One of the most remarkable aspects of HBO’s Emmy-winning 100 Foot Wave docuseries on big-wave surfing is its showcasing of the stakes and the struggles involved. The surfers here are risking their lives when they go out. And this show differs from many extreme sports films by showing not just the highs of great rides and the lows of wipeouts, but also the athletes’ thoughts on the danger involved, which often involves more than the straight machismo you might expect.
That’s particularly shown in the second episode of the current third season of 100 Foot Wave, which premieres on HBO Thursday night. That episode, “Undertow,” has a lot of focus on risks, injuries, and recovery. And that’s illustrated in a clip HBO provided for Awful Announcing to exclusively debut. The clip features footage of CJ Macias surfing big waves at Nazaré, Portugal for the first time since a brutal January 2022 wipeout that broke his arm, and including his thoughts on how terrified he was to be back out there:
An exclusive clip from 100 FOOT WAVE shows CJ Macias struggle to return to surfing at Nazaré following an injury. "I'm just freaking out out there. I'm having almost a panic attack." The episode, "Undertow," debuts Thursday night on @HBO. The series is available to stream on Max. pic.twitter.com/jXxQvoveGI
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 7, 2025
Some of the most notable lines there:
“They’re breaking big, and it’s just way bigger than I want to get involved in. I can feel my throat dropping in my stomach. …I come flying out of this thing, and I’m just like freaking out out there. I’m, like, having almost a panic attack. I’m like ‘What am I going to gain from this? I’m not going to ride the biggest wave of my life. I’m terrified.’
“And we’re still pushing into this, and I’m thinking ‘Why?’ I needed to speak up for myself, but I didn’t. The next wave felt similar to the wave I ate it on. I made it out, but I just got so scared. When Alemão [driver Alemão de Maresias] came and picked me up, I’m like ‘Please stop. No more, no more.'”
That clip is significant in its own right. But it also comes following context where Macias initially returned to Nazaré after his injury just to help spot for other surfers (including brother-in-law Garrett McNamara, the series’ central figure), as seen in the photo at the top of this post. While doing that, he saw repeated comments from others urging him to get back out on the water. He did just that, but in this particular moment, it wound up being a traumatizing experience for him mentally even without further physical injury.
A large part of 100 Foot Wave‘s stellar recipe to date is the way it spotlights a wide and dramatically different cast of surfers from around the world. McNamara and his wife and business manager Nicole are the most-featured figures, but viewers also get to spend a lot of time with others like Macias, Justine Dupont, Andrew “Cotty” Cotton, Lucas Chumbo, and many more. Their personalities are incredibly diverse, and the attitudes to injury (a key part of this episode in particular) are part of that, with McNamara eager to battle through even quite concerning moments, but others like Macias speaking more on the challenges of getting back out there.
Macias was one of the most interesting people featured on 100 Foot Wave through the first two seasons. That continues in season three (AA has viewed all five episodes, and they’re excellent, expanding the series’ focus beyond Nazaré to also cover other great surfing moments around the world). He’s an incredible surfer and jet-ski driver, an upbeat personality, and a key presence for both his family and the wider surfing community.
But surfing is also less foundational to Macias’ identity than it is for many of these others. He was a star college volleyball player at Purdue-Fort Wayne in the early 2000s, earning induction into their Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022. During the series, he takes time out from surfing for a professional volleyball career, teaching yoga, and more. And his perspective in the above clip spotlights both the risks of this sport and the mental challenges of it, which can kick in even when things don’t go wrong physically.
“Undertow,” the second episode of 100 Foot Wave’s third season, premieres Thursday night on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. The first two seasons and the first episode of the third season are also available on Max.
