The Surfer's Journal | Issue 24.6.

ERIC CHAUCHÉ

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Axi Muniain, treading lethal territory in Basque Country.

COSTA DA MORTE LETHAL SLABS ON BASQUE SPAIN’S DEATH COAST While the shoreline around North West Spain’s Cape Finisterre is exposed to the full furies of the North Atlantic Ocean, it has remained a relative backwater in European surfing. Physically remote and climatologically inclement, it comprises a lengthy detour, seldom undertaken, off the classic Europe to North Africa road trip. In the late 2000s, two surfers—Basque Axi Muniain and Moroccan Jerome Sahyoun—set out to discover some of the last un-ridden realms of big wave surfing in mainland Europe. When they did, they rode them in secret for years. And while word, inevitably, got out, it seems the very nature of the slabs and surrounds of Galicia’s Costa da Morte makes it unlikely their finds will turn into the next Hossegor any time soon. —Paul Evans

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Muniain, in sync with his namesake.

CHAUCHÉ

AXI MUNIAIN A number of things piqued my interest in Galicia, mainly the exposure.

But the Costa da Morte is complex, fickle, and enigmatic. It’s raw out there, with deep-water trenches, river mouths, and a lot of reefs and rocks. The wind can change direction in a heartbeat, and rarely behaves as forecast. But like so many things in life, while it might be the payoff that first attracts you, it’s all the challenges that keep you coming back.

When I first started exploring in Galicia, there were rumors of a few spots here and there—mostly bodyboarder slabs—but very little in the context of how much coast there is. We started out launching off the headlands to search for setups and it quickly became clear how wild the place is. You’re in the middle of nowhere. Storms whip up on you in no time. The tides are crazy, and good navigable

channels are a luxury. Our access points were tiny boat ramps, or old smugglers’ harbors hidden in little coves. Sometimes I’d run out of gas, have to beach the ski in a keyhole, then run up a mountain to get a phone signal to call for help. In those early forays, apart from seeing how amazing the waves could get, the big appeal was knowing that, wherever we surfed, we’d be alone.

In the beginning, Jerome and I didn’t even speak the same language. I’m fluent in Spanish and Basque, and he speaks French and Arabic, but we didn’t have a language in common. We tried to learn English to talk to each other and ended up having these crazy conversations with words from all five languages thrown in. Eventually we came up with our own dialect. He’s got all kinds of setups in Morocco and in the Sahara but when he’d come up to Europe, I was always like, “Don’t worry, we’re going to find you a perfect left, I promise.”

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JEROME SAHYOUN Axi first discovered that spot several years back. After he scouted it a huge swell developed on the maps and he called me and was like, “Man, I’ve something to show you.” So off we went.

I’d never seen a wave like that in Europe. We started to go back there whenever we saw the charts coming together and we’ve ridden it many times in the years since. We’ve been there a lot more times than we’ve scored though. It’s probably the most fickle surf spot I’ve ridden.

A trip up there is full on, in every sense. It’s really draining. It’s cold, and rains all the time. You’re in the water all day long and it’s always moving, choppy, even when it’s clean. There’s no lagoon or still water.

After a day of surfing, everything hurts, your whole body. I’ve been so exhausted that I’ve fallen asleep on the ski and fallen into the water.

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BASTIEN BONNARME

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Jerome Sahyoun, focused on the bend ahead rather than the death ladder behind him.

AXI We named the left Eli’s, after my girlfriend, and the right across the channel ended up getting named Axi’s. There’s also a short right on the same peak as the left, but super shallow and fickle. Anyway, even on ideal-looking charts, you’re never quite sure which wave will end up being best, or even surfable. The outer reefs refract the swell, depending on the direction, so sometimes you get roll-ins from the outside. Sometimes it pushes wide and you get another peak that starts wider. Either way, there isn’t a well-defined channel when it’s big. On the really solid days,

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the foam ball can be close to the exit of the barrel too, making it tough to paddle. You can get a couple of air drops paddling, but to ride the wave when it’s solid you need a ski to put you in position and to cover enough ground to give you a chance of making it.

