Photographer’s Camera Gear Gets Jet Washed by 20-Foot Wave in Tahiti

A surf photographer’s camera was subjected to an unexpected jet wash after an enormous wave in Tahiti swamped the boat he was on.

Surfer.com reports that the first major swell of the season has arrived in the Southern Hemisphere. It heralds the arrival of 20-foot waves that are some of the most dangerous on Earth. Nevertheless, the village of Teahupo’o has become a magnet for thrill-seekers. And where there are daredevils, there are photographers capturing the action.

One such photographer is Guy Mac, a photographer currently in Tahiti, who posted a viral video yesterday that perfectly shows the overwhelming power of a 20-foot wave when it breaks.

As a single brave surfer begins riding inside the massive wave, also known as barrel riding, the wave breaks at tremendous speed and within seconds it is on top of the boat with the surfer still in it, traveling at lightning-fast speed.

The boat that Mac was on was in the ocean channel, which is a deeper area where waves won’t break. But as the video shows, the waves in Teahupo’o are so big and generate so much power that they can reach the safe zone.

“A surfer’s going to be badly hurt coming out blind into a boat soon enough I’m afraid,” says the top comment on Mac’s video. “Your camera was looking like it needed a power washing anyway,” adds another.

PetaPixel has reported on photographers having difficulty in that exact same area before: in 2022, two photographers were thrown overboard while in an observation boat. Ted Grambeau and Chris Bryan were sent vertically into the air and were unseated from the boat.

Grambeau said it was a “near-death experience,” and the driver was injured. Adding that he lost some “very expensive camera gear.” Bryan had better luck as he threw his camera into the air and it miraculously landed back on the boat before he was thrown overboard “like a rag doll.”