Sailing to the most remote waves in the tuamotus

Surfing remote atolls looks like paradise from the outside—but the reality of hunting waves in the Tuamotus is wild, unpredictable, and rarely easy. After navigating a narrow, churning pass into a remote atoll in French Polynesia, we found ourselves sitting out howling 40-knot winds and heavy 3.5m swells. With no safe anchorage anywhere near the break, scoring empty waves meant brutal 5-nautical-mile dinghy runs across open chop, braving reef cuts, burning through our final drops of fuel, and watching the swell peak and vanish. From catching baitfish by hand to waiting out the tide and making the overnight passage toward Rangiroa, this is what remote cruising and wave-hunting really looks like. In this episode: 00:00 - Entering a Narrow Atoll Pass 01:56 - Scouting Waves & Safe Anchorage 03:00 - Waiting for the Swell & Tide 04:06 - Scoring Empty Reef Waves 06:16 - Reef Cuts & Tropical First Aid 08:00 - Surviving 40-Knot Winds & 5-Mile Dinghy Missions 09:16 - Passage Plans to Rangiroa & Fuel Shortage 11:06 - Snorkeling the Inner Reef 12:00 - Running on Empty (Dinghy Fuel) 13:18 - Catching Baitfish by Hand 13:46 - Last Surf Session at the Pass 15:05 - Overnight Passage to Rangiroa 16:29 - Navigating the Tuamotu Archipelago 18:16 - Arriving at the Next Atoll To DONATE just because your a bloody LEGEND https://www.paypal.me/sailingcatalpa For more on our family and travels you can check out our website http://www.sailingcatalpa.com Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sailingcatalpa Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sailingcatalpa https://www.instagram.com/belllarice https://www.instagram.com/artoftaj