It’s not every day that you get to have a conversation with a living legend. But that’s exactly where I found myself on a Monday in March: sitting at my desk in my New York City apartment on Facetime with Garrett McNamara. Immediately, I was jealous.
Garrett is living the dream. He was sitting on the beach in an Aloha T-shirt with a WaveRunner on the sand in front of him. Seeing him in his chilled Hawaiian environment was such a stark contrast to his perilous life on the water, where he puts himself into the barrel of danger. So naturally, one of the first questions I wanted to ask him was an obvious one: does he ever get scared?
In 2007, Garrett mastered fear. While he and a friend were working on a project where they surfed the swells created from glacier calving, a defining moment occurred. “The first wave that I caught on that trip was only like two or three feet tall. It barely broke. It was glassy. It was beautiful. I was getting towed into the wave. I let go of the rope, and it was just so beautiful, so smooth,” Garrett reminisced. “Then I looked up at the glacier behind me, and it’s 300 feet tall, looming over me. And in that moment—I usually process positive thoughts—but I processed the thought of the glacier calving flat and smashing me. There would be no escape if it decided to break off again while I was right there.” He paused. “At that moment, it was sensory overload. The fear that I faced was so intense, that from that day forward, I pretty much didn’t have fear in the ocean. It became very comfortable and, for lack of a better explanation, like a walk in the park. Big waves became a walk in the park.”
So when it comes to fear itself? Well, Garrett has a powerful takeaway from that experience. “Fear is something that we choose,” Garrett told me when I asked. “I always say, ‘Don’t go where you’re not comfortable.’ But then you won’t get over it. So you have to face your fears.” And now, the surfer is fearless. From pioneering big wave surfing at Nazare in Portugal to breaking his own world records and catching an estimated 100-foot wave in Portugal, Garrett doesn’t hold back. In everything he does, he dives fully in, with the goal of to be inspired and to inspire.
As our conversation continued, it became clear that Garrett was as modest as can be—which of course, makes sense, given his modest beginnings. Starting with no money and sleeping on a shag carpet to becoming an eight-time Guinness World Record holder with his own HBO series, Garrett has made it big time. So how did he get to where he is? Keep reading to see everything the legendary surfer had to tell us, along with a special cameo from one of his daughters who popped into the conversation for a minute.
On Humble Beginnings
Our mother uprooted my brother and I and forced us to move to Hawaii—and we went kicking and screaming. She said, “Don’t worry, there’s surfing. It’s like skateboarding, but it’s on the water, and you won’t get hurt when you fall.” That was the only thing that was a little enticing. She had married this guy who was a musician, and who enabled us to get here, but a few months later, he was gone. So we’re stuck on the North Shore with barely any money. We had a nice little apartment, but there was no furniture, so we had to sleep on the floor. Luckily there was carpet, you know, the old 70s shag rug. Who knows how many families lived on it before us, but that’s what we slept on. My mom went to a garage sale and bought a surfboard for $15. She brought it home for us, and that was it. Nothing mattered. What we didn’t have didn’t matter. We had a surfboard, we had shorts, and we were happy.
A Vow to Never Surf Again
When I was 15, I went to Sunset Beach and got pounded really badly on a 10 foot wave. I vowed to never surf a wave over 10 feet again. But then at 16, a friend of mine literally grabbed me by the neck and said, “You’re coming with me. We’re going out to Sunset.” And I was terrified. He said, “Don’t worry. I’m gonna give you the perfect board. I’m gonna show you where to paddle out. I’m gonna show you where to sit and wait for the waves, and I’m gonna tell you which wave to go for.” And sure enough, he did all of that for me, and I caught every wave I wanted that day, and I really fell in love with big wave surfing. That was it. It was just a progression from there.
“Big waves became a walk in the park.”
On The Board Mindset
Usually on most waves, if they’re hollow, I’m looking for the barrel. I’m literally like a kid on Christmas, just so happy and excited and doing my best to follow my heart and not my head, and just really enjoy the experience. It’s spiritual, it’s beautiful, there’s nothing like it. It’s all about really being in the moment and doing your best to be in that moment and enjoy it. Choosing to enjoy it, no matter what. Underwater rides can be just as fun as the waves you make if you choose to enjoy them.
