When the conditions align on a full or new moon, one of the world’s most notorious waves comes to life. It’s not like Nazaré, Pipeline, or J-Bay. You have to time it perfectly while braving piranhas, anacondas, and alligators that lurk beneath the surface. It’s a rare tidal bore in northern Brazil called the Pororoca.
The wave was first surfed in the ’90s and has since been ridden by plenty of adventure-seeking surfers like Carlos Burle, Ross Clarke-Jones, Dylan Graves, and Lucas Fink, to name a few. But now the most famous (and decorated) Brazilian to ever grace a surfboard has added his name to the storied wave. Gabriel Medina took a recent trip up to the backwaters of northern Brazil to give it a shot.
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The Pororoca doesn’t refer to one particular wave, but to the phenomenon as a whole. There are lots of rivers that experience the Pororoca. Medina chose the Mearim River in the state of Maranhão to feel the tidal energy. Looking at his reaction online, it appears the wave didn’t disappoint.
“(It’s) beyond what I imagined,” Medina said on Instagram. “A trip that I will remember forever.”
In the first episode of a vlog series created in partnership with his sponsor “Vivo,” Medina travels to the wave, explains that he’s riding a board with a bit more volume than what he would use in the ocean, and is mobbed by surfing fans that don’t usually get to see icons grace their shores.
We’re looking forward to the release of all the surfing footage.
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