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Two small, rocky, uninhabited islands in northern Baja California, Mexico, eight miles off the mainland; home to Killers, a world-class big-wave break. "A strange and freaky surf discovery," Nick Carroll said about Killers in 1990. "A big-wave monstrosity within easy distance of a coast where five-foot surf throws locals into a frenzy."

Isla de Todos Santos (All Saints Island) was first ridden around 1964 by visitors from Southern California, who surfed a left-breaking wave there called Thor's Hammer—named after Windansea Surf Club executive director Thor Svenson. By the early '80s, three breaks in Todos Santos had been charted, and empty 20-footers at the as-yet-unnamed Killers were featured in the 1983 surf movie 

. California big-wave rider Marty Hoffman and a few others rode Killers occasionally during this period, but it remained largely unknown until world tour pros Tom Curren and Dave Parmenter were photographed there for a 1987 

 feature titled "Big Time," with Parmenter writing that the 18-foot waves they came upon were "by far the largest I've ever ridden in North America."

Waimea Bay in Hawaii had for decades been the undisputed big-wave capital of the world, but for a few years prior to the discovery of Maverick's in northern California and Jaws in Maui, the newly named Killers was the sport's runner-up big-wave break. ("Todos Santos," or just "Todos," is usually used instead of "Killers" to describe the break itself, as well as the island. Todos Santos is also the name of a wave-fringed coastal town located just north of Cabo San Lucas, at the southern tip of Baja.) Throughout the late '80s and '90s, San Clemente regularfooter Mike Parsons was regarded as Todos' dominant surfer.

Todos Santos breaks regularly from fall to early spring. It's positioned at the end of a wave-funneling underwater canyon that magnifies incoming swells to at least twice the size of virtually all other breaks in Southern California. Unlike Waimea or Maverick's, both of which require a minimum wave height of 10 or 12 feet, Todos also produces worthwhile medium-small surf. On a west-northwest swell, from 15 to 35 feet, it offers a steep, thrilling takeoff section, next to a sometimes-hazardous boil, that tapers quickly into a deep-water channel. At size, it's best on a medium-high tide, to smooth out the boils. Although Waimea and Maverick's are both slightly more powerful than Todos, the Mexican wave nonetheless remains one of surfing's greatest big-wave challenges.

Visitors arrange to surf Todos Santos at least a day ahead of time, and charter a day-rate boat leaving out of Ensenada (or pilot their own jetskis) for the 40-minute ride to the island. A pair of lighthouses are located on the island's northwest corner, not far from Killers, and a dirt track runs from east to west, but the flat scrub-covered Todos Santos is otherwise undeveloped. Surfers occasionally camp out on the island, but for the most part boat back to the Mainland in the afternoon.

The inaugural Reef Brazil Big-Wave World Championship, held at Killers in 20- to 35-foot surf in 1998, was won by Brazilian Carlos Burle. San Diego's Taylor Knox rode a giant wave in the semifinals that later earned him the $50,000 first-place check for the K2 Big-Wave Challenge, a first-of-its-kind event with contestants judged on photographs of their biggest successfully ridden wave. The 1999 Reef event at Todos took place in relatively small 12-foot waves, and was won by Australian Paul Paterson. In 2005, former world tour pro Brad Gerlach was towed into a enormous Todos Santos wave that earned him $68,000 prize as the Billabong XXL Biggest Wave winner. In 2010, Mark Healey of Hawaii won the Todos Santos Big Wave event.

Tow-in surfing—motoring into the wave from behind a personal watercraft—was introduced to Todos Santos in late 1999; south Orange County brothers Greg and Rusty Long were among the Todos standouts in the '00s, both towing and paddling.

Todos Santos has been featured in more than a dozen surf movies and videos, including 

 (1998). "Something Wicked This Way Comes," a feature article on Todos Santos written by Daniel Duane, was published in the May 1998 issue of 

In 2014, the two Todos Santos islands, along with short stretch of coast on mainland Baja, was declared a World Surfing Reserve.

Todos Santos

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