Ocean, sand, beach, cocktail, sun lounger and waves 30 meters high. Yes, it's all in one place, but, fortunately, at different times. How can this be? We head to the town of Nazare on the west coast of Portugal. It is here, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, that you can see both a relaxed beach holiday and the biggest waves in the world.
This landmark of Portugal is located between the capital Lisbon and the city of Porto.
In summer, the small resort town of Nazaré, with a population of about 15,000 people, is the country's classic tourist destination. Its long sandy beaches are occupied by tourists from all over the planet. They bask in the gentle sun and swim in the Atlantic Ocean. In general, an ordinary relaxing holiday.
In winter, everything changes dramatically. Beach tourists are replaced by extreme sports enthusiasts and lovers of unusual natural phenomena. During this period, one can observe the formation of giant waves that hit the coast almost at arm's length. This phenomenon, incredible in its power and amazing in its beauty, attracts both travelers and the most desperate surfers.
Who produces the biggest waves on the planet
Let us remind you once again that almost everything amazing, beautiful, sometimes frightening, but fascinating on our planet is produced by nature. In this case, the creator of the giant waves was the atypical topography of the ocean floor near the city of Nazaré, in particular the underwater Northern Canyon of Nazaré. This depression in the bottom surface reaches almost to the very shore, forming a kind of springboard for ocean waves.
It should be noted that the Nazare Canyon is recognized as the deepest in Europe and one of the deepest in the world. It is located not parallel to the coast, but perpendicular. Its length is 227 km, and its depth reaches 5 kilometers (this is almost half the depth of the Mariana Trench). As you approach the coast, the depth decreases sharply, creating a barrier in the path of the wave and increasing its height many times over. Conditions arise under which colossal masses of water must jump over this obstacle. Don't forget, all this happens in close proximity to tourists.
In the pictures below you can see the geological reasons for the appearance of huge waves.
Typical diagram of the formation of a giant wave But that's not all. The bottom topography alone is not enough to produce the highest waves. This requires a combination of many factors.
Hell of a cocktail for the biggest waves
The presence of the canyon creates special conditions for the creation of large waves. It splits the wave into two parts. One part increases its speed while passing through the canyon, and the second reunites with the first at the exit of the canyon into one large wave.
Opposing ocean current coming from the beach can add a few more meters.
For the birth of a giant wave, the wave period is important, which should be about 14 seconds. The wind, oddly enough, should be weak. The direction of the wave is very important; ideally it should come from the west or northwest. Added to these factors are storms in the northern part of the Atlantic that occur during the fall and winter. The combination of these factors can increase the average ocean wave several times.
How often do big waves appear?
Looking at the photos on the Internet, as well as on our website, you might think that giant waves in Nazar are formed almost every minute. But that's not true. A little higher, you learned how many combined phenomena are required to produce a huge wave. This doesn't happen that often.
The Big Waves season in Nazaré occurs from October to February. During these months there are usually between 1 and 6 giant waves and tens or hundreds of much smaller waves. If you want to see a truly huge wave, then plan to spend at least 2 weeks here, or keep an eye on the forecasts on surfing websites. For a large wave, the forecast should indicate a wave size of more than 3 meters, a wave period of more than 13 seconds and a slight northerly wind.
If you are already there, check the sea conditions in real time through the online forecast and webcams. But, even if all forecasts indicate ideal conditions for the occurrence of large waves, then everything can change in just an hour and ruin a day with a favorable forecast.
But in Peru you can see the longest sea waves in the world. They are much safer than the waves in Nazaré, and you can ride them for up to several minutes at a time, traveling hundreds of meters on the crest of one wave
The story of conquering the giant waves of Nazaré
There are people in the world who “don’t feed them honey,” just let them conquer the biggest waves. They are usually called surfers. They, probably, with the advent of boards, began to collect the best places on the planet for their hobby. They did not ignore the waves near the city of Nazaré. Surfers were first noticed here back in the 60s of the last century. Since then they have been frequent guests here. But there is no data on conquering huge waves. Only in November 2011 did the world learn about the capture of the largest wave. Then Gareth McNamara, a surfer from Hawaii, conquered a wave 24 meters high. The brave comrade did not calm down and in January 2013 he broke his own record, taking on a 30-meter wave.
Gareth was the first to describe the sensations of such adventures. This proved incredibly difficult due to the unpredictability of wave behavior.
