In the Brazilian state of Amapa, on the full moon closest to the March equinox, the stillness of the rainforest is shattered by a loud,
thunderous roar - and the smooth, wide Araguari river erupts into what
seems to be the longest tidal wave in the world.
The Tupi-Guarani Indians of the Amazon Basin have a name for this - poroc-poroc, which means "great destructive noise". The Brazilians call it the pororoca. For river-dwelling Indians, this phenomenon traditionally signified death and destruction, as the force of the waters routinely tore up the river banks, taking down trees, structures, homes, canoes, and wiping out the fruits of their hard year's labor. In recent years, however, the pororoca has taken on a new meaning.
Every year, during the March lunar equinox hundreds of surfers flock to the town of São Domingos do Capim, for the Brazilian National Pororoca Surfing Championship. The championship was the brainchild of a 37-year-old surfer, Noelio Sobrinho, who was the word pororoca tattooed on his left arm, he said, ''so that it can be close to my heart.''
Noelio started the competition because, "nobody believed me when I said that I had figured out how to surf the pororoca,'' he said. ''They wanted proof, so I had to organize this championship to show that others could do it, too.''
According to Ricardo Tatuí from the Rio de Janeiro area, who won the competition in 1999 and 2001 and finished second last year. ''Surfing a pororoca is an entirely different sensation from surfing in the ocean. The waves can be smaller, but they are also more treacherous, and you also have to learn to make adjustments to the curves in the river.''
Pororoca surfing is not the same as ocean wave surfing. Most notably, the lack of salt in the river water means that pororoca surfers must struggle harder to stay afloat. As well, the size of the waves have different significance if you are surfing the pororoca or surfing the ocean. In the ocean, the bigger the wave, the better. For passionate surfers, waves over 20 feet high high are thrilling, while the most expert and daring might even test waves of up to 80 feet. While waves are typically bigger, ocean surfers can usually expect to ride a wave for less than a minute.
Close to the mouth of the Amazon, by contrast, a pororoca can reach as high as 12 feet, but competitive pororoca surfers prefer waves about half that size, as it increases their chances of a long, blissful ride. The longest pororoca ride was clocked at 34 minutes and 10 seconds, set by Adilton Mariano of São Paulo.
While in the ocean, surfers have countless opportunities to catch a wave, at the mouth of the Amazon, catching a pororoca is not easy. The pororoca occurs every month, but the best time to see it is between February and June, when the river is at its highest. However, the waves only form twice a day at high tide for four days during this period.
Then surfers must find the pororoca, which often requires racing up and down the Capim and Guamá Rivers on motorboats or water scooters, looking for telltale signs of the pororoca's approach, such as an area of calm water caused by the tension between the currents, or frightened birds in flight.
Finally, pororoca surfing has different dangers than ocean surfing. Rather than dodging sharks and dangerous reefs, pororoca surfers have to watch out for piranhas, alligators, and snakes, as well as submerged tree trunks and other debris stirred up by the powerful current.
More about the pororoca, on "Amazon's Pororoca - the World's Largest Wave" including video .
Sources
Far From the Ocean, Surfers Ride Brazil's Endless Wave
Tidal Bore Research Society
Tsunami-Like River Tides Are Surfing's New Frontier
