Near-Death Surf Experience at El Porto

El Porto of Manhattan Beach welcomed Lucas Favoretti and his best friend, Moon, with big waves upon his move from Brazil to Southern California in December 2015. According to Favoretti, there were two winter storms in the Pacific Ocean that day, in Hawaii and Mexico. The waves were so powerful that once you cleared one by duck-diving underneath the crashing water, it could still drag you down a bit.

“I knew we shouldn’t have been in the water to begin with, but I was like, ‘I’m gonna swim past the waves and see what everyone is doing for a little bit,’” said Favoretti. After sitting on his board for a few minutes and scoping out the scene, he said to himself, “All right, let’s go for it.”

He shouldn’t have gone for it.

Favoretti admits to having always been a thrill-seeking surfer as long for as he can remember. His favorite spot growing up was Praia do Rosa, 100 kilometers north of his hometown, Vitória, in southeastern Brazil. His dad would pay a local to take him via boat far offshore—with land no longer in site—to Xangão, a spot with a shallow rock formation beneath the water’s surface that forms eight to 12-foot waves, the largest he’s ever surfed.

From la praia to El Porto, Brazilian native Lucas Favoretti is a surfer by day and a personal trainer at Equinox by night | Photo by Hayley Pascual

Although he caught a wave at El Porto for some time, it was so powerful that he tumbled underwater for what he felt was forever, his board prolonging the trauma as it pulled him down more because his leash was tied around his waist. The rip current—a strong-moving, narrow channel of water—dragged him, making it harder to swim just enough above the surface for a two-second breath of air. Wave after wave came and broke atop him, constantly keeping him tumbling under water. After a certain point, he didn’t know which way was up anymore and resorted to doggy paddling in desperation of breaking the ocean’s surface. Suddenly he kicked something, something soft.

“I was like, ‘Holy shit, it’s a shark,’” said Favoretti. He pictured the pectoral fin and thought, “Fuck, that’s it. I’m done.”

Survival mode kicked in as he jumped on his board and—for a split second—had an internal debate of whether he should keep as much of his body out out of the water or expose him limbs and swim. Once he spotted Moon on the shore accompanied by two guys pointing to where he wiped out, Favoretti went with the second option, swimming as fast as he could and measuring how far his arms reached with each frantic paddle. After he finally came to shore, he took a few moments and then turned around only to see that the shark he kicked was actually just a group of seals.

He’s surfed at El Porto at least once a week ever since. Why?

“I’m crazy,” he answered.

His fiancée, Hannah, added with a chuckle, “Seriously.”

“You know how people go to church? I need to be out in the ocean,” said Favoretti. “It makes me feel small and helpless. It can change so abruptly on you, and your life’s at the mercy of that. It’s so powerful, mysterious and big.”