Australian surfer Mark Visser became a part of big wave surfing history after riding a monster 70 foot (22 metre) wave at 'Dungeons' in Cape Town.

The Queenslander, who chases big waves around the world thinks these are the biggest waves he has ever seen.

"We caught about ten waves and two of them would have been worthy to enter in big wave surfing awards," Visser said.

Huge surf at Dungeons South Africa provided the setting for the 'Biggest Wave Ever Ridden' claim. Photo: Craig Kolesky/SanDisk 

"Seeing I catch big waves for a living, these are the biggest waves I have ever surfed in my life."

Visser wasn't on his own though. Big wave riders from Hawaii, California and Chili also got a slice of the action.

The short swell period combined with the low tide and glassy conditions created enormous waves, which broke top to bottom in an overwhelming display of ocean power.

"The waves were definitely the biggest I've ever seen in South Africa and possibly the biggest anywhere," said local South African big wave surfer Grand Baker.

"I was towed into one giant wave that was so big I was terrified and started hyper-ventilating.

"When we saw the photos that were taken, we realised that they were possibly the biggest waves ever recorded. I think they smashed the waves surfed at Cortes Bank (USA) in January which were close to 70 feet and won the Billabong XXL awards."

Hawaiian Jamie Sterling also took part in the mammoth session.

"It's hard to tell who caught the biggest wave," Sterling said.

"There wasn't much in it, we all caught big waves that day."

When the waves died down, they moved 7kms across the bay to Sunset Reef, near Kommetjie.

With the sun setting, Visser was towed into a wave, where he came face to face with a great white shark.

"I asked the guys what type of shark it was. They all laughed and said we only get one type of shark here, ‘the great white'," he said.

"It was massive and freaked me out a little. There is a place near where we surfed where the great whites jump out of the water eating seals. I didn't want to be a seal!"

Visser continues with his big wave quest, with the goal of riding the biggest wave ever ridden in the world - a 100 foot plus wave.