In this event, McNamara involved three assistants and one wife (his own). At the moment of wave formation, the first assistant on a jet ski tries to pull the surfer as high as possible onto the crest, and stays close to him for safety. Look at the photo of these waves, and you will understand that it is impossible to swim to them under your own power.
The second assistant runs a little further away and insures both of them. The third one keeps an eye on everyone else. And from the shore, a gray-haired wife watches everything and gives instructions to her husband on how best to catch the wave.
The first time everything went fine and no help was needed, but the second time proved the effectiveness of triple insurance. Then the first assistant was washed away from the jet ski by a wave, and the second assistant pulled out the surfer, and the third one pulled out the first one.
The danger of such adventures is extremely high, so surfers try not to climb waves 30 meters high unless absolutely necessary. They do it just for the records.
In October 2013, Brazilian surfer Carlos Berl rode a wave that was even bigger. But there is no absolutely accurate data on the height of the waves conquered, since it is quite problematic to take measurements.
Annual surf meeting in Nazaré
Despite the danger of such large waves, since 2016 a meeting or competition of surfers, the Nazare Challenge - WSL Big Wave Tour, managed by the World Surf League, has been taking place in Nazar. This competition brings together the best surfers from all over the world and lasts only one day. Moreover, it does not have a fixed date. It all depends on forecast sea conditions. The holding period, or better yet, the waiting period, is from October 15 to February 28. The day of the competition is confirmed 3 days before it takes place. This is the best that can be achieved with modern sea and wind forecasting technology.
This is a significant event for surfers. This is how one of the participants describes it:
“What followed after the starting signal was a dizzying, wild and unprecedented display of courage, stupidity and skill.”
Where is the best place to watch the biggest waves?
The best way to watch a giant wave is to stand on its crest on a surfboard. Any surfer will say that. Well, for ordinary tourists it is best to do this from Cape Nazaré, on which the lighthouse is located. Since the place is very interesting, you are unlikely to get lost. Fort San Miguel Arcanjo is also located here. You can also walk down to the sand on the beach via a dirt road, but be very careful. During the Big Wave season this is very dangerous.
Nowadays, in addition to the big waves, the attraction of Nazaré is the surfers who “ride” them. This, by the way, gives a good idea of the size of the waves. When you see a little man running away from a huge multi-ton wave, you can imagine how large and powerful not only the Russian language is, but also the Atlantic Ocean.
- As a rule, many famous surf spots have bottom topography similar to that near Nazaré, but on a smaller scale. The most famous are Teahupoo in Tahiti, Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii and Maverick’s Beach off the coast of California.
- Local fishermen have long been afraid of this place. Several shipwrecks have occurred here. At the bottom of the canyon there is a sunken German submarine from World War II.
Which amazes with its power, strength and boundless energy. This element attracts the attention of researchers who are trying to understand the very nature of the occurrence of giant waves in order to prevent terrible consequences from the destructive power of water. This review will present a list of the largest tsunamis in scope that have occurred over the past 60 years.
Destructive wave in Alaska
The largest tsunamis in the world occur under the influence of various factors, but the most common cause of this phenomenon is earthquakes. It was the tremors that became the basis for the formation of a deadly wave back in 1964 in Alaska. Good Friday (March 27), one of the main Christian holidays, was overshadowed by an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2 points. The natural phenomenon had a direct impact on the ocean - waves 30 meters long and 8 meters high arose. The tsunami destroyed everything in its path: the West Coast of North America, as well as Haiti and Japan, were affected. On this day, about 120 people died, and the territory of Alaska decreased by 2.4 meters.
Samoa's deadly tsunami
The photo of the largest wave in the world (tsunami) invariably impresses and evokes the most contradictory feelings - this is both horror from realizing the scale of the disaster that followed, and a certain reverence for the forces of nature. In general, a lot of similar pictures have appeared on news resources in recent years. They depict the terrible consequences of a natural disaster that took place in Samoa. According to reliable data, about 198 local residents died during the disaster, most of whom were children.
The magnitude 8.1 earthquake caused the world's largest tsunami. Photos of the consequences can be seen in the review. The maximum wave height reached 13.7 meters. The water destroyed several villages as it moved 1.6 km inland. Subsequently, after this tragic event, the situation in the region began to be monitored, which made it possible to evacuate people in a timely manner.
Hokkaido Island, Japan
The rating “The biggest tsunami in the world” cannot be imagined without the incident that occurred in Japan in 1993. The root cause of the formation of giant waves is an earthquake, which was localized 129 km from the coast. The authorities announced the evacuation of people, but it was not possible to avoid casualties. The height of the largest tsunami in the world, which occurred in Japan, was 30 meters. Special barriers were not enough to stop the powerful flow, so the small island of Okusuri was completely submerged in water. On this day, about 200 people out of 250 inhabitants who inhabited the city died.
