Photography by Gaetan Charlin, Leah Hahn, Anuanua Lucas, and Marcus Paladino. There’s been a lot of adjectives lavished on the amazing left reef outside Tahiti’s Passe Havaé over the past week or two.

It’s gonna be an easy one to remember, Friday the 13 th at Teahupoo. There’s the ominous, spooky date that the historic swell happened to fall on and, of course, there’s the waves. Biggest in 10 years ...