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An Early Look at the Newest Season of HBO's '100 Foot Wave'

The epic big wave surfing docuseries is back.
Garrett and Nicole McNamara observing the sea
Garrett and Nicole McNamara observing the sea | Photograph Courtesy of HBO

The world's best big wave surfers are back for the newest season of 100 Foot Wave, which chronicles the globe-trotting adventures of Garrett McNamara, who pioneered Nazaré, Portugal, as a big wave surfing hotspot. In 2011, he caught a 78-foot monster wave off the coast of Portugal that set a Guinness World Record and officially made Nazaré one of, if not the best big wave surf destinations across the globe.

German surfer Sebastian Steudtner holds the record now, which he set on a 86-foot bomb back in 2020 that he caught in, you guessed it, Nazaré. Now, 100 Foot Wave continues to capture McNamara's journey alongside his wife Nicole and their young family, plus other star big wave surfers like Kai Lenny, Andrew “Cotty” Cotton, Justine DuPont and Lucas “Chumbo” Chianca.

The show's second season concludes with a beautiful moment of Garrett towing his young son, Barrel, into some perfectly sized waves at Nazaré for the first time. And the new season begins with Garrett coaching Barrel through his first contest—the Menehune Surf Contest in O'ahu, Hawai'i.

Ahead of 100 Foot Wave's third season, HBO provided Sports Illustrated with an exclusive sneak peak of that full-circle moment shown in the first episode, which airs Thursday, May 1.

Season 3 of the HBO documentary series 100 Foot Wave debuts Thursday, May 1 on HBO and available to stream on MAX. Seasons 1 and 2 of 100 Foot Wave are available to stream on MAX.


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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a writer at Sports Illustrated, primarily covering the NBA and WNBA. Before joining SI in November 2024 as a breaking/trending news writer, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation and A10Talk. He’s an alum of both Michigan State and St. Bonaventure University, receiving a master’s degree from the Bonnies’ sports journalism program. Outside of work, he’s a husband, father, yogi and fairly mediocre tennis player who’s open to any tips on how to play defense in EA Sports College Football.