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Hi and welcome to

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the Big Deep podcast . Big

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Deep is a podcast about people who have a connection

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to the ocean , people for whom

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that connection is so strong it defines

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some aspect of their life . Over

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the course of this series , we'll talk to all sorts of people

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and in each episode we'll explore

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the deeper meaning of that connection . Today

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, I speak with one of the greatest female big wave

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surfers of all time , who shares how riding

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waves of 80 feet or more deeply connects

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her to our world's oceans . Hello

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, this is your host , jason Elias . Welcome

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to the Big Deep podcast

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. In

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today's episode , I speak with Brazilian big wave

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surfer , Maya Gabeira , one of the most accomplished

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female surfers on the planet . Maya

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is a seven-time world champion in the World Surf

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League and a two-time world record holder for

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the largest wave surf , including 2020

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, when she surfed the biggest wave surf of the year

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for both men and women . Beyond

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that , and perhaps is no surprise , she's

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also deeply committed to ocean conservation and

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is a board member of Oceana and a UNESCO

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champion for the ocean . Maya

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was also featured in the HBO series 100

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Foot Wave , which chronicled a group of surfers

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surfing the waves at Nazaré , portugal , perhaps

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the biggest and most challenging wave on the planet and

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as part of that journey , she had a terrifying and high-profile

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crash where she was knocked unconscious by a huge

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wave that broke her leg and where she almost

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drowned . And yet , with all of that

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, I found Maya to be down to earth , humble

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and almost shy , with a wonderful sense

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of humor , and we discussed how she first

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discovered surfing in her hometown of Rio de

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Janeiro , why she was driven to such

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an extreme relationship with the ocean and

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what it feels like to skip down the face

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of one of the largest waves on the planet

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.

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My name is Maya Gabeira and I'm a professional

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big wave surfer .

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Yes , you are , and probably

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one of the world's most well-known . So

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could you talk a little bit about where you grew up and when

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you first remember your connection to the ocean

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?

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I first discovered my connection to the ocean

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when I was 13 . And

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I first held on a surfboard between

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Copacabana and Ipanema and

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Arpoado it's a little point breaker

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left . Yeah , those beaches

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are world famous , but not for their waves

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. So they're beautiful

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and they have a lot of people in

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it and they're playing sports on the

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beach , but surfing is not like the main

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thing that comes to mind . The

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beach was something for me and the ocean was something

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for me until I got to hold

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that surfboard . I was on the beach

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and I had the wrong clothes . I was on jeans

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, shorts and T-shirts and I tried to stand up

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on it and I probably looked ridiculous

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and I fell everywhere . But that was

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the first time . I remember feeling

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something very special

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about that board and that

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salt water and the ocean , the waves

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and the beach . And

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then , after my friends at

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school were surfers and

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I started dating one of them and

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he introduced me to surfing and

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I wanted to surf too because it looked too

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much fun .

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Yeah , it's interesting how chance can so

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deeply influence the past . That changed

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our lives and you became a surfer

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. But living here in LA , I have many

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friends who are passionate surfers but

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never take it beyond being a hobby . Was

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it evident to you from the beginning that this

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would be your career ?

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No , I had no idea I would be a professional surfer

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when I was 13 , 14 , 15 . I

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just wanted to find something I loved . I

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mean , the rest I would have to figure out

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along the way but I wanted to

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make sure I had something that

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I was passionate about . So

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I did amateur competitions at home

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. Sure , I was 15 , 16

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, 17 . I left , actually , and I went

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to Hawaii because I wanted to surf and learn English

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. And I was on route to

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Australia and Indonesia , working along

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the way , and when I stopped in

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Hawaii , I mean my level

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was so far off . You know , those girls had been

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surfing since they were three . I

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was like , oops , started late

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, you know . I mean , maybe I could have pushed

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a bra to be quite average and

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, coming from Brazil , that would make for a disaster

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recipe to pay my bills at

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that time . And I

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noticed that I was inspired and drawn

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to like bigger waves , especially

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when I got to Hawaii , you know , and things like that . First

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time I saw Big Waves , I instantly

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connected . I instantly felt like that

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was something I loved

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to do and would be super challenging

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. And I was dancing

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when I was younger and I was very , very passionate

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about dancing and I had quit it a few

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years earlier and I find it quite similar

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to dancing . You know you're balancing

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on your feet . It is

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a form of art that has style , it

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has body movement , it's a way

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to express yourself and I

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think it translated to me . But to me it wasn't

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a better environment Instead

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of in a gym . You know you're dancing

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on water . I was like , yeah , that's

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perfect .

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Well , that's a great way of describing it , and

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there's your connection . But for most of us , who would

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never dream of paddling out and confronting

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these gigantic waves , what

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are the challenges and rewards of a life

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like this ? I mean , do you ever feel fear

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? Does the competition

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motivate you , and what is it that drives

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you to do this ?

