The Top 3 Barrelling River Waves

Barrelling river waves are the holy grail of river surfing. Here are the three biggest river tubes your must surf in your lifetime.

1. Rapid #11

This is perhaps the most powerful and scary tubing river wave on the planet (see featured shot above by Alan van Gysen). Only a few people, including Elijah Mack, have surfed this gnarly wave in the Zambezi River in Africa. This wave only works for about two weeks when the water level in Zambezi is dropping. In the video below, 14 x Skimboarding World Champion Bill Bryan is getting pitted in Rapid #11. Check out Scott Lindgren’s profile for some insane stills and videos of this spot. This wave is so insane, that we decided to share a second video of Rapid #11 with you, this time with Andrew Matthews taking full advantage of the tube.

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A post shared by Scott Lindgren (@scottlindgren_) on Jun 2, 2018 at 4:30pm PDT

2. Norway

This wave in Norway is Terje Hawkinson’s home break. The wave forms only under certain conditions and the exact location remains secret. Check out Phil Pope and Stanley Badger hitting this gem in the video below. Here is the full length version of this clip.

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A post shared by Riverbreak (@riverbreakmagazine) on May 17, 2018 at 8:58am PDT

3. Lochsa Pipeline

The infamous Pipeline Wave at the Lochsa River in Idaho has been surfed since a long time now and people from Idaho and Montana flock there during high flow times. The dynamic wave does not turn into a full tube, but it has a big face and you can get barrelled!

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A post shared by t a k a k o (@takocam) on Mar 25, 2017 at 8:19pm PDT

The future of barreling river waves

Chances are that there will be more barrelling river waves in the near future. Wave technology is evolving rapidly and we’re getting closer and closer to make artificial tubes in rivers a reality. Check out Tanner’s River Surf System, a wave building concept that can bring tubing waves to every town that has a river.

What’s your experience?

Have you surfed one of the three waves above or any other tubing wave? Which one would you love to surf? Leave a comment below!

More about: Africa Barreling River Wave Barreling Wave best river waves big waves Europe Idaho Lochsa Pipeline Lochsa River North America Norway river big waves Scandinavia Tube Tube Wave USA Zambezi Zambezi River

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RB Team The editorial team of Riverbreak is a loose connection of passionate river surfers. As a group, we strive to give the larger community a voice on an international level – our mission is to connect river surfers around the globe.