From Down the Beach: Bianca Valenti Wins Puerto Escondido Waiting Game

We’ve previously posted one view of this wave filmed straight-on, but here Omar Diaz gave us another angle from down the beach of Bianca Valenti's SURFER Big Wave Challenge entry at Puerto Escondido. It’s a view that looks more directly into the barrel that Bianca Valenti so stylishly came through.

It wasn’t as big or sketchy as her 2019 Ride of the Year nomination at the same wave, but the 38-year-old Bay Area native looked confident and comfortable stalling in the tube on a double-overhead set wave. I suppose if one tows and paddles unruly Mavericks regularly, other waves seem more manageable by comparison.

But when it’s solid Puerto will test a surfer physically and mentally as much as any wave out there. It’s a game of paddle strength, ocean intuition and luck to find one of those spitting, sand-drenched caves everyone wants to find. It's a maze of unrelenting currents and huge shifting peaks. Some surfers don't wear leashes there for feat of the wave snapping their nearly 3-inch thick boards.

As Shane Dorian himself said in Now Now Media’s stellar profile of the wave, “No one’s going to want to hear this, but it’s mostly a closeout. Every now and then you get one that’s makeable. And you get these mind-expanding barrels.” Bianca said she started this session by packing a closeout and then waited four hours to find this open right.

Tough going, but it makes for a good highlight. With the Northern Hemisphere shifting back to its winter orientation, we’re looking forward to what Bianca does at Mavericks this season.

Related: Watch: Everything You Wanted to Know About Puerto Escondido (And Why It's In Trouble)

Related: Bianca Valenti Knifes, Threads Puerto Escondido Chamber