Surfer Wall

The heroes of Nazaré's giant waves

Featured Surfers

Andrew Cotton

Andrew is a Plymouth born married father of 2 who grew up on the North Devon Coast (UK) where he started surfing at the age of seven. Ever since then, catching waves and being in and around the ocean has been his life. When he left school he worked in a local surfboard factory until the age of twenty-five. He then re-trained as a plumber, but along the way began to realise that his real passion lay in big wave surfing. Initially Andrew focussed on helping to pioneer big wave spots in Ireland, and more recently he turned his attention to Nazaré, Portugal. Numerous Billabong XXL entries followed and he came to wider attention in 2012 when he towed American surfer Garrett McNamara into what the Guinness Book of World Records confirmed as the biggest wave ever surfed. Since then Andrew has a number of indisputably big waves under his belt, one or two of which have caused debate in the press as to whether they are even bigger than Garret’s record. With the national and global media coverage that followed, it might be said that he has been helping to push the boundaries as to what was thought possible and put Great Britain firmly on the surfing map. But it definitely hasn’t come easy, particularly as home in North Devon is not exactly famed for its big waves. So it’s meant making a lot of sacrifices to get to where he is today, working hard all summer in order to chase down waves all over Europe in the winter as well as spending as much time as possible with his wife Katie and their two children.

Featured

Garrett McNamara

Born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and now calling Portugal home, Garrett McNamaraholds the Guinness World Record for riding the largest wave ever surfed, which hecaught in Nazaré Portugal, credited at 78 feet. Recently he was the first foreigner to everbe awarded the prestigious Vasco de Gama Medal of Honor from the Portuguese Navy. McNamara has received multiple WSL XXL awards and honors, including Performance of the Year and Biggest Wave Paddled. He has several 1st and 2nd place finishes in elite big wave surfing competitions and been invited to participate in the QuicksilverInvitational in Memory of Eddie Aikau, or The Eddie, considered one off the greatesthonors in big wave surfing. McNamara has overcome adversity and is a living examplethat everything is possible no matter the circumstances.

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Maya Gabeira

Born in 1987, in Rio de Janeiro – Brazil, Maya Gabeira was surfing in Hawaii in 2014 and fell in love with giant waves while watching the Eddie Aikau competition at Waimea Bay. In 2006, she became a professional surfer and travelled the world searching for giant waves next to Carlos Burle and lately with Pedro Scooby. She won the XXL Big Wave Awards in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012; EPSYS Female Action Sports Athlete in 2009; Teen Choice Awards in 2010; Laureus Award nominee in 2014, with a wave surfed in Nazaré (2013).

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Nic Von Rupp

Nic Von Rupp was born in 1990, grew up in Sintra and is the son of a German father and a Portuguese mother. Since the age of 9 he has been surfing, and in his career as a junior he won national and international titles. Later, Nic discovered his passion: moving frontiers in Big Wave Surfing. With an excellent reputation worldwide, Nic was considered "European Surfer of the Year" in 2013; he finished his first participation in "WQS" in 60th place, after winning the "Pawa Tube Fest" in Mexico in 2014; he was honored with a silver medal at ISA World Surfing Games and his victory in the Moche Rip Curl Pro Trials allowed him to compete in the World Championship Tour. Recently von Rupp started focusing more and more for what he is known for, for what he is respected for and for what he is here for: chasing the worlds biggest and heaviest waves in documentaries from Nazaré to Ireland and beyond.

Featured

Pedro Scooby

Born in 1988, in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil, Pedro "Scooby" is known for it's ability to dominate the small waves and it's courage to surf the giant ones. He is part of Carlos Burle and Maya Gabeira team on their search for the biggest waves in the world. He visited Nazaré for the first time in 2013. He was nominee for the Biggest Wave of the Year in the WSL Big Wave Awards in 2016.

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Sebastian Steudtner

Sebastian "Seabas" Steudtner was born in Germany on May 4th 1985. As a teenager his love for surfing brought him to Hawaii were he learned to surf. Since 2013 he calls Nazare his home for the winter. He is notorious for his fearless approach in giant waves. Sebastian is a 2x winner of the WSL Big Wave Award in 2010 and 2015. He was the first European to win the most prestigious award in Big Wave Surfing.