The Power of Jet Skis for Surfing
Well, the challenge is that you have to be ready to face the wave landing on you on the jet ski. It’s a machine—it can malfunction. And in Nazare especially, it can suck up rope or plastic bags, so you can be in a really dangerous situation so quickly without realizing it.
The jet skis—the WaveRunners—are our lifeline. They are what enables us to ride these waves that aren’t humanly possible to catch or survive. And the pilots—you can have these weekend warriors who actually are out there smoking cigarettes while they’re driving around, towing people in the waves—and it’s bizarre, and it’s scary, and it’s dangerous. You have to be prepared. Here on Oahu, we have the BRAG course, where they share with you all the rules, and then you can even do the water safety course, where you learn how to pick up a victim or somebody who’s knocked out. It’s all about being a risk technician: managing the risk, figuring out what can go wrong, and then figuring out the best solutions if anything does go wrong. First and foremost, you need to be physically ready. Pretty much anybody can drive a watercraft, and pretty much anybody can become a tow surfing driver, it’s just a matter of how good they’ll be and if they’ll survive.
You can come tow me in at Nazare!
Thank you for the offer, Garrett, but maybe not…
A Quick Visit from His Daughter
We jet ski all the time for fun. This one right here (brings his daughter onto the screen), What’s your favorite thing to do? “Drive the jet ski!” What were you doing yesterday? “Driving!” She told me, “Dad I don’t think I want to ride the waves, but I want to tow you into waves.”
“Fear is something that we choose.”
Would He Let His Kids Surf Big Waves?
If they want to. I mean, it’s not my priority, and I’m not going to push it, but if they want to, I’ll definitely train them and have them ready for the experience. My son already barrels. His favorite thing is toe surfing. He can stay on the board all day, and he’s only 11. Two days ago, [my daughter] Thea said she wants me to teach her. I gotta get her out there. My piece of advice for my kids is to just have fun. Don’t think about ulterior motives. Don’t think about trying to please somebody or trying to do something to impress somebody. Just have fun. If it’s fun, do it. If it’s not fun, don’t do it.
What He’s Working On
I love helping people accomplish their goals and dreams—like, I’ve towed a blind surfer into a 40 foot wave in Nazare, and he’s legally blind, born blind, has never seen in his life. It’s crazy. Random people will come into my life and have a goal, and I like to help them achieve it.
And we are working. We have our foundation. We work with the underprivileged youth here in Hawaii, and we work with the orphans in Nazare, and we take them on weekly surf trips, do weekly mentorship, and we get them to fall in love with the ocean and fall in love with surfing. Hopefully they’ll want to protect the ocean. We also do goal setting. We ask them what they want to do and get them to think about what they really loved doing when they were like three. Because once the world gets a hold of us, it really changes our thoughts and desires. So we then write a map on how they can do what they really love for the rest of their lives, and then we teach them not to stay rigidly attached. If it changes or goes in a different direction, just change the plan.
“Don’t think about ulterior motives. Don’t think about trying to please somebody or trying to do something to impress somebody. Just have fun. If it’s fun, do it. If it’s not fun, don’t do it.”
100 Foot Wave
The TV thing came because back in the day, I was working with the senior vice president of Time Warner. He was my manager, and he was in marketing and production, and he shared everything with me. I’m just a simple surfer from Hawaii, but he gave me a marketing degree and beyond. His biggest thing was that if I could get a TV show, then I would be able to surf for the rest of my life. And the goal back then was just to always keep surfing. So that’s why we did this TV show—so selfishly I could keep surfing. But then by the time I met Nicole [my wife], my thoughts, desires, and way of being changed dramatically, and it was more about inspiring and being inspired. If we could do something that inspired people, then let’s do it. It’s worked perfectly. I can keep surfing, and I can get inspired and hopefully inspire some people through my journey.
A Final Word
I’m just so grateful to be able to utilize the WaveRunners to do what I love, and to be able to share what I love with the world. The overall goal is: love my family, love my friends, love the world, and share, be inspired, and inspire.
Follow more of Garrett McNamara’s incredible adventures and inspiring work on Instagram.
