Beyond the Board: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Daring Big Wave Surfer

In this YA memoir, pro surfer Maya Gabeira tells the awe-inspiring true story of her journey from unstoppable teenager to the Guinness World Record-holding legend she is today

Who am I, beyond the board? Surf legend Maya Gabeira is famous for her nerve. Her surfing journey began at the age of fourteen and reached a high when she set (and later broke) a Guinness World Record for highest wave conquered by any big wave surfer--man or woman--after bouncing back from a near-fatal accident. Gabeira has been heralded as one of the top surfers of her generation. But who is the ferocious personality beyond the board? What are the stories behind the relationships and challenges that shaped her into the indomitable surfer, women’s rights advocate, and champion for mental health awareness she is today?

For the first time ever, Maya looks back on her formative years: the romances, career highs, vulnerabilities, and setbacks that defined her at an early age. At seventeen, she left her home in Rio de Janeiro in order to chase waves around the world, toting a single backpack and waiting tables to get by. Maya carved her own path as a teen, defining her own remarkable narrative: that of a vulnerable, passionate, and driven young woman who learned never to flinch--even in the face of death.

Maya Gabeira is a Brazilian big-wave surfer, best known for setting the 2018 Guinness World Record for biggest wave ever surfed by a woman and for breaking her own record in 2020 with a wave of 73.5 feet, the biggest surfed by anyone--male or female--that year. As an ESPY award-winner and seven-time World Surf League Big Wave Award-winner, Gabeira is one of the most influential surfers of all time. She is also passionately committed to, and a fierce advocate for, restoring the world’s oceans.