Today I went to shoot the Mavericks surf contest. If you don’t know Mavericks, it’s a surfing competition with big waves (30 feet and bigger) in Half Moon Bay, CA that happens only when the conditions are right.
Matt Ambrose’s surf board with the Mavericks logo.
It’s an invitation-only contest and the best surfers are coming.
Surfer Grant “Twiggy” Baker
Surfer Rusty Long
The weather conditions were exceptional (warm and sunny) but the waves were not as big as predicted (around 24 ft, 8 meters). Mavericks is now almost impossible to photograph from the shore as the bluff and the beach are closed to the public for safety reason. Only a few photographers with very long lenses can hope to get some images.
With a bright and calm day, the conditions for watching Mavericks were perfect.
The best and probably only way to get nice images of Mavericks is to get on a boat. There are plenty of choices at Pillar Point Harbor, however a little calling ahead can save you hundreds of dollars. Price I heard today was between $200 for 2 to 3 hours near the spot to $500 for only one hour.
I was lucky to board on the media boat and we went for two hours during heat 3 and 4, and the semi finals 1.
Surfers Ryan Seelbach (blue) and Tyler Smith (red)
Ben Wilkinson (orange) and Shane Desmond (blue) at Mavericks.
Alex Martin surfing at Mavericks.
Grant “Twiggy” Baker surfing at Mavericks
The Mavericks contest takes place in a very dangerous spot and there is a lot of jet skis, ready to assist surfers, if needed.
A surfer is helped by the safety team on jet ski.
Peter Mel won the 2012/2013 Mavericks Invitationals. Hopefully, we’ll be back next season. Congratulations Peter!
Peter Mel at Mavericks 2013 in the semi-finals. He is the winner of Mavericks.
All the images presented here are available for licensing or as fine art prints.