City of Tumaco: the horror of a December morning
1979, December 12 - one of the most tragic days in the lives of people inhabiting the Pacific coast. It was on this morning at about 8:00 that an earthquake occurred with a magnitude of 8.9. But this was not the most serious shock that awaited people. After this, a whole series of tsunamis hit small villages and cities, sweeping away everything in its path. Within a few hours of the disaster, 259 people died, more than 750 were seriously injured, and 95 residents were declared missing. Below is a photo of the largest wave in the world. The tsunami in Tumaco cannot leave anyone indifferent.
Indonesian tsunami
5th place in the list of “The largest tsunamis in the world” is occupied by a wave 7 meters high, but stretching for 160 km. The Pangadarian resort area disappeared from the face of the earth along with the people who inhabited the area. In July 2006, 668 residents died and more than 9,000 sought help from medical institutions. About 70 people were declared missing.
Papua New Guinea: tsunami for humanity
The largest tsunami wave in the world, despite the severity of all the consequences, became an opportunity for scientists to advance in studying the underlying causes of this natural phenomenon. In particular, the primary role of strong underwater landslides, which contribute to water fluctuations, was identified.
In July 1998, an earthquake occurred with a magnitude of 7 points. Despite the seismic activity, scientists were unable to predict the tsunami, which caused numerous casualties. More than 2,000 residents died under the pressure of 15- and 10-meter waves, more than 10 thousand people lost their shelter and livelihood, 500 people disappeared.
Philippines: no chance of salvation
If you ask experts what is the largest tsunami in the world, they will unanimously name the wave of 1976. During this period, seismic activity was recorded near the island of Mindanao; at the source, the strength of the tremors reached 7.9 points. The earthquake created a wave of enormous scale that covered 700 km of the Philippine coast. The tsunami reached a height of 4.5 m. Residents did not have time to evacuate, which led to numerous casualties. More than 5 thousand died, 2,200 people were declared missing, and about 9,500 local residents were injured. In total, 90 thousand people suffered from the tsunami and lost their homes.
Pacific Death
The year 1960 is marked red in history. This comes as 6,000 people died due to a magnitude 9.5 earthquake at the end of May this year. It was the seismic shocks that contributed to the volcanic eruption and the formation of a colossal wave that swept away everything in its path. The height of the tsunami reached 25 meters, which in 1960 was a true record.
Tsunami in Tohuku: nuclear disaster
Japan faced this again, but the consequences were even worse than in 1993. A powerful wave, which reached 30 meters, hit Ofunato, a Japanese city. As a result of the disaster, more than 125 thousand buildings were taken out of service, and serious damage was caused to the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. The nuclear disaster was one of the most serious in recent years throughout the world. There is still no reliable information about the true damage caused to the environment. However, there is an opinion that the radiation spread over 320 km.
Tsunami in India is a threat to all humanity!
The natural disasters listed as the World's Biggest Tsunamis cannot compare to the event that occurred in December 2004. The wave hit several states that have access to the Indian Ocean. This is a real world war that required more than 14 billion dollars to correct the situation. According to reports presented after the tsunami, more than 240 thousand people living in various countries died: India, Indonesia, Thailand, etc.
The reason for the formation of a 30-meter wave is an earthquake. Its strength was 9.3 points. The water flow reached the coasts of some countries 15 minutes after the start of seismic activity, which did not give people a chance to escape death. Other states fell into the power of the elements after 7 hours, but despite such a delay, the population did not evacuate due to the lack of a warning system. Some people, oddly enough, were helped to escape by children who studied the signs of an impending disaster at school.
Tsunami in the fjord-shaped Gulf of Alaska
In the history of meteorological observations, a tsunami has been recorded, the height of which exceeds all conceivable and inconceivable records. In particular, scientists were able to record a wave with a height of 524 meters. A powerful stream of water rushed at a speed of 160 km/h. There was not a single living place left on the way: the trees were uprooted, the rocks were covered with cracks and breaks. La Gaussie Spit was wiped off the face of the Earth. Fortunately, there were few casualties. Only the death of the crew of one of the longboats, which at that moment was in a nearby bay, was recorded.
What causes the appearance of most waves in the oceans and seas, about the destructive energy of waves and about the most gigantic waves and the largest tsunamis that man has ever seen.
