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, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Thunderous but fickle big-wave break located off Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa, adjacent the towering Sentinel headland; often called the Southern Hemisphere's version of Maverick's. Dungeons, a right-breaking wave, reportedly was given its name by a local surfer who was trapped underwater for two straight 25-foot waves. "It's a deadly prima donna of a wave," surf writer Steve Barilotti wrote, "not to mention a favorite feeding ground for Great Whites."

Dungeons starts to break when the surf hits 10 feet, but doesn't come into peak form until 18 feet, and can hold waves up to 40 feet or bigger. Dungeons-sized waves are generated with some frequency between May and October from storms tracking along the infamous Roaring 40s, but local winds and crossed-up swells often make the waves here unridable. The Cape Town water temperature in winter is usually in the upper 50s; daytime air temperature average in the low 60s. Like Maverick's, Dungeons offers a harrowing near-vertical takeoff, followed by one or more churning bowl sections; rides can last for up to 300 yards before tapering off into a deep-water channel. "It's a shifty character," one local surfer noted. "Somes waves have a nice clean A-frame takeoff, others double-up and ledge like two 15-footers in mating season." The Dungeons reef is located relatively close to a hilly shoreline (part of the Cape Peninsula National Park) and a boat harbor; surfers can paddle to the break, but generally arrive by boat.

Dungeons was first ridden in 1984 by Cape Town surfers Pierre de Villiers and Peter Button, but it was another 10 years before a small group of locals—including Jonathan Paarman, Justin Strong, Ian Armstrong, Cass Collier, Chris Bertish, and Mickey Duffus—began riding the break with any regularity. By the mid-'00s, Grant Baker of Durban was generally regarded as the most accomplished Dungeons surfer.

The debut Red Bull Big Wave Africa contest, held periodically at Dungeons starting in 2000, was won by Cape Town's Sean Holmes. Other winners include Greg Long (2003) and John Whittle (2006); Grant Baker won the final Big Wave Africa event in 2008. That same year, Long speared his way through a jaw-dropping Dungeons barrel to earn XXL Ride of the Year honors.

Dungeons

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Videos

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Videos