Maverick’s vs. Jaws: Which Wave Is the New World Record?

The wave comes from Frenchman Benjamin Sanchis, and it went down on December 23rd, 2024 – the same day as The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational (and all the eyes that come with it) was happening on Oahu. And due to the focus on The Eddie, this one kinda slipped through the cracks.

Luckily, heavy-water photographer Fred Pompermayer was there, both at Pe’ahi and Maverick’s, to capture the two waves for comparison. Pompermayer prompted the discussion:

“Did the world record for biggest wave ridden happen?

“It was the biggest ocean I have ever experienced throughout my long career chasing big swells. I have had many opportunities to document big days out there, but this particular one on Dec 23, 2024 was special. When all the highlights were on the Eddie Aikau, Jaws was massive. That afternoon the ocean was full of energy with waves over 80+ feet.

“I couldn’t miss the opportunity to document Mavericks, so I took a flight on the same night to arrive in San Francisco the next morning and went straight to Half Moon Bay to Mavericks.
The swell was pretty much the same, gigantic and getting bigger and bigger through the day, the waves were breaking so far out that I never seen, it was kind of scary.

“I will let to you guys put a number to those beasts.”

As a reminder, the current Guinness World Record for “largest wave ever surfed” is held by Germany’s Sebastian Steudtner – an 86-footer from Nazaré, Portugal – and it dates back to October, 2020. Since then, however, there have been multiple new entries into the biggest wave debate.

But no new world record…yet.