Luca Padua was recently sitting in English class at Half Moon Bay High School when he received a text from a friend congratulating him on being slated as an official alternate in the 2017–2018 Mavericks big wave surf contest. The news immediately stirred Padua up. At the age of just 16, he was now one of the youngest surfers to ever make the roster for the famed competition.

Luca Padua first surfed the Mavericks break at the age of 13, and is now—three years later—an alternate for the official big wave competition on the Coastside. (Photo by Dominic Padua)

The Mavericks surf break, just north of Half Moon Bay, is a world famous big wave that has been ridden by some of the greatest surfers. But that in itself is still just a very small handful of people. For most, the wave is for spectating — via photographs and videos, or simply through binoculars from the nearby Pillar Point cliffs.

Up close, the wave is a stunning spectacle. It is Mother Nature unleashing a fierce and potentially deadly giant wall of water. If the average ceiling height measures about eight feet high, then the wave stands three times that size on the smallest of days. Yet it is not just the height that is threatening, but the density of the wave. Mavericks is a rarity when it breaks big, and for those who get close enough to feel the full force of the wave, it is truly a singular experience.

Padua is quick to attest to this. At 16, he is now in his third season surfing the break since making his first drop — amazingly — at just 13 years old. For Padua, Mavericks is more than a contest, it is a yearning to be with the wave as much as possible. Living less than a mile away in El Granada, Padua has embraced the opportunity of his proximity.

With the contest start-date looming on the near horizon, we spoke with Padua about Mavericks, and why surfing it is just plain “crazy.”