The photographer Pedro Miranda captured this epic ride by British big wave surfer Tom Butler at Nazaré, Portugal just a few days ago on December 14th. In winter, the waves go off here and some of the world’s largest ever waves have been recorded at this spot. In 2017, the Brazilian Rodrigo Koxa rode a 80 feet behemoth to hold the record for largest wave ever surfed as decided by the World Surf League.
Pedro Miranda, who captured the stunning imagery, had this to say about whether or not Tom Butler’s wave was bigger than Rodrigo’s.
This is tricky. Tommy is a very tall guy, measuring 6ft 2inch any wave ridden by him will always look way smaller than it really is, not calling this a world record because I don’t like to go into speculation, but whatever measure you think it is, the wave will be way bigger after analysed by the WSL experts. Just put there any other (smaller) guy, with a few inches of difference the wave would look way bigger. This wave will most likely win the WSL Big Wave Awards this season, still a lot of Winter ahead but the bar has been set high by Tommy, really glad for him since he is one of the most experienced Big Wave riders I know and he totally deserves it!”
By most accounts, Tom Butler’s wave was bigger than Rodrigo’s. It won’t be until April 2019 when the Big Wave Awards are given out that we will know for sure, but wow – that’s one amazing wave.