Make Believe in Malaysia
Finding more than chlorine in the land of surreal surfing

Text: Travis Ferré
Photos: Nate Lawrence

There’s pee in the pool and fireworks in the sky. The chlorine is working double time as thousands of curious onlookers wade waist deep in the pool –– no doubt pissing at will –– trying to catch a glimpse of five of the world’s best surfers as they whip at 3-foot liquid launch ramps performing contortionist interpretations of their airs. Kerr is 12-feet out. Troy Brooks’ patented Superman has completely shed any Clark Kent resemblance and deserves a cape. Betet is leaning against an umbrella sipping on a free cocktail in the VIP lounge while Ry Craike is spinning dizzying corkscrew McTwists beneath the ovation of “Craike, Craike!” from the 30,000-plus onlookers. Dylan Graves joins them in the pool after playing bow and arrow target practice in the lobby of the hotel. They’re smack dab in the middle of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the place is out of control. There are three VIP areas for the surfers. And then there’s the wave pool, the world’s largest chlorinated shred park. It’s hard to believe only 20 or so people even surf in this country.

“It’s 3 foot at 90 seconds,” Ry Craike jokes one morning as he watches a small Indian man pull the levers at the helm of the pool. “Three more coming!” he tells them before the 45-minute break for the machine to rest. Kerr’s up now. He grabs the rope and beelines for the lip. He’s already picked the maneuver he wants to do. Everything’s premeditated. The spontaneity of surfing is gone, but the fun isn’t. Kerr smashes into the crumbly lip with horse-powered assistance, heaves his board in the air and roast beef grabs for dear life. A solid five feet out, he lands in the flats and falls. Troy Brooks identifies the problem. “You gotta land in just the right sweet spot,” he says to Kerr. “Without the salt water, your board sinks a little more than normal. It’s hard to nail it. If anything goes wrong you’re dead in the water.”
But this conversation demonstrates something new to surfing. And it’s why these silly wave pool showcases can be beneficial to surfing. With a wave that repeats itself, surfers can talk about these adjustments, make them, and then launch at the exact same lip they did before, something never before possible on an ever-changing wave. Kerr is a fan. “It’s so sick having the chance to try all these tricks and see what we can actually do,” he says. His next attempt is identical, only he pulls it and rides away clean.

And now before you become infuriated with the whole concept and its artificial-ness, take a look at the surfers on this trip. These guys are performers. They’re not necessarily here to hunker down and eat bananas in the desert for two weeks waiting for a swell. They’re in a five-start resort riding waterslides in between aerial sessions.
“The spectators were surrounding us when we surfed,” Troy said. “There were bridges they could sit on and check out different angles. They could watch it from anywhere, which is cool because at most beaches you never get the impression of what it looks like from behind or what the surfers see. It’s a full amphitheater set up.”
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