Kai and Luca discussed a lot of things that can kill you in the ocean. Photo: Kai Lenny // YouTube
Big wave surfing is dangerous. Between the multi-wave hold-downs, razor-sharp reefs, errant boards, and watercraft flying through the lineup – there’s a lot of stuff that can kill you. However, a recent conversation between big-wave chargers revealed that it’s paradoxically the small to medium-sized bombs that can get you.
The revelation came on the podcast of big wave surfer and overall waterman Kai Lenny. Kai, along with his co-host and brother Ridge Lenny, brought on Maverick’s specialist Luca Padua to talk about what it’s like taking on Half Moon Bay.
There are few people who know the famed Bay Area break as well as Padua. At 13 years old, he became the youngest person to ever surf it, and has spent the years since honing his skills and rising to one of the top members of the Maverick’s lineup.
In fact, it was while discussing Padua’s experience surfing the monster at 14 years old that the topic came up of how, at Maverick’s, it seems to be the smaller, inside waves that have the most brutal hold-downs. “It’s funny how that happens,” he said. “Some of the longest hold downs, the worst beatings, are on the smallest days, where it is more concentrated in one place. I’ve fallen on 50-foot waves on big tow days, gotten beat down, caught inside, and been under longer on days where you’ve fallen on an eight-foot double-up on the bowl.”
Lenny, who has a wealth of experience with pretty much every wave that can kill you (that we know of), was quick to agree. “Anyone you talk to, sometimes the worst wipeouts of their life are the medium waves,” he added. “Everyone that has passed away at Maverick’s has been on not the biggest waves. It’s just surprising, because you see someone fall on an 80-foot wave and you’re like, ‘They’re dead, for sure.’ And then they pop up, no problem.”
On the other hand, big or small, Maverick’s is nothing to toy with. “I always thought Maverick’s was probably one of the scariest places to wipe out,” continued Lenny. “If I’m comparing it to a Teahupo’o, Jaws, or Nazare wipeout, Maverick’s has a giant first hit and then you’re not getting slammed consistently, you’re just kind of swirling. That’s almost scarier, because you’re just stuck in this void. There’s no coming up and when you try to come up there’s that like rush of faster water above you and you’re like a balloon getting let go inside and getting stuck on the ceiling. You have this inflation vest and you’re like, ‘This is not even helping.’”
So I guess the big waves can kill you, too.
