When Santa surfed Shipstern

SHIPSTERN Bluff: the name sends shivers up the spine of any surfer, let alone Santa. The Weekend Australian Magazine catches a monster with the big fella.

Heart

SHIPSTERN Bluff: it's a name that sends shivers up the spine of any surfer.

No other wave in Australia - indeed, few other waves in the world - can match the power, unpredictability and danger of this break on the Tasman Peninsula, an hour's boat ride from Port Arthur.

For Marti Paradisis and his mates, who grew up near Hobart, it has long been a place to test the outer limits of their skill and courage. They're drawn to it like moths to a flame.

That's Paradisis, 29, in the photo. You've noticed he's dressed as Santa Claus.

But for now, contemplate the awesome thickness of the wave at its crest, and the fact that it rears up like this in the blink of an eye as Southern Ocean swells emerge from deep water and suddenly hit a shallow rock shelf.

Paradisis is airborne after launching off the "step" - the bulge in the face of the wave, running diagonally behind him. It's a unique feature of Shipstern and the critical moment of the ride, he says.

Read more about surfing Shipstern Bluff at Christmas in Heart of the Nation in tomorrow's Weekend Australian Magazine.