We talked to Sean Collins over the weekend about that first big south swell, and he said it was gonna hit biggest at Teahupo'o on Thursday the 22nd, so we flew over to Tahiti on Tuesday night. By Wednesday afternoon, it was starting to get bigger, though it was kinda stormy and windy. Me and (Shane) Dorian and Ger were the only ones out there, and we caught a couple ten-footers, but we were mainly just checking it all out.

Thursday morning it was on. It was almost as big as last year when Malik Joyeaux got that GIANT tube. This year, it was Raimana Van Bostolaer's turn. There were about a dozen waves throughout the course of the day that were completely crazy, and Hawaiian grom Mark Healey towed Raimana into two of the biggest, life-or-death waves. He only rode two waves all day, but … how many times can you actually ride waves like that? (Stay tuned to Surfline for video footage of that ride.)

It was rainy and windy out there -- not exactly what everyone pictures Tahiti to be like. The wind was blowing down the face, but when it's that big, there's so much water being drawn up the face into the lip that it almost cancels the wind out and gets hollow regardless. It's a challenging wave 'cause regardless, it's always trying to pull you up the face, so you almost have to surf straight towards shore and off your nose.

It was pretty competitive out there, too -- everyone wants the bomb, but it wasn't like a crowded day at Jaws or anything. There's only like six skis over there, so we all traded off. The vibe was pretty intense but really good. The local guys like Arsene Harehoe, Manoa Drollet, and Vetea David, all got some amazing waves; Laird and Dorian were by far the best visiting surfers, especially backside; Garrett MacNamara got one of the deepest ones of the day while Mark Healey, Danny Fuller and Kahea Hart did really well too. The wipeout of the day award definitely goes to Dave Kalama (pictured), who caught an edge at the bottom of the trough and was sucked back up into the lip and cartwheeled down the face into oblivion. Jamie Sterling showed up the next day and killed it. Me and Gerr were just kinda feeling it out; neither of us got a lot of giant ones.

The scariest thing about Teahupo'o is when you take off, you don't know if you're on a ten-footer or a thirty-footer until it rears up on the reef. But I just can't stop thinking about it, even now -- it's one of those waves you think about in your sleep. I'll be back.

All photos: Dan Merkel/A-Frame

The Billabong Pro runs out at Teahupo'o from May 6th-18th. Stay tuned to billabongpro.com for updates.