The highest wave
Most often, waves are generated by the wind: air moves the surface layers of the water column at a certain speed. Some waves can accelerate up to 95 km/h, and the wave can be up to 300 meters long; such waves travel enormous distances across the ocean, but most often their kinetic energy is extinguished and consumed even before they reach land. If the wind subsides, then the waves become smaller and smoother.The formation of waves in the ocean follows certain patterns.
The height and length of the wave depends on the speed of the wind, the duration of its influence, and the area covered by the wind. There is a correspondence: the greatest height of a wave is one-seventh of its length. For example, a strong breeze generates waves up to 3 meters high, an extensive hurricane - on average up to 20 meters. And these are truly monstrous waves, with roaring foam caps and other special effects.
The highest normal wave of 34 meters was recorded in the Agulhas Current (South Africa) in 1933 by sailors on board the American ship Ramapo. Waves of this height are called “rogue waves”: even a large ship can easily get lost in the gaps between them and die.
In theory, the height of normal waves can reach 60 meters, but such waves have not yet been recorded in practice.
In addition to the usual wind origin, there are other mechanisms of wave formation. The cause and epicenter of the birth of a wave can be an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, a sharp change in the coastline (landslides), human activity (for example, nuclear weapons testing) and even the fall of large celestial bodies - meteorites - into the ocean.
The biggest wave
This is a tsunami - a serial wave that is caused by some powerful impulse. The peculiarity of tsunami waves is that they are quite long; the distance between the crests can reach tens of kilometers. Therefore, in the open ocean, a tsunami does not pose a particular danger, since the height of the waves is on average no more than a few centimeters, in record cases - a meter and a half, but the speed of their propagation is simply unimaginable, up to 800 km / hour. From a ship on the open sea they are not noticeable at all. A tsunami acquires destructive power as it approaches the coast: reflection from the coast leads to a compression of the wavelength, but the energy does not disappear anywhere. Accordingly, its (wave) amplitude, that is, height, increases. It is easy to conclude that such waves can reach much higher heights than wind waves. 
The worst tsunamis are caused by significant disturbances in the topography of the seabed, such as tectonic faults or shifts, due to which billions of tons of water begin to abruptly move tens of thousands of kilometers at the speed of a jet aircraft. Disasters occur when this entire mass slows down on the shore, and its colossal energy first goes to increase in height, and ultimately collapses onto the land with all its power, a wall of water.
The most tsunami-hazardous places are bays with high banks. These are real tsunami traps. And the worst thing is that a tsunami almost always comes suddenly: in appearance, the situation at sea can be indistinguishable from low tide or high tide, an ordinary storm, people do not have time or do not even think about evacuating, and suddenly they are overtaken by a giant wave. Not many places have developed a warning system.
Territories with increased seismic activity are areas of particular risk in our time. No wonder the name of this natural phenomenon is of Japanese origin.
The worst tsunami in Japan
The islands are regularly attacked by waves of different calibers, and among them there are truly gigantic ones that entail human casualties. An earthquake off the east coast of Honshu in 2011 caused a tsunami with wave heights of up to 40 meters. The earthquake is estimated to be the strongest in the recorded history of Japan. The waves struck along the entire coast, together with the earthquake they claimed the lives of more than 15 thousand people, many thousands were missing. 
Another of the highest waves in Japanese history hit the western island of Hokkaido in 1741 as a result of a volcanic eruption; its height is approximately 90 meters.
The biggest tsunami in the world
In 2004, on the islands of Sumatra and Java, a tsunami caused by a strong earthquake in the Indian Ocean turned into a major disaster. According to various sources, from 200 to 300 thousand people died - a third of a million victims! To date, this particular tsunami is considered the most destructive in history. 
And the record holder for wave height is named “Lituya”. This tsunami, which swept through Lituya Bay in Alaska at a speed of 160 km/h in 1958, was triggered by a giant landslide. The wave height was estimated at 524 meters.
Meanwhile, the sea is not always dangerous. There are “friendly” seas. For example, not a single river flows into the Red Sea, but it is the cleanest in the world. .
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Why do Nazaré have the biggest waves in the world? July 15th, 2017
There is a place in the world from which photo and video reports of giant waves are often taken. For the last few years, records in Big Wave surfing for the largest wave taken (both by hand and with the help of a jet) have been set on the same wave, Nazaré. The first such record was set by Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara in 2011 - the wave height was 24 meters. Then, in 2013, he broke his record by riding a wave 30 meters high.
