Rifles, real, par 5 Rifles is pretty rare, but you can surf Rifles quite often, its just not even close to what it can be.

2025 was a great year for it, quite a lot of south swells and solid ones at that and often with calm conditions or offshore winds.

As its rare to get it special, when you do, you nearly forget how good this wave is.

I had better surf experiences in 2025 and some incredible barrels, but for the most intense, blow away experience, it was one wave at Rifles that gave me the highest high, the most adrenaline, the size, the length of wall, the speed, the relentless huge tube that is flying along, what a wave.

The reef drops off pretty quickly into deep water and then very quickly into very deep water as the location of the wave is sitting near the South East edge of Kandui island and basically the South east tip of the Big Siberut plate.

We used to catch and mostly release quite a few Sailfish off this reef and theres a lot of water moving out here.

Being the SE tip, the wave is open to any winds out of the north and east, and is basically destroyed with more than 5 knots out of that direction.

With an freight train, critical wave, you do not want moguls coming up the face and it can be frustrating to have it twice overhead and just too much bump on it to really enjoy the surf.

The length and overall bend in the wave means it can be offshore in a west out back and SW on the inside, but anything around there should be clean enough to surf, and the swell direction is the other key factor, large swells from the wrong direction can make it too fast, sections coming down and other waves better, it all has to line up.

When it is, you will find a slight outgoing current, the reef sits a fair way off the island and there is a slight pull out off the reef, and you need to be under the wave to get in, it lifts quickly and fast, with a long intimidating wall, you need to paddle harder than most waves and really get down it as it jacks, but this jack and intense lift gives you incredible speed and allows you to make sections that you are unsure of when paddling in.

Coming back to that wave of the year for me in 2025, there were 3 different sections that I thought I was gone, a little adjust up and while ive had some heavy spits and some crazy deep tubes, this felt so light, as if my board and fins were barely creating any drag, like I was the bullet in a gun and I was being blown along at an incredible speed. that adjustment pushing me up and into the next section of which I lined up and travelled before feeling like it was running away on me and I was gone, yet another little adjust up and the same thing, like the wave wanted to keep pushing me along and with it, the spit going past me, but very light and whispy, not a big shot gun spitting out, as there was still no end and the spit was just another passenger travelling along in this time machine.

That wave gave me the full body shakes, overload on the best drug there is, adrenaline, full shaking with its power.

Smaller days can still be fun, race race race and try to get as far as you can, getting outrun or kicking out. when its smaller, there are other waves in the area that are better, but its often empty and theres so much room out there, that you can spread out over 400 metres of take off area, and sitting further down cleaning up the wider ones or the ones people fall on can be an incredible show, the spectacle of people charging out here is insane. And its shallow, its a dangerous wave, you can get really messed up out here, its got so much power, its shallow and irregular bottom, and add a slight bump, which it usually has, plus that you often end up swinging late as someone up the line pulls back or falls. be careful, as the tide drains and the crowd finally backs off, the coral heads start to really get shallow in places.

The Young guns footage of Kelly, was closer to midday and a low low tide and we had all had our fill, I was actually first man out that morning, having take Afrika out with Monkey and another mate for the swell. Kelly surfed up the reef, after they all got out a a bit late in the morning and by the time he came down to Rifles proper it was shallow and getting sketchier quick, thats why hes out alone and his braviety is hard to fathom on the vid, it was consequential, and his fins were not far above the top of some of the coral heads on some twice overhead hollow waves then.

Another factor here is trying to get photos, quite a lot of boats have gone over the falls here, trying to get in too close and having a big wave swinger come thru, a current pulling you in.

What a wave, hard to call a best wave in Ments, there are more perfect waves, there are more fun waves, but for mindblowing big fast, long barrels, its hard to go past Rifles, especially for a natural foot.

And for groups with people who want to surf this and others who dont, there are fun safe waves very close by to spread out the group and they will be good when Rifles breaks.