River Surfing

One of the coolest waves on the North Shore of Oahu is actually in a river. When heavy rains hit the North Shore, it's a tradition to dig out the sand to connect the Waimea River to the shorebreak at Waimea Bay. It creates one of the neatest standing waves around. It broke again recently and Zeke Lau was all over it.

We've offered up a sneak peek of jet-powered surf boards before, but trust us, this is the most extensive—and awesome—look yet. To quote the great Doc Brown, where we're going, we don't need waves.

There's something pleasing about walking amongst historic Bavarian architecture fully suited in wetsuit gear and a surfboard under the arm. The Eisbach River in Munich, Germany is one of the more noted areas to go river surfing, and from this video done by the Feelms crew, you can see why. Kill two birds with one stone and do some river surfing while you're there for Oktoberfest.

Ever wonder what it'd be like to surf a wave for 6 minutes (or even just 1 minute)? Well, tag along with pro surfer Marlon Gerber on a tidal bore wave in Sumatra that he rides with a buddy for over 6 minutes. Talk about a leg burner!

We're not sure why the Federation of Costa Rican surfers were the ones who posted this video of the Gironde River Tidal Bore in France—but that's neither here nor there. It was estimated that they had 77 people riding the waves at the same time on all sorts of equipment: SUPs, kayaks, softboards, shortboards, and longboards. The drone footage really gives us an idea of what it's like to surf one of these river tidal bores, which looks awesome.

If we told you that Boise, Idaho had a surf community you'd probably assume we were kidding. Except we're not. They tackle the Boise River Park and brave the coldest of the cold temperatures. Conditions may not be bigger than waste high, but they still get stoked enjoying a day of river surfing.

What do you think of cold water river surfing? Tell us in the Comments.