By now everyone has seen Mark Healey's incredible Puerto behemoth from last week. Healey stroked into that wave the day after the Big Wave Awards and it's a shoe-in for next year's awards.

At about the same time Healey was nutting it up, Aussie expat Owen Schultz paddled into this beast a thousand k's north of Puerto Escondido.

Owen originally hails from Point Cartwright on the Sunny Coast but moved to Margaret River a decade ago where he earned his big wave chops. These days he calls Mexico home.

On this day he was one of only two guys to paddle into a wave on the biggest day in the area in 25 years. While he was bobbing amongst waves that he'd "rather not put a size on", Jamie O, Shane Dorian, Corey Lopez, and Ryan Hipwood were nearby towing. JOB and Dorian pulled off a tandem barrel with GoPros, another wave you've likely seen do the rounds on the internet.

Owen was riding an 8'3" Mike Meyers-shaped gun and he waited almost two hours before getting this wave. He quickly backed it up with two more before going in. The second one was bigger again though he didn't get barrelled, the third a closeout just before the wind swung forcing Owen to go in before he made any costly errors. It was a succesful mission then.

As Owen says, "Those who surf here and Puerto on days like this know you might not catch many waves, or make even a single wave some swells. When you do you feel unbelievably blessed to received such a gift and once the taste is in your mouth you crave more of the addictive natural high."

Still on a high a week later, Owen praised Mother Nature "for her blessed gifts" yet he reserved special thanks for Mike Meyers Surfboards, Von Dresselt Boards, and Ocean & Earth for feeding his addiction.

(Photo: Mike Kenyon)