Surf's up on the Amazon

Pororoca is what the Indigenous people of the Amazon River delta call the tidal bore that briefly reverses the flow of the river twice a day. Depending on location and season, it can reach up to 4 meters (13.2 feet) high. In the Tupi language, the word "pororoca" describes a “big roar" or "destructor."

A thunderous noise announces the arrival of the tidal wave, which is particularly wild and impressive in the spring, when the Amazon's water level is low. The flow is particularly strong at new and full moon phases, when water masses take on enormous force, pushing hundreds of kilometers upstream and flooding the shore regions.

The phenomenon at the Amazon delta attracts adventurous surfers, who can ride the tidal wave for miles upstream at high tide when the Atlantic Ocean pushes into the delta, spectacularly reversing the Amazon's direction of flow. At low tide, the river heads into the sea, pushing back the salty seawater.

Global surfers discovered the wave in the late 1990s. Since then, the most fearless among them gather at the Amazon River delta, especially in spring, to experience what is known as the "endless wave." While ocean surfing is measured in seconds, the Amazon wave offers the chance for experienced surfers to ride its crest for up to 40 minutes.

At the quay of Chaves, on the Canal do Perigoso, or the "Dangerous Channel," surfers from all over the world prepare to ride the river. The canal is one of many river arms in the delta around the Marajo Archipelago in the northern Brazilian state of Para, where river surfers find particularly good conditions for accessing the tidal bore.

The annual Pororoca Festival, held in the spring, is more than just a sporting event. It's also an encounter with Indigenous traditions. Pororoca surfers paint their bodies for the Auera Auara ritual, a symbolic ceremony that addresses the gods with a request for protection from the forces of nature.

At sunset, surfers gather around a campfire and sing themselves into a kind of trance, said to connect them with the energy of the Pororoca and prepare them to conquer the huge waves the next day. "You have to throw yourself in that vibe and integrate yourself with nature," said Noelio Sobrinho, head of Brazil's Pororoca Surfing Association. "Never try to conquer it, because that's impossible."