A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Beschen, Shane

Long, hollow, intimidating left-breaking reef wave located on the southwest corner of Lombok, Indonesia; ranked #3 in 

 magazine's 2011 list of the 100 best waves on the planet. 

Traveling Australians in the 1970s were the first to ride Desert Point, then known as Bangko-Bangko, after the Lombok Straight nature park in which the point lies. The ride at Desert Point gets off to an easy start, before the wave squares up against a shallow coral reef and blows up into white-knuckle run of tube sections that get larger and faster as the wave goes. 

Perfection is fleeting, however, at Desert Point. A huge, well-angled swell has to thread its way into the Strait, and the waves turn off completely at high tide. The lineup as a rule is massively crowded, even though getting to Desert Point requires either a long and bumpy overland drive, hiring a local boat taxi, or passage on a luxury surf charter boat. 

When the fickle spot at last begins to break, dusty beach campers, pampered boat guests, and jet-set pros all vie for position and at a shot at tropical barrel that can last up to 20 mind-warping seconds. "It is a perfect wave," surf journalist Steve Barilotti noted, "but it will exact its pound of flesh."

Desert Point

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

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Features