired ag. extension from U. Hawaii College of Trop. Ag.
Hey Tom! Good stuff. Love the videos.
Me and my bros surfed first peak in the late 60’s until the first publicity article came out in Surfer, and crowds mushroomed. Many good memories before, and just after that, including a duel between Propper and Tabeling one day – those 2 were truly great. And easily as good as all the next generation boys who were regulars at first peak.
Anyway – we often looked over at Monster Hole – we NEVER saw anyone go out there, even though it looked PERFECT**********and I mean perfect. After all, it couldn’t get any more sharky than that, could it? The “fishiest” inlet, strongest currents, and most distant bar you could imagine. And leashes weren’t the norm yet, at least for my group – we were “purists”. If we had a friend with a jet ski, it could have been more doable.
About two years later in 1971, I started at FAU in Boca Raton. My dorm mate was none other than Regis Jupinko. We surfed a lot down there and on weekends back to Cocoa for the one semester he lasted, and on two big cold fronts we surfed the “Monster Hole look alike” at Boynton Inlet.
Warmer, same set up, and a little less scary.
Regis and I caught these two days about 1 month apart, with 6-9′ perfection that looked a lot like your videos. Lefts winding down the beach for 1/4 mile, with perfect form. The best day, we paddled out at dawn and were the only ones, because the CG closed the inlet. Shrimp boats were getting nearly swamped trying to go out, and smokies used their bull horns demanding we come in. NOT – we surfed it till noon by which time it had dropped to 4-6′, cops gone, and a crowd of 20 had formed. Pretty damn good.
Miss my old buddy Regis…………………good times for sure
Dave “da Hoove” Hoover, here at home in good ole NSB
Boners Knockers
I surfed MH, pre-leash era. There really are angels, one appeared with my stick in tow paddling out. What a relief from that long elementary backstroke.