Season 3 of HBO’s “100 Foot Wave” premieres on May 1. Image: 100 Foot Wave
The third season of HBO’s Emmy winning 100 Foot Wave is set to be released on May 1, and if the previous seasons are any measure, it will be necessary viewing.
The show focuses heavily on Garrett McNamara, his wife Nicole, and their family, as well as a cadre of other big wave surfers as they hunt behemoth swells. But it’s not just a story about riding big waves. It’s not even about actually surfing a 100-foot wave. It’s a story about the seasons of life. A story about camaraderie. A story about people who are tuned to a different frequency than most. Yes, the spine of the show is the chase for that elusive measure, but it’s far more than that.
I was lucky enough to spend a couple days at the McNamara house a few years ago. Garrett and Nicole are some of the nicest, most down-to-Earth people I’ve ever met. Their life at home in Hawaii is a quiet one, full of laughter and love. Chickens ran amok while their son Barrel chased them barefoot through the grass. Despite his standing in the big wave world, Garrett is exceedingly humble — confident in his abilities, yes, but still with his feet firmly planted on the ground.
He’s also a ball of energy, vibrating with excitement about anything and everything. He has committed his life to surfing the biggest waves on Earth. His home life, quiet as it may be, is strikingly different to what he does when he steps into the ocean. But that’s where Garrett thrives.
“With Garrett?” Nicole laughed when I asked if she ever worries about her husband’s chosen profession. “I think I’m actually more comfortable with him being out there than being on land. Yeah, I worry about him a lot more just going to the grocery store.”
I’ve met many big wave surfers over the course of my strange little career, but none have embodied a sheer love for riding large waves like Garrett does. 100 Foot Wave could only have been made with him at the forefront. I hopped on a call with him while he was in New York to chat about the show and how it has changed his life. 100 Foot Wave has shifted focus through the seasons, and the upcoming one is very different from the previous iterations.
“The first season was just us; the discovery and the exploration and the pioneering of Nazaré,” Garrett said. “It was 10 years of archival footage, and I didn’t think there was any way to top that. It’s like finding Mount Everest in the ocean. How do you top that? It was so raw. I felt like season two was just as good as season one. It was real time. It was actually boots on the ground filming and bringing in more characters. And then season three, I thought, ‘Okay, our life is not that interesting. How are they even going to keep this going?’ And somehow, it’s freaking the best season ever. I have to say for sure, every episode is a 10, and I’m my own worst critic.”
He attributes the show’s greatness not only to the fact that it follows his life, but more so to the people who made it.
“I don’t want to watch myself on TV,” he laughed. “They just edit so well that it’s actually super interesting for me to even watch. But they did so freaking good. I am so in awe and so honored and proud and privileged to have this team.”
Creating a show around chasing enormous waves is, clearly, not without its dangers. The cast and crew put themselves in life-threatening situations, and McNamara is keenly aware of that. Much like a surfer-tow partner relationship, though, it all comes down to a deep-seated trust in the people he works with. Most of the crew are incredibly talented in the water in their own right, whether it’s surfing, piloting a Jet Ski, or rescuing anyone who might need rescuing.
“If they have a challenge, they know they can handle it,” he explained. “They’re equipped. They’ve got their float suits. They’ve got their inflation. They’re not messing around, because they know firsthand how how bad it can get, and how quickly it can happen.”
Making a show like 100 Foot Wave not only requires putting lives at risk, but finding the waves to do it on. The third season, unlike the previous two, moves away from Portugal and Nazaré and spends some time at Cortes Bank, a place with some difficult memories for Garrett. Safi in Morocco, Maverick’s in California, and Waimea Bay in Hawaii are also included, but unlike the first two seasons, McNamara has let go of some of his influence on where the show goes.
“In the beginning we were 100 percent involved,” he told me. “Now we’ve really released it. We try not to micromanage, we try not to produce, we definitely don’t direct, and we just live our life. When ideas pop up, I entertain them or not, and the crew does what they feel from there, and it goes whatever direction it goes. It’s just like a well-oiled machine running on reality of what’s actually happening without faking anything. We never reshoot anything.”
As with any show that documents people in real time, the characters age and change. Garrett has established himself as one of the most dominant pioneers in all of big wave surfing, but time catches up to the best of us. He’s not done, by any means, but his priorities are changing. When I asked him whether he was taking a conscious step back and focusing more on the mentorship side of the sport, he paused briefly before answering.
“It’s just a natural progression,” he said after a moment. “I’ve always loved helping people accomplish their goals and dreams. It’s been kind of an ongoing thing for me. It just feels so good to help people. I love all of the surfers, I love all the spots, and I love all the people who accomplish different things. I love doing something that is good for the sport. I love doing something that will grow the sport and get more people interested in surfing as a whole, through big waves.”
The story arc of 100 Foot Wave began well before the show was being made. It began when Garrett got a call from a friend in Portugal who worked for Nazaré City Hall’s sports program. That friend knew that the wave there was something special, and thought that it might help attract tourists to the tiny, beautiful fishing town that was struggling under the weight of the commercial fishing industry.
“He had a dream that somebody could come to surf their wave and share it with the world,” Garrett remembered. “That was his dream. Luckily, the other guys working in the city hall were his best friends, and he somehow convinced them to give him the rights to invite me. As soon I got there, I was like, ‘this is the ‘Holy Grail.'”
Now, Nazaré is one of the world’s most well-known waves. 100 Foot Wave is an immensely popular show. Garrett McNamara, that ball of energy, played a huge part in not just putting a wave on the map, but an entire town, all while raising the profile of big wave surfing as a whole. And that’s something to be proud of.
Season three of 100 Foot Wave premieres on Thursday, May 1 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT with new episodes premiering subsequent Thursdays at the same time on HBO. The series will be available to stream on Max.
