Rising from the depths of the North Pacific lies a fabled island, now submerged just 15 feet under the surface of the ocean. A sailor will tell you to avoid Cortes Bank at all cost--the treacherous seamount can destroy a hull without warning. A fisherman will tell you that the bank is a lost Eden teeming with enormous abalone, lobsters, and shark. A diver might spin an unbelievable yarn about a giant ship that lies just beneath the surf in gin clear water. But a big wave surfer will tell you that Cortes Bank produces the biggest rideable wave on the face of the earth. In this dramatic work of narrative non-fiction, now in paperback, New York Times journalist Chris Dixon unlocks the secrets of Cortes Bank and embarks on his own odyssey alongside the hellmen and crazies who have tried their luck there and narrowly lived to tell the tale. Dixon's meticulously researched, entirely authentic story pulls the reader into the harrowing world of big wave surfing and high seas adventure above the most enigmatic and dangerous rock in the entire ocean. The true story of this Everest of the Pacific will thrill anyone with an abiding curiosity of, and respect for, mother ocean.