It's hard to describe to people who don't surf how crazy this is.... I surfed this spot in 2008 at 2-4 feet, absolutely tiny in comparison to what's in the video. It's a fun wave at small size, but still scary, that reef is no joke. Any Tahitian reef pass is serious business. The surf out there is the most powerful in the world, hands down. Towards the end of my trip a soild south hit and we were staying at a hotel with a south facing reef about 500 yards offshore. When the swell hit, the sets would literally cause the hotel to shake a bit. Like a mini earthquake. Seeing chopes from that camera angle doesn't do it justice either. It's a 30 foot wave top to bottom. It breaks in 5-10 feet of water and that reef is deadly. I've heard some horror stories. Guys losing half thier face, broken femurs, and deaths. I can't believe some of what I'm seeing these days. Insane.
I am not a surfer unfortunately. I live in the mountains so I just skate and snowboard. I remember when Laird Hamilton surfed one of these in similar conditions about 10 years ago, they almost made a DVD about it...Now they compete on it..LOL.