This swell was in December last winter and Tai Graham flew over from Australia, Pablo Garcia and Indar Unanue came from the Basque Country, and Nic von Rupp headed up from Portugal. It turned out to be the kind of trip where everyone got a bomb. When it comes together like that, it’s magical.

BONNARME

This was Indar’s second trip out there and I was glad he scored because he got skunked the first time. There was a bit of bump on the sea surface when he initially came with me, and the slab was massive with the outer reef washing through, so only the right was working and that would’ve been a death sentence backside. So he sat it out and watched and didn’t even ride a wave. It’s kind of a long way to come, especially seeing as you drive past the entire north coast of Spain just firing to get here, so this time, I was like, “Come on man. I’ll make it up to you. It’s gonna be incredible.”

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Muniain savors a rare clean exit.

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CHAUCHÉ

INDAR UNANUE The waves there are completely different than anything else I’ve ever surfed before. I’d have to compare it to the big slabs in Australia and Tasmania, like the Right and Shipsterns. It was a bit of a shock to realize we have waves like this so close to home, because we don’t really have any comparable big wave spots in Europe, or not on the continent, anyway. There are the slabs in Ireland, which are obviously world class, and a few spots in the Canary Islands, but to know this place is a half-day’s drive from the Basque town where I grew up has been a massive eye-opener.

The whole place is pretty sketchy. It’s not completely in the middle of nowhere but it’s still fairly isolated. Getting in and out with the ski is always a bit tricky too, and we had a few problems launching that day.

Then, after we got out, I saw Tai hit a speed bump on the face, free fall about ten feet through the air, and break his board on the first wave.

Once I got one under my belt I felt okay, but I had quite a lot of wipeouts too—these really intense thrashings.

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PHOTOS: BONNARME

C L O C K W I S E F R O M L E F T Indar Unanue, filling quota.

Costa Da Morte pioneers Muniain and Sahyoun. First time guest Nic von Rupp.

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BONNARME

NIC VON RUPP The Costa da Morte, as the name suggests, is spooky. The coastline is like a labyrinth, with little roads that lead off to who knows where.

It feels pretty far away from the rest of civilization and you get the feeling that if something happens out there, you’re on your own.

When I saw the place, I instantly had so much respect for how dedicated Axi and Jerome have been. I mean to go out, explore and

find a setup like this, and then to keep it to themselves, is not easy.

Axi has pretty much devoted a huge part of his career to this place— and the crazy thing is they’ve kept it under wraps for years. They never released footage online, which in itself takes a lot of strength because as a professional surfer that’s kind of your job. Sponsors want to see results year after year, but that stuff has been secondary to these guys.

They’ve focused on surfing crazy waves and not chasing the glory.

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AXI Since we first found this place seven or eight years ago, we’ve kept it totally secret for maybe five or six winters. We’d always arrive at night and keep the truck hidden in the trees, out of sight. Our philosophy was to try to keep it for us, a kind of haven of big waves among close friends. Then about three years ago we started to hear rumors about another crew asking the locals if they’d seen my truck, so I knew they were on the scent. Eventually word gets out, it’s just what happens.

Big wave surfing has changed a lot since we first started coming here. Social media has changed the scene, plus, nowadays, everyone has a video camera on their phone, so nothing is really likely to stay secret. But chasing big waves to get social media likes, craving instant recognition, seems like running in a hamster wheel. You always need bigger, gnarlier, crazier waves.

I’m still as passionate about surfing this place as I ever was.

The spirit of adventure, the magic of all the elements coming together, are as exciting to me as ever. And while it’s not a secret anymore, I know the next time the charts look promising I’ll be on the phone to Jerome.

And with any luck, we’ll find ourselves trying to get the skis in the water in the dark on that sketchy little swell-washed boat ramp in the middle of nowhere. I have a feeling it’ll stay pretty wild out there, no matter who comes calling. ◊

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BONNARME

Muniain, still in mostly uncharted waters.

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