Big Waves, Acid Drops and Evil Knievel: Surfing’s Greatest Stunts

In July, South African CT surfer Matt McGillivray performed a skydive at the J-Bay Open in his wetsuit and singlet, landed on the beach, and paddled straight into his heat. Even better, he progressed through his Round 1 heat. He captioned his feat, in his typically deadpan fashion, with “That was a fun way to get to the beach.”

For McGillivray, who has done more than 80 BASE jumps, this was bread and butter stuff, but for everyone else, it was not only the most dramatic heat entrance of all time, but one of surfing’s greatest ever stunts. But what else is on the shortlist?

Ace Cool’s “The Biggest Wave”

When you call yourself “Ace Cool” you don’t tend to be scared of some self-promotion. Back in 1985, the big wave surfer, also known as Alec Cooke, was one of the first surfers to tackle Oahu’s Outer Reefs. In the most famous example (and worth a read here) he was dropped at Outside Pipeline by a helicopter. While it saved some paddling and earned some publicity, it was a photo captured by Warren Bolster that preserved the stunt’s iconic status. Known as “The Biggest Wave” the aerial image became one of Hawaii's best-selling postcards. Cooke had designs on being the 'Evil Knievel' of surfing, though he never scaled the heights again. In 2016, aged 59, he went missing after surfing 20 to 25-foot swell near Waimea Bay, and his body was never recovered.