Teahupoo: a bodyboarder negotiates a successful barrel ride | Photo: APB

When you reach the "End of the Road," you're all by yourself. Are you sure you're ready to get barreled at Tahiti's infamous Teahupoo?

Bodyboarders are known for taking off deep at Teahupoo.

Thanks to their swim fins and prone position on the boogie board, spongers are able to get into the beast wave faster than any other wave rider.

Nevertheless, that doesn't necessarily mean a safe and epic ride down the line.

If you're riding the bodyboard at Teahupoo, you can also make the cover of surf magazines for less heroic reasons.

In other words, Tahiti's infamous left-hander has already taken down several pro bodyboarders in grand fashion.

The good news is that the thickest wave on planet Earth can also live up to the hype and deliver memorable surfing moments.

Just ask Dudu Pedra, the Brazilian who scored big time at the shallow reef break.

Inside the Blue Barrels

Teahupoo was first "discovered" in 1986 by Mike Stewart and Ben Severson.

Since then, the treacherous surf spot has been visited and surfed by legends of the surfing, bodyboarding, windsurfing, and kiteboarding world.

Teahupo'o is a Polynesian word meaning pile of heads, in reference to the son of a murdered king, who avenged his father's death by eating and drinking the fresh brain of his progenitor's killer.

Bloody stories aside, Hawaiian bodyboarder Willy Petrovic also found heaven inside the Tahitian blue barrels.

And he made sure the world witnessed his tube riding experiences. Watch his impressive point-of-view footage.

Teahupoo is a tricky and highly technical wave, even for advanced bodyboarders.

Can you imagine the price paid for failing to deal with one of the heaviest waves in the world?

Watch how bodyboarders Maui Leetham, Richard Niko, Jurd Heimana, Thibault Casabianca, and John Duval tackled Teahupoo's sister spot, Nuuroa, on May 13, 2013.

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