Fiji

Sitting a mile south of Tavarua, the world-class lefthander named Cloudbreak is actually the eastern edge of an expansive, shallow coral reef pass that receives the undiminished force of Southern Hemisphere swells. Surfers with little travel experience should note that outer-reef waves like Cloudbreak travel much faster than their continental-land-mass counterparts, and if you don't concentrate on getting to your feet quickly, chances are that you will find yourself picking coral from your back.Despite what you may have heard, Cloudbreak can be relatively sectiony, and the lineup involves a large playing field. The swell sweeping toward the reef generally focuses on one of three general areas: the Point (aka The Top), the Middle, and the Inside (aka Shish Kabobs). Because the introductory perspective to Cloudbreak is from a boat in the channel, guests often assume that the inside is the best and safest place to park oneself because of its proximity to deeper water. The truth is that although the inside section can offer some nice tubes and can be a faster escape route to the channel, it's actually the Point and the Middle that have the more forgiving, rippable waves. The inside section is known as Shish Kabobs for a reason: a standard visitor's tax is paid in flesh to the sharp, skewer-like reef that lies just below the surface.Even for the experienced surfer, sizable Cloudbreak can represent a significantly intimidating experience. Thick, fast-moving lefts can hit different parts of the reef at a number of different angles, and it can often be a difficult task figuring out where to be to catch the best waves. Once you get it wired, a good session at Cloudbreak is nothing short of a complete barrel-fest. On fairly rare occasions, large, clean long-interval swells turn Cloudbreak into an astonishing one-section wave that breaks on a part of the reef known affectionately as the Ledge (actually the outside of the inside). If you're lucky enough to surf or simply watch this magnificent leviathan, you've witnessed one of the great wonders of the world.

If large Cloudbreak isn't your cup of tea, then you'll be pleased to known that Tavarua offers the best Plan B in surf travel: Restaurants. Just a relatively short, dry-hair paddle from Tavarua itself, this reefbreak got its name because you can scarf pancakes at the island's eatery while you watch your buddies get tubed out of their minds.Depending on the angle and period of the swell, Restaurant's will usually be about half the size of Cloudbreak, but what it loses in proportion, it makes up for in quality: long, sectionless lefts wrap around the reef that surrounds the western side of Tavarua and push off at such an ideal speed and uniformity that it produces one of the most flattering rides on the planet.But before you go trying an alley-oop after your 20th five-second tube in a row, remember that Restaurant's does have another potentially negative feature: the reef. What can only be described as a briar patch of sharp coral trees awaits the unsuspecting surfer who gets a little too bold or hasn't properly consulted a tide chart (low tide can be bad news if the swell isn't strong enough). More than one famous surfer has been helplessly stuck just inside the impact zone with his leash wrapped around coral heads as wave after wave pounds him to submission.

Breaking around the southern tip of a barrier reef located to the northwest of Namotu Island, Wilkes Pass is a powerful, lengthy right-hander that is open to virtually all swell and wind, making it consistent but somewhat fickle. One of the longer waves in Fiji, Wilkes starts with a relatively standard takeoff, proceeds through a number of stretched out sections, and ends in a shallow bowl section. Tends to be a few feet bigger than Swimming Pools and Namotu Left due to its exposure to swell.

This lefthander is a fun, playful wave suitable to most surfers' abilities - rather short and sometimes sectiony, but well worth it. Located across the channel from Wilkes Pass, of course, when the swell gets big, this wave gets much heavier, but it is still nothing like Cloudbreak or Restaurants.

One of Fiji's most famous waves, and also one of the gnarliest, this is the sort of reef pass that if you showed up on the wrong day, you would question its designation as an actual surf spot. Considered to be the Coral Coast's answer to Cloudbreak, Frigate Pass receives oodles of unblemished open-ocean swell, so it is rarely flat, but it does get too big as to be unsurfable for most. Basically Frigates is a heavy lefthand barrel, fairly long and usually makeable, bending into the shallow pass. The waves just pop out of very deep water and hit the reef. It's rather playful when small or medium-sized; bigger than six or eight-feet is when it gets serious.