'I Didn't Know Waves Could Get That Big in Central America'

Originally posted on SURFER | By Chris Dodds | Last updated Oct 23, 2025 5:01 AM ET

Putting all of their combined big wave knowledge to the test, brothers Kai and Ridge Lenny, along with Basque charger Natxo Gonzalez, prove that there's still plenty of new magic to be found, even somewhere well-trodden like El Salvador. In a nod to a legendary mythical creature, they're calling one wave "La Chupacabra", and the other, "Bullsharks."

Thanks to help from local chargers, Ridge's keen eye for setups on Google Earth, and, of course, support from Red Bull, the crew scores a heavy sandbar that, as far as anyone knows, has only been surfed by one local. Although the small Central American nation only has 186 miles (300 kilometers) of Pacific Coast, much of it is relatively unexplored and difficult to access...unless of course you have wiiings.

Spotted from high up above via helicopter, the crew first laid eyes on the spot and, although it was hard to fully see at first, it was way better than they had expected. Natxo said, "When we first looked at it, we couldn't even see the wave because it was below sea level, so we were tripping. All we could see was just the (lip) ripping down the line."

"On the right conditions it could be just like Namibia (only) right."

Kai Lenny

Ridge was well-impressed by his own discovery, "Kai and I had to use a lot of our big-wave knowledge out there because it was a heavy wave. When I think of El Salvador, I don't typically think of waves like this...I think of mellower, fun, rippable point breaks. This thing was a freight-train."

He went on to say, "I think that's the first time in my life I've looked at a spot on Google Earth and actually went, figured it out, and saw it. I've dreamt of doing that my entire life ever since I was young."

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

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