Video: Adrien Charles; Drone: Mathew Kleynhans

It’s been a busy week on the internet for top-secret, perfect waves. First, Mick Fanning posted an edit of him and Tyler Wright at the Snake, a perfect sand-bottomed right tube, first discovered last year. Then, Natxo Gonzales dropped a new clip of the crazy sand-bottomed right he also first discovered last year. Then, Hurley posted a Nic Von Rupp clip at Natxo’s wave. And of course the not-so-secret Surf Ranch Pro. But now, Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker and Greg Long, two of the most prolific big-wave explorers on the planet, released this crazy thing above, a Puerto Escondido-esque reefbreak, barreling relentlessly in crazy offshores, somewhere in Africa. (Greg and Twig, out alone, switched off the same board while the other ran safety.) We caught up with Twiggy to find out more:

You guys have been on the hunt for new, big waves for a long time. Where does this most recent discovery rank among all the others?

My focus has shifted the past five years from the name spots. I used to never miss a day at Maverick’s, Jaws and Dungeons. But now, I prefer to venture out a little further and surf lesser-known or new spots by myself or with a few friends and escape the crowds. This day was cooking everywhere. We took a chance, did something different and it worked out.

How has finding and chasing big waves changed over the years?

It’s changed considerably and continues to get better, making our jobs easier and Surfline has been a big part of the evolution. Saying that, it’s still tough to make a final call on a swell like this when there’s a bit of money involved and the chance to miss epic waves somewhere else on the line. You have to know the ins and outs of every spot first hand — and this takes time and experience to get a call right.

Given how many big-wave surfers there are in the world now, how do you guys keep a mission like this under wraps?

There are a bunch of big wave guys now, for sure. But when it’s a good swell for an area, it’s actually difficult to get guys to try something different. We asked a few surfers and some photographers to join us and they all said they would rather stay at spots they were guaranteed to score rather then taking a chance on something new.

How long had you had your eye on this wave?

We’ve been surfing it on and off for a few years and have had it pretty good in the past, and always hoped we’d see a day like this out there. I never imagined it could get this big and this good.

How long after you saw conditions lining up did you pull the trigger?

We watch these swells from at least a week out, but only pull the trigger with 48/24 hours to go — basically the least amount of time to be able to get into position after flights, getting equipment ready and driving to the location.

When you arrived, was it what you expected?

Yes. Straight off the bat, we could see it was on — the offshore was a little strong and the swell was just filling in, but we could see bombing waves from first, gray light.

What was the most challenging thing about the wave?

The wind was crazy. Offshore is a tough wind to surf when the swell is big — and it was 30 knots straight offshore. Besides that, it was a long-period swell — in the 20-second range — so the lines were coming in fast against the wind. We both had some pretty crazy wipeouts.

What’s your strategy when tackling a new big wave like this?

It’s important to take a little time and figure out the lineup initially and make sure you have your triangulations all lined up. It was just the two of us — one surfing and the other doing safety on the ski — so it was totally up to you where to sit and what waves to catch. I love solo sessions like this, as there’s no place to hide and you learn more having to rely on your own skill-set rather then following others in a lineup.

What board were you on, and was it the right tool for the job? Did the wave teach you anything about board design?

We where swapping out on a 9’0″ (68 L) Twig Charger model. It’s a mid-range gun and it’s all about keeping volume in the board for paddling into larger waves — but having a shorter length board once on the wave to maximize barrel-riding ability. The board worked amazing, even with all the wind and how fast the waves were moving. A good big-wave barrel board feels like an extension of yourself, and it reacts to what you’re thinking while on the wave.

What was the most memorable moment/wave for you?

The last wave on the video was towards the end of the session. We had a bunch of waves throughout the day (we surfed from 8am to 4pm) but not the ONE. On some waves, we were a little deep and didn’t make them, and others a little wide and not barreled enough. But we knew the wave of our life was out there.

At around 3pm, this wave came through and I was in the perfect position and it let me in fairly easily, considering all the wind and how big it was. Then it doubled up as it hit the slab and this huge, perfect barrel ran off at a speed were I needed to go at maximum velocity while doing these big rollercoaster pumps for almost 10 seconds. On two different occasions the foamball got under me and I thought it was over and I had to get high and tight at the end to make it.

One of those “I’m screwed/I made it/I’m screwed/I made it/I’m screwed/I made it” waves. A wave that we live for — and one of the rides of my life, for sure.

What could you compare this wave to?

Greg and I were chatting while we were out there and trying to remember a better session we had together and we decided that this one was in the top three. Even though it’s a reefbreak, the wave sometimes feels more like a beachbreak as it shifts around and changes shape on each set, so we likened it more to a Puerto-style takeoff peak with a bit of a Nias wall, but like all waves, completely different as well.