Garrett McNamara of Hawaii finally owns the title of the Guinness World Record holder for biggest wave ever surfed.

McNamara tamed the wave measured at 78 feet on Nov. 1, 2011 at the Praia do Norte beach in Nazare, Portugal.

The feat wasn’t confirmed until recently, and announced this past Friday at the Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards NBC Sports reports.

When asked how he finds the courage to ride a wave that large, McNamara said he conquered the fears he felt during a trip north.

“I went to Alaska a while back and surfed the waves generated from a glacier calving and ever since then, I’ve never been afraid in the ocean. I feel very comfortable in the ocean,” McNamara said in an interview with our sister website NBCLA in December.

Looking back at the video clip of that November wave, McNamara said it’s unbelievable.

“This wave, if you fell, I don’t think I would’ve come home,” he said. "It’s so dangerous, so much water moving in two different directions and it’s all rocks. All the water is moving straight into the rocks.”

Next up – he said he knows a spot with an even bigger wave. Where? McNamara is not giving that up just yet.

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