Big wave surfer Mark Matthews took us to Cape Fear

MARK Matthews surfs massive waves for a living, and he took us into the heart of one the scariest breaks in the world.

“POUND for pound, Cape Fear is the heaviest wave in the world,” he says.

Planes fly in and out around us as big wave surfer Mark Matthews fills me in on how one of the craziest waves on earth lies just around the corner from where we are at Port Botany. It’s a beautiful sunny day in Sydney but I’m told giant waves are lashing the entire NSW coastline, and we’re about to get right in the thick of it.

As he loads the Red Bull jet ski into the calm waters of Port Botany, it’s hard to believe a giant south swell awaits us around the corner. “It’s massive out there today,” he tells me.

Wondering what I’ve signed up for, I trustingly jump on the jet ski as we burst out of the port towards Kurnell. The swell starts to increase the further we go and the ride gets bumpier.

As we swing around the mouth of Botany Bay, the waves begin to rise until we’re staring right into Cape Fear in all its glory. It’s heaving. Matthews’ forecast wasn’t wrong and you can tell how much he’s loving it as he grins from ear to ear while he rips the jet ski in and around these monsters. I’m loving it, but thinking it’s best if I keep my hands on the camera today and leave the surfing to the pros.

Man vs nature.

Matthews says when he and his mates from Maroubra first inspected the break, they thought it was totally unrideable.

“The swell lines wrap around the headland and then just hit this shallow, crazy ledge right in front of the cliff,” which makes it an incredibly risky take-off, he explains.

Even looking from the water, it’s as treacherous as it gets. It’s a wave that only the best of the best can tackle and even then success isn’t guaranteed. Matthews explains that it’s a wave where “you’ve got to do everything right to make it out the other end”, otherwise “there’s a 50/50 chance of you going up onto the rocks”.

He says the wipe-out at Cape Fear is just like being wrestled underwater and that’s exactly how he trains. The Maroubra local says he and his mates wrestle each other at the bottom of a pool for extended periods of time to help simulate hold-down situations and to expand their lung capacity. Matthews says it’s this type of training that allows him to tackle extreme waves like Cape Fear and still live to tell the tales.

Watch Matthews and his boys from Maroubra take on the world in the 2016 Red Bull Cape Fear big wave tournament. The tournament waiting period has started and will be called when the best swell is set to hit between now and August 31. You can stream the whole tournament live at redbull.tv.