Garrett McNamara Rides the “Highest Ever” Wave Off the Nazaré Coast!

Published on 9th February, 2013

Garret McNamara, a renowned American big surfer, may just have broken his own Guinness Book of World Record by surfing possibly the highest wave ever ridden on a surfboard – and in the same spot as the previous world record, too!

McNamara was caught on camera surfing the giant wave off the coast of Nazaré, a Portuguese town facing the Atlantic Ocean. He returned to the area on the 28 of January 2013 to set a new world record in surfing.

His old world record, which still stands pending the results of the measurements into the height of the giant swell, is 78 feet (24 meters) set on November 2011. A few initial reports state that the January 2013 swell may have been as high as 100 feet (30 meters) but it is anyone’s guess at this point.

Why is the Nazaré coast such a popular spot for surfing the biggest waves in the world? It has something to do with the relatively unique underwater and coastal geography of this part of Portugal.

An underwater canyon at a depth of 1,000 feet runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the cliffs of Nazaré. At its widest dimension in the ocean, the canyon is over 3 miles wide but it narrows down as it nears the shoreline.

This forms a funnel that acts as one of the world’s biggest natural wave generator. When a big swell comes along, the underwater acts like an amplifier and voila! The biggest waves that can be surfed by daring surfers like McNamara.

He describes the experience as similar to snowboarding on a series of giant mountains. Your body just keeps flying down the mountain while your entire body and brain just gets rattled during the entire ride, not to mention chattering from the adrenaline. In a word – amazing!

McNamara should know considering that it is his second time around in the Nazaré coast. But this well-known surfer is certainly not a stranger to big surfing action either.

Born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts where the only bodies of water are the Housatonic River and the Long Island Sound – certainly not the kinds with big swells to surf on – McNamara and his family relocated to Hawaii’s North Shore when he was 11 years old. It was here where McNamara started his surfing career.

But amateur surfers are strongly advised to stay off the powerful natural wave generator because of the inherent dangers. The gigantic waves can break into the cliffs, which are 300 feet in height and which end in rocky sections off the coast. As McNamara himself said it, surfers cannot contemplate even the mere idea of coming off because it will most likely kill you.

But if you have set your heart on riding the big waves, there are a few prerequisites to doing Nazaré, so to speak. For one thing, you must hire an experienced jetski rider to take you to the wave from deep water. You cannot paddle out through these gigantic waves lest you find yourself being pulled under.

For another thing, you must choose a wave that focuses and then breaks in a single place before peeling, as surfers call it. Choose a shallower area for this purpose.

But if you can’t surf like the McNamaras of the world, don’t fret. Nazaré is a beautiful resort town where plenty of activities happen on and off the shores – climb the O Sitio, enjoy Praia do Norte, and go to the market. This is coastal town waiting to be discovered in a big way and to sweep you off your feet in a big way, too.

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Published in: Portuguese Life / Travel