BEN MARCUS: European Vacation

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This sequence of shots shows surfer Matt Diamond riding the huge waves of Mullaghmore off the Irish coast. Contributed Photos

Matt Diamond goes BIG: Nazare to Mullaghmore and back and back again

By Benjamin Marcus

Matt Diamond’s big wave charging efforts at Todos Santos, Mexico on Dec. 29, 2023, landed him a Big Wave Challenge nomination for that season, but he did not make it to the awards finals this year. Nonetheless he was invited to the 2024 Big Wave Awards held at Nazare in Portugal. He jumped at the chance to go to Nazare for his first time to see what the Surf Gods would bestow upon him. Diamond tore himself away from Malibu during the Sweetest Month of October to fly to Portugal. Proud to be included among the world’s best big-wave surfers, he was rewarded with a quick trip north to challenge one of the heaviest waves on earth. If you watched “The Crown,” you might recognize Mullaghmore as the place where Lord Mountbatten was killed by the IRA. The wave is big and mean and beautiful, and overlooked by Classiebawn Castle.

You flew to Portugal for the Big Wave Awards. Did you win? Did you win?

Well, I was a contender for Big Wave Challenge 23/24 season as I had caught a bomb of a wave at Todos Santos, Mexico on Dec. 29, 2023. I got the invite to attend the event in Nazare, although I was not one of the finalists to win an award. Nonetheless, I had not been to Nazare and have always wanted to surf and tow it. So the event was the anchor that got me there.

How was the Big Wave Awards ceremony? How many people showed face?

Well, I got there on Oct 15 and the event was that Saturday, Oct 19. The afternoon I got there I met up with Mason Barnes, my fellow big wave charger, as he was a Big Wave Challenge contender as well but not up for the final round.

Mason had just towed Nazare the week before for the opening season swell. He let me know he was gonna tow again the next day but there were not enough skis for me to join as there is a new harbor master at Nazare and they require two skis per surfer — one to tow and the other for water safety.

Safety first makes sense. Way back in the early ’80s, I looked into those rocks on a giant day and you definitelydon’t want to go in there. How many ski teams were there for the Big Wave Awards and all that? How many people?

I would say about 100 of some of the biggest wave surfers in the world. This year was not open to the public as it was an invite-only event. It’s an intimate community of surfers who have a love for the big energy waves.

But you didn’t stick around.

Mason said there was an opening-season monster swell hitting Mullaghmore, Ireland, that Saturday, the same day as the awards. Without hesitation I asked if I could join the trip as I had seen what Nathan Florence scored the year earlier. I was 100 percent on board for that potential score!!

I stumbled over both of those places before they were known or cool. In 1983, I saw Nazare while poking around Portugal with some Aussie dudes. It was stormy and YUGE! No one was surfing it then. And then around 1995, I did a surf trip through Ireland with Strider “Raspberry” Wasilewski and Brock and Brad Gerlach and The Rest. We got a glimpse of Mullaghmore and sensed the potential, then a great day at The Peak in Bundoran.

How was Mullaghmore?

Mullaghmore was absolute insanity. Picture Cloudbreak meets Chopu meets Mavericks all boiled into one. A low tide slab break left in Ireland the home of slab surfing.

Well I ask myself: How did you get there?

We flew to Dublin on a Friday, drove past the Guinness factory and some castles, and drove about three hours to the northwest coast and stayed 20 minutes from Mullaghmore. When we got to the spot, the full moon was still out and the sun was rising. Fellow big wave chargers started to show up. Local legends as well as people from North Carolina, Santa Cruz, and Australia, and, oh yeah, one guy from Malibu …)

I think at its biggest size, Mullaghmore is the heaviest, possibly the most dangerous wave in the world: Bigger and colder than Mavericks, hucks out like Teahupoo, and as long as Cloudbreak. Agree or disagree?

Oh yeah, it’s next-level. I saw some video of guys towing it at 60 feet and it was 20- to 40-foot faces out there. It was my first big wave session of the season and I was a bit nervous to be thrown into the mix.  

Mason was towing the sunrise session and I was paddling. On the paddle out I had a moment where I had to tap into the Mana of Ireland and call on the Irish Surf Gods to give me the strength needed for Mullaghmore. It was an amazingmoment. 

Definitely a very surreal and spiritual experience. Ireland. Wow what an amazing and special place. With some of the heaviest surf in the world!

Who else was around?

Conor Maguire, one of the craziest chargers in Ireland, Mason Barnes, Jack Akrop, and a bunch more legendary slab surfers.

How did you go?

Well there were about 20 guys and one girl and it’s one boil takeoff zone. There were four of the main guys that had first dibs on the bombs so Jack and I were being patient. We both got into a couple which is always nice for your confidence to get a couple under the belt. Jack had a late drop on a bomb that turned into a Slabratory Annihilation . 

I watched the local guys lock into some of the most mental takeoffs I have ever seen. The waves were barreling how Mavericks does behind the takeoff spot. It was absolutely glorious to watch.

We all paddled out at 10 a.m. and by about 3 p.m. most of the lineup had cleared out. It was Mason, myself, another North Carolina guy and a couple tow guys. It was offshore all morning and by this time it was sheet glass and we were all pretty tired from the strong current and endless paddling to stay in position. 

We wanted to paddle in but we all had that one more wave we had been waiting for to complete the session.

We endured and held the line and each one of us caught that bomb we needed.  Thanks to the Surf God of Mullaghmore 

What boards did you ride?

I was on a 9-foot Pearson Arrow. Bob Pearson is one of three well-known shapers from Santa Cruz and I am currently riding his boards for all of my big-wave quiver.

So did you chase that swell down to Mundaka? Then Nazare? Then Morocco????

We went to Mullaghmore for the Oct. 19 swell. I did see that Mundaka was super fun, and would love to score that place someday. 

When I left Ireland, I went back to Portugal, and I surfed Super Tubos, and I surfed Nazare, like six- to 10-foot. I was waiting for another tow session for that weekend. They said it was gonna be like 40 foot faces, and it ended up not coming through like they said it would. So I flew back to Ireland.

Round round get around, you get around.

…and surfed around Bundoran.

That Ireland trip we did, Brock and Briley and Strider and them got The Peak at Bundoran firing. Apparentlythat was a big deal then because people in Ireland still talk about it.

And then went down south and explored through the Cliffs of Moher. That’s where you see me at the castle. 

I looked through your photos. That castle is in Doolin, near Crab Island. Here’s a story: Brock Little was fond of“dare bets” where he would bet people he could do something stupid and dangerous and pull it off. This was April, the weather was cold and ooky. The lovely lads came out of the pub and Brock said “I’ll bet you each an Irish punt I can swim to Crab Island and back, naked.”

That’s nuts! How far is that? Let’s see. Google Maps says 1,000 feet from the end of the Doolin Pier.

He did it but thought he was going hypothermic. When Brock was fading away from cancer he said: “Whatever, I shoulda died a hundred times from all the stupid stunts I pulled.” That was definitely one of them. You think Malibu is cold in April, try Ireland. Naked.

Surfers rule.