50ft Wave at Jaws Detonates on Kai Lenny’s Head (Video)

Originally posted on SURFER | By Dashel Pierson | Last updated Oct 31, 2025 1:25 PM ET

Surfing big waves is sorta like striking a deal with the devil.

On one hand, there’s the promise of glory, the best ride of one’s life, a thrill unlike anything else in everyday, pedestrian surfing; on the other, there’s the laundry list of risks, and the biggest one being the looming threat of drowning in a watery grave.

Nobody knows this better than Kai Lenny, who, for the better part of his life, has spent his time chasing mountains of water. And things don’t always go according to plan. You play with fire, you’re gonna get burned. Or, in Kai’s situation, you play with big waves, you’re gonna get pounded. Like this clip from Jaws below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by LENNY BROS. (@lenny.bros)

The video actually comes from the 2017 Pe’ahi Challenge. But Kai and his brother Ridge resurfaced it, recently, when they decided to go through the archives, and count down their “top 5 GoPro moments.” But this one stuck with Kai; he explained:

“Rule number one: Never paddle for a wave at Jaws, and not go. Because there might be a bigger one behind it. I remember…that wave was way bigger than any other wave in any heat. I think this was the final. Everyone barely scratched over it. But I knew I was screwed. I thought I should just paddle as far in as I can, so that when that wave breaks, it explodes, and that second section, sometimes you get lucky and it’ll just push you through.”

At the time, Kai made a video about the experience, calling it “every surfer’s worst nightmare.” But people were quick to jump in the comments, questioning, what about a shark? And Kai, now pondering the two dilemmas, responded: “If you had both options…if you’re at Jaws and you have a 50-foot wave about to slam square on your head, most surfers would rather be in the water with a shark. I think I would. You’re for sure going to get destroyed [in the Jaws scenario]. But with a shark, it doesn’t mean it will attack you.”

Which scenario would you take?

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: