[dropcap]S[/dropcap]upertubes is the jewel in J-Bay’s crown. The nearest thing to a keyhole is, near enough, directly in front of the main take-off spot for Supertubes; you’ll need to make a well timed dash and jump or paddle to make it out (the keyhole has a good lump of reef in the middle of it that you’ll also need to dodge) and avoid being swept down the point by a set or ruining somebody’s wave.
Supertubes is a fast wave. Really fast. From take-off until the moment that it sections or leaves you behind, Supers offers a long and powerful wall with hollow sections giving those with the skill the opportunity for a high-line barrel. Don’t be fooled by the locals and top 34 though – for many surfers anything other than a cut-down and the wave will leave you behind.
From the moment that you take-off it is pedal to the metal to make the most out of this 250 meter or so long wave.
As the wave runs down to the Impossibles section in front of the boardwalk lookout the chances for a barrel increase with the chances of making it out of the barrel decreasing. Waves don’t often let a surfer through Impossibles (unless you’re Joel Parkinson), beyond which the section known as Tubes is waiting. Tubes is a short, intense barreling section (the name says it all) that works best on a medium sized swell and that runs into Point, a long wave that is slower than its predecessors.
Point has nice shape and can hold some good size as it wraps into a cove, finishing up in front of a small parking lot and a park. Surfing a wave right the way through from Boneyards to Point is the dream of many visiting surfers, however the kilometer-odd long ride eludes the vast majority, and as soon as the realization that it’s not going to happen dawns on them, they simply settle for getting some of the best right handers of their lives at one of the sections of J-Bay.