THE OTHER BIG FIVE
COTTONS LIBEERIA
“Like Snapper Rocks in reverse, without the crowd.” That’s how eminent goofy-foot shaper Simon Fish describes the series of points that make up the Robertsport Peninsula in northwest Liberia.
The crown jewel amongst these sandy treasures is Cottons, a consistent left that spins off between clumps of rocks and ancient primary rainforest that tumbles down to the shore.
On a normal day, the wave is made up of Outside Cottons and Inside Cottons, two separate sections that can offer rides over a hundred meters long. But when deep, booming groundswells march up the length of the African coastline, the two sections connect into a thigh-aching wall that can run for half a kay. Locals will even tell you of days when the wave connects all the way to Fishermans, the furthest point inside the bay, a kilometre away.
The only spoiler is the trade wind, which tends to blow sideshore during the peak swell season. But even then, the wave remains a highly rippable affair and is the least of the local crew’s worries. Rather, it’s the slow recovery from decades of civil war and disease.
Between 1989 and 2003, inequality and simmering ethnic tension escalated into horrific back-to-back civil wars with a that would help awaken the surf world to the rich potential along Liberia’s coastline.
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