Tube riding

Tube riding is a term used by surfers to describe riding well inside the curve or barrel of a finely-shaped breaking wave. Under the right conditions, waves in some areas form a moving "tube" or cylinder as they break, for example, see the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii.

The most straightforward way to tube ride is by body surfing. Body surfers ride the waves on their stomachs without a board and thus they can relatively easily access the tube, even on a moderately small wave that is barreling. It is also possible to tube ride using a boogie board, a surfboard, and other wave riding tools. However tube riding is an advanced skill, and many surfers spend years and even lifetimes surfing without ever really getting “tubed” (the term used for being inside the barrel of the wave).