Pungarehu is one of those places that takes balls to sail - especially the first time.
Today was my initiation. It's all rocks, there's a bit of a channel, and if you imagine hard enough, a gap between two breaks. The advice from the boys was "make sure you get in before that second break - if you aren't going to make it, turn around, go out, and get back up wind. Don't even think about trying it!"
It's also cross-off, gusty, and there's more wind in a can of VB than on the inside of the break.
Started out 5.0m, and then built steadily to 4.2. Which meant that I was over powered most of the time, and bouncing all over the place on a small board. We had clean logo high sets which dropped out as the tide came in.
Top looking spot. I thought it didn't look too wild until I saw the exposed rock in the last pic, must be pretty shallow on the inside :o Would be interesting with a big swell!
Inside is pretty shallow with the tide in like that - that rock is only one of a bunch that lurk out there hungrily looking for fins to prang. The spot used to be known as 'Fin F***rs'. The guys usually aim for mid tide which means that the gnarliest rocks are visible, and the sheltered 'inside' section is not as big.
The worst part for me was not wanting to sail in too close for fear of my fin (which I ended up breaking anyway the next time I came in) so I hopped off early, and then had to fight the current for ages.
It's really spectacular when the swell is up - double mast high is not unheard of, with 1-1.5 mast more common. Still light on the inside though.
It's got a reputation as one of the best DTL spots this side of Maui.
