Uruguayan Santiago Giovannini received one of the best gifts of his life last week when the North Shore of Oahu turned gigantic for five days in a row, something that doesn't happen very often.

That is, there were five days in which you could only surf on the outer reefs or at Waimea; the rest of the North Shore was closing. Days only suitable for people who like big waves, really big ones.

In other words: What Santiago loves like crazy: Big, heavy waves.

Then the sea “dropped” just a little, enough to make Pipe solid, still unreachable for most humans, work.

And in that complicated crowd at Pipe, Santi found a gem. He didn't make it, but he says he had one of the best views of his life.

“After five days of hitting the outer reefs and Waimea, when I saw the wave coming it seemed small, but when it started to suck in from the reef it got crazy,” he told DUKE. “When I grabbed the line I lost a few thousandths of a second looking at one of the most beautiful tubes I’ve ever seen; giant and blue. I started to give it speed and between the backspit and the foam ball I got sucked in (laughs).”

“'Better over pack than under pack' always (laughs), he says, which translated means: “Better to be well intubated than under intubated”…