Nearly lost at Praia do Norte
In October 2013, Brazilian big-wave surfer Maya Gabeira was towed into a huge day at Praia do Norte. A wipeout broke her ankle, knocked her unconscious and left her face-down in the impact zone. Fellow surfer Carlos Burle pulled her from the water and resuscitated her on the sand. She had, by any honest account, come within moments of drowning.
For most people that would have been the end of the story. For Gabeira it was the middle of it.
The long way back
Recovery meant multiple surgeries and years of rehabilitation. Rather than walk away from the wave that almost took her life, she moved to Nazaré and made Praia do Norte her home break — studying its moods, its tides and the canyon that makes it so violent, until she understood it as well as anyone alive.
Two world records
In January 2018, Guinness World Records ratified a wave she rode at Nazaré at 20.7 metres (68 ft) as the largest ever surfed by a woman. Then, on 11 February 2020, she went bigger still: 22.4 metres (73.5 ft) — not only a new women's record, but confirmed as the single largest wave surfed by anyone, man or woman, that entire winter. It remains the women's world record and sits at the top of our Hall of Fame.
Maya and the Wave
Her story reached far beyond surfing with the 2022 documentary Maya and the Wave, which follows the 2013 near-drowning, the fight to be recognised, and the record ride that answered every doubter. If you are planning a trip, check the live forecast and the events calendar — the days Gabeira built her career on are the same giants the world's best chase every winter.