Unless you live in Bali (or frequent some of Indonesia’s heaviest haunts), you’ve likely never heard of Shawn Dennis. Originally from South Africa, Dennis now calls Uluwatu, Bali home.
Dennis, like fellow South African Nick Blottnitz, has an affinity for scoring wherever he goes. Whether it’s at Namibia, Cloudbreak or all over Indo, he’s that underground guy streaking through the wave of the day and coming out after the spit when it’s 8-foot and scary. During Covid, Dennis found himself anchored on a friends’ sailboat outside one of the Mentawai’s sketchiest slabs. Despite CT surfers like Kolohe Andino and Griffin and Crosby Colapinto in the lineup, Dennis more than held his own, stacking A-plus clips that could have made the final cut of Reckless Isolation.
Performances like that one (which you can watch in the edit above) caught the eye of Drifter Surf, who put him on their ambassador program and produced this short profile film, aptly named “Tunnel Vision.” Click play to learn more about a man that speaks softly and carries a big surfboard.
Related: Watch: “Traveling Through a Dream” in Under-Explored Indonesia