Lakey Peak

In the lower part of Hu’u Bay, Lakey Beach offers three perfect spots a few kilometres south of town. The reef in front of the white sands runs dry at low tide, but higher water floods a 500m wide, crystal-clear lagoon offering two channels out to the breaks. Lakey Peak just the other side of the reef is a fast, hollow A-frame that breaks perfectly both ways guaranteeing an open back door to anyone brave enough to pull in. Surfers greet the day with a few tubes in the morning, but get out when the wind kicks in to leave the left-hander free for kiting. Waves under 2m are rare here, but 4-5m aren’t. Left of the Peak, Lakey Pipe is another very fast and hollow left-hander with tubing sections. The wind’s cross-shore where the wave starts to break but swings slightly offshore as it peels around the point. Keep your kite low for a real tube ride with lines streaking out of the barrel from the green room. There aren’t many places like this on the planet. And even if you wipe-out in the tube there’s real hope of a re-launch as, unlike Lakey Peak, the wave ends in a deep-water channel. Nevertheless, the wave is extremely challenging – if in any shadow of doubt, turn right and head for Nungas, 1km further north. The wave here breaks on a point, peeling a few hundred metres into a large bay. The deep water has its advantages: crashes are relatively gentle, and low tide is rideable. It’s not such a radical wave, but the long, smooth faces are a dream. Plus a strong current on the point means there are barely any surfers. You won’t have come all this way for flat water, but that’s exactly what awaits half an hour away. A spit of land shelters Jalla, so the waves are never more than knee-high. Yet the wind funnelling into Hu’u Bay can blow 15 to 20 knots when it’s just 7 or 8 in Lakey, given that it veers southerly enough to blow in – as long as Lakey’s offshore, there’s nothing here. But Nangadoro will be an option. This powerful, hollow left on the way out of Hu’u Bay gets plenty of swell which breaks near the shoreline with a steep drop followed by a shallow shoulder. Launching is only possible over a small rock-strewn beach – sketchy it might be, but it’s sometimes the only windy spot.