Incredible World of Tubes.

Shark Island featured in Tracks special fold out poster No2 edition called Incredible World of Tubes in ’85. The gnarly cover pic was by Greg Button.

Kong Shark Island.

Another Gary Elkerton image from that classic Island day back in ’85 during the Beaurepaires comp. Photo Aintonn.

Jezza

Following in the footsteps of Jim Banks, Jeremy Hrbac, Boogs and Kev Cassidy were part of the next generation that took on Shark Island backside. This shot snapped around the late 80’s captured a determined looking Jezza going pig dog to escape a certain raking across the sharp reef if he happens to slip up. Photo Stroh

Steve Robertson

Steve Robertson draws a clean line out at The Island from the pages of Surfing World in the mid 70’s Photo by Bruce Sladden.

Shark Island Warp.

When photos first started appearing in magazines of Shark Island it quickly gained a reputation as the heaviest wave in Australia. It was all because of its unpredictability and tendency to warp, bend and buckle as the wave hit the reef. The uniqueness guaranteed that no two waves were ever going to look the same. The Island may have been knocked off its heaviest wave title more recently but those warping barrels are still doing there thing today. Dredging empty Photo ’77 by Chris Stroh

Pro’s Hit Town

Whenever the World Tour rocked into Cronulla on a regular basis throughout the 80’s most  locals looked forward to seeing the the worlds best tear up the local breaks. During the ’85 Beaurapaires the Island fired and big Willy Morris from California was right on it. Photo Simmo.

Kev Cassidy

Kev Cassidy was part of the brave backside crew who took on the Island in the 80’s. This sequence saw Kev hit a speed bump in the reef and pay the penalty. Photo Stroh

Geoff Solness’79

The late Geoff Solness fearless Island charger on a warping beast, shot taken around ’79 by Chris Stroh

Gerry Manion Jan ’76

Popout must have been loving this day…no bodyboards back then and no crowds. The shots were taken in Jan/ 76 by Tim Vanderlaan

Jim Banks SI

Jim Banks was one of the first to take on Shark Islands notorious reef waves on his backside. In the late 70’s the Island was looked on as one of the heaviest waves in the world and Banksy proved the shallow reef could be ridden backside just as successfully as the natural foots. The classic shot of Jimbo appeared in Steve Cores “Surf” Magazine around ’77 taken by Cronulla water photographer legend Dave Shaw.