Whoever said all the “firsts” are taken was wrong. A group of British, Irish, and South African surfers discovered and rode a massive wave called Prowlers off the coast of Ireland for the first time two days ago. A huge swell generated by Hurricane Tomas brought 50-foot-plus waves to Prowlers, and the group of six headed two kilometers offshore in jet skis and boats to drop into the beast.

The group has been waiting five years for the right conditions to tackle Prowlers, which was first spotted from the air by Andrew Cotton, when he was rescued by an Irish Coast Guard helicopter after a surfing accident off Mullaghmore, Co Sligo. The break is formed by an undersea reef more than a mile off the coast.

“The only way I can describe it is that the waves were detonating when they hit, exploding when they hit the water,” said Al Mennie. “You could surf the wave and get in to the wave and feel the violence of the wave.”

The Prowlers surfers are keeping mum about the exact location. Speculation on Irish surf forums is that it’s off Mullaghmore, and one photographer posted images this week that he says are of Prowlers — but they’re taken from the beach, the wave clearly isn’t a mile offshore, and there are no surfers riding it.

If it really is off Mullaghmore, the location shouldn’t be that difficult to suss out. The shape of the coastline in that stretch of western Ireland offers a relatively narrow window for northwest swells to make it to land. It also explains why Prowlers might not break but once every five years.

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