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There's certainly a little bit of competition , and

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I think it's a good competition . You know to be inspired

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by other athletes To

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do something that we know we're all scared

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of . You know , to pushing that limit

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. It

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definitely scares me , but there's

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a process to serve them . I

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prepare , I try

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to be very aware of the risks and

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I feel like we're

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as safe as possible . But

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then , of course , you're dealing with the ocean , so we have

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to always

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be vigilant because we're in this hostile environment

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, but

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beautiful . It's

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such a big risk to take . It

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involves so much training

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, equipment , logistics team

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. You got

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to be in it with your heart , otherwise

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it's not going to be worth it . And then there's

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a point where we let go of the rope , but

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then you're completely alone . So

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you got to be sure that you're

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fully there . That

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that's what you want , because it's a lot of

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information . You know , from

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jet skis zooming around to waves exploding left and right , to

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looking at the cliff and then seeing sets come

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from different directions . Have your radio

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yelling at you , have

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your partner on the water yelling at you . I

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mean your heart is racing

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. You

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have so much adrenaline rushing

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off your body Because

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, right then it's still so alive and you're in

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ecstasy . You're

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in ecstasy like

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the noise and the senses , and

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the

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wind , the water , how it splashed on

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you , or if you touch the water with

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your hand or if your rail's

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caught . I

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mean , the bigger the waves for me , the more I

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see the faces

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and the colors

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, and it's always

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moving . Yeah , it's

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so alive . That

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is the moment to like absorb all

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of that that you just

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live because it goes so fast

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and

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I feel

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like being in that

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environment is

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something special .

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Yes , so beautifully

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said , and even though most

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people who listen to this might never serve

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for massive wave , I think almost

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everyone can understand your sense

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of being alive that comes

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from being in the ocean . So

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now I would love to hear a story from you

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when you most felt connected

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to being in the water .

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Oh , there's been so many . One

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that I can think of would

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be the first time I surfed

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some big waves on Azure . A

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week before the accident First

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10 days or so we had been in Azure

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and we woke up and there

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were some bigger waves and it was going to be

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the first time we're going to surf

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it . Nobody

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was around , nobody was on the cliff

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. It was like this

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forgotten little fishing

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village in the middle

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of Portugal that was still

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very much quiet

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and old and

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mellow and empty and winter . It

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was the 23rd of October 2013

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. And

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it was my first big wave here 50

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feet or so and we

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woke up and I remember we

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went out and I

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towed into my first big

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wave here in Azure . And

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if the wave breaks

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top to bottom , if

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the lip of the wave actually throws

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from the top and lands on

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the bottom of the water , that

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will make just the craziest crazy

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explosion sound . It's

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like a bomb

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exploding . I

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was going down so fast , skipping

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on the face , like flying

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down this wave . I'd

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never felt so much speed

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on a wave before . Then

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I went shaking down and I got

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to the bottom . I couldn't really

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bottom turn with the amount of speed I had

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and the board that I had , I

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straightened out and made it to the beach safely

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and it

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was just like the first day I

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felt the ocean like the way it is

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in Azure and the

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cold , the

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lines , the

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different waves , the

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big splashes against the cliff

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, and just

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the first time I saw the place like really

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alive . It's

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like the first step to understanding how

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different that wave was compared

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to everything else that I had surfed before

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and

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that was the first time I remember

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that it became

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something extra , extra special and

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I

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felt very connected to the place .

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Finally , we end every interview and every

12:35

episode with a single open-ended

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question . We ask everyone we talk to

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what does the ocean

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mean to you ?

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It means life . It

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means life , I

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mean for me , to

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feel alive .

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Thanks for listening to the Big Deep podcast . Next

13:00

time on Big Deep .

13:03

I swam past this bit of the ship

13:05

. It had this beautiful copper

13:07

bolt that had been sanded by

13:10

the sand movement , so it was gold

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and shiny , and I think I must have

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sat staring at this one bit of

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the ship for about 20 minutes and

13:19

all of a sudden I got it , like I got

13:21

why shipwrecks can tell us

13:23

those stories .

13:24

We really appreciate you being on this journey into the

13:26

Big Deep as we explore an ocean of

13:29

stories . If you like

13:31

what we're doing , please make sure to subscribe wherever you listen

13:33

to podcasts . Also , please find us

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on the socials where you can like and comment , because

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those subscribes , likes and comments really

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make a difference . For more content

13:41

from our interviews in our series , photos of every

13:43

guest or just to get in touch , please reach out

13:46

at our website , bigdeepcom Plus

13:48

. If you know someone you think we should talk to , please

13:51

let us know at our Big Deep website , as we are always looking

13:53

to hear more stories from interesting people who are

13:55

deeply connected to our world's oceans . Thanks

13:58

again for joining us .