Why is this place the biggest waves in the world?
Let's first remember the mechanism of wave formation:
So, it all begins far, far away in the ocean, where strong winds blow and storms rage. As we know from a school geography course, the wind blows from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. In the ocean, these areas are separated by many kilometers, so the wind blows over a very large area of the ocean, transferring part of its energy to the water due to the force of friction. Where this happens, the ocean is more like a bubbling soup - have you ever seen a storm at sea? It's about the same there, only on a larger scale. There are small and large waves, all mixed up, superimposed on each other. However, the energy of water also does not stand still, but moves in a certain direction.
Due to the fact that the ocean is very, very large, and waves of different sizes move at different speeds, during the time until all this seething mess reaches the shore, it is “sifted”, some small waves add up to others into large ones, others, on the contrary, mutually are destroyed. As a result, what is called Groung Swell comes to the shore - smooth ridges of waves, divided into sets of three to nine with large intervals of calm between them.
However, not every swell is destined to become a surfable wave. Although, it would be more correct to say - not everywhere. In order for a wave to be caught, it must crash in a certain way. The formation of a surfing wave depends on the structure of the bottom in the coastal zone. The ocean is very deep, so the mass of water moves evenly, but as it approaches the shore, the depth begins to decrease, and the water, which moves closer to the bottom, for lack of any other way out, begins to rise to the surface, thereby raising waves. In the place where the depth, or rather shallowness, reaches a critical value, the rising wave can no longer become larger and collapses. The place where this happens is called the lineup, and that’s where the surfers sit, waiting for the right wave.
The shape of the wave directly depends on the shape of the bottom: the sharper the shallows become, the sharper the wave. Typically, the sharpest and even trumpeting waves are born where the height difference is almost instantaneous, for example, at the bottom of a huge rock or the beginning of a reef plateau.
Photo 2. 
Where the drop is gradual and the bottom is sandy, the waves are flatter and slower. These are the waves that are best suited for learning to surf, which is why all surf schools conduct their first lessons for beginners on sandy beaches.
Photo 3. 
Of course, there are also other factors that affect the waves, for example, the same wind: it can improve or worsen the quality of waves depending on the direction. In addition, there are so-called wind swells, these are waves that do not have time to be “sifted” by distance, since the storm is raging not so far from the coast.
So, now about the highest waves. Thanks to the winds, enormous energy is accumulated, which then moves towards the coast. As it approaches the coast, the oceanic swell transforms into waves, but unlike other places on our planet, a surprise awaits it off the coast of Portugal.
Photo 4. 
The thing is that it is in the area of the city of Nazaré that the seabed is a huge canyon 5000 meters deep and 230 kilometers long. This means that the oceanic swell does not undergo changes, but reaches, as it is, all the way to the continent, falling on the coastal rocks with all its might. The height of a wave is usually measured as the distance from the crest to the base (where, incidentally, something like a trough is often sucked in, which increases the height compared to what it would be if measured by mean sea level at a given tide height).
Photo 5. 
However, unlike waves such as Mavericks or Teahupoo, on Nazar the crest, even if it collapses, never hangs over the base; moreover, it is separated from the bottom point by about 40 meters along the horizontal axis. Due to spatial distortion of perspective, when looking from the front we see a body of water 30 meters high, technically it is even larger, but this is not the height of the wave. That is, strictly speaking, Nazaré is not a wave, but a water mountain, a pure oceanic swell, powerful and unpredictable.
Photo 6. 
However, the fact that Nazaré is not exactly a wave does not make this spot any less scary or dangerous. Garrett McNamara says Nazaré is incredibly difficult to navigate. Usually three people help him in the water: one pulls him out on a jet to the line-up, accelerates him into the wave and does not swim far to make sure that everything is okay with the surfer. He is supported by a second jet, as well as a third one a little further away, whose driver is watching all three. Also, Garrett’s wife stands on the rock near the lighthouse and tells him by radio what waves are coming and which ones he can take. On the day he set his second record, not everything went smoothly. The first driver was knocked off the jet by a wave, so the second had to pull Garrett out of the foam, and the third hurried to help the first. Everything was done clearly and quickly, so no one was hurt.
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Garrett himself says the following: “of course, all these safety nets and technical devices in big wave surfing are a kind of cheating. And in principle, you can do without them, but in this case the chances of dying are much higher. As for me personally, since I had a wife and children, I feel more responsibility for them and fear for my life, so I go to all technical lengths to make it as likely as possible to return home alive.”
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