VIDEO: Behind the Scenes of Surfing Nazaré, the World's Biggest Wave

Dashel Pierson
·2 min read
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With a name like Nazaré, an ode to the holy city of Nazareth, the waves that pound the small Portuguese fishing village every winter are, aptly, quite biblical.

Nazaré – just north of Portugal’s capitol city, Lisbon – is home to the largest waves on earth, making it a mandatory pilgrimage for any big-wave surfer looking to test their mettle. It’s also where the current Guinness World Record for largest wave ever surfed went down, clocking in at 86 feet from German surfer Sebastian Steudtner.

So, what makes Nazaré tick? How did it emerge as the belle of the big wave surfing ball? Portuguese charger Nic Von Rupp explains below.

“This place here is the epicenter of big wave surfing,” says NVR. “This is a real creation of god. The way it sits, geographically, with the headland, the lighthouse, and the wave breaking right in front of it, the Nazaré canyon amplifying the waves…it’s a very special place."

But why? Why is Nazaré the epicenter of big wave surfing? Why is it so special?

Well, it has to do a lot with three-mile deep canyon off the shore, which magnifies, strengths, and jacks up the waves into freakishly perfect, gargantuan peaks.

Nic explains:

“The question I get a lot is, ‘Why is Nazaré so big? Why is Nazaré bigger than anywhere else in the world?’ And the answer is, Nazaré has an underwater canyon. On the right, you have the waves breaking, and on the left, you have the canyon where the water is very deep. What happens in this water canyon?

“Once these swells enter the Nazaré canyon, all that energy converges into one direction. Then that energy converges on a shallower part of the canyon, and it lifts that energy into height. That’s how you get those massive waves. It really is one of a kind.”

It’s been a slow start to the winter season in Nazaré so far, but don't fret; things are starting to pick up and there’s bound to be plenty of action from the world’s biggest wave on the horizon.

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