Flying the nest is a right of passage that every young adult goes through. While some may not move out from home until their late 20s, many get their first taste of freedom at a younger age usually in the form of a holiday abroad with friends, a music festival or some other activity that involves copious amounts of alcohol and not a parent in sight. However, for 17-year-old Lex O’Connor his first unsupervised trip looked a little different to most. A solo trip to Portugal to spend a month chasing mountains of water at Nazare, hunting tubes in Peniche and trying to score slabs at the Cave is, in some ways, just as reckless as a lads holiday, a lot more death defying and probably puts a greater strain on the heartbeat of his parents if he doesn’t call or text at the end of each day.
Given Lex’s pedigree and experience already charging waves like Shipsterns, Deadmans and other slabs in and around his home on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, there was never any doubt that his first solo trip would be a success. We caught up with the teenager to see how he got on.
Tell us a bit more about your trip, how was it heading abroad on your own for the first time?
With it being my first trip I was a little nervous going on my own, but more excited to be able to have the chance to meet and catch up with a lot of cool people and surf proper Nazare for the first time. I was in Portugal for four weeks and hung out with a kid called Salvador Vala who I met in Portugal in 2022, he looked after me when I was in Lisbon and then when I was at Nazare, I stayed with Tim Bonython. I also got the chance to meet two legends, Jake and Luke Smith who’ve been living in Nazare for four years and go out on every good swell.
Did you have any particular goals coming into the trip?
My goal for the trip was to ride the biggest wave of my life which I definitely did but to also meet new people who understood the place and get to connect and learn from them which I also did.
Was there any particular standout session for you?
It would have been my first proper paddle session. I didn’t have a ski driver for the day so I took my 8″6 Dylan Shapes gun out and paddled it. It was a perfect warm up session for me because it wasn’t too big but definitely not too small, somewhere in that 15 to 20 foot range. The playing field is so big out at Nazare with peaks coming in everywhere so to position yourself to get a wave is obviously a lot harder than tow surfing, I got three waves in probably three hours and was stoked.
What’s it like preparing for a big day at Nazare, tell us about the feelings and emotions you go through?
You get the craziest rush of adrenaline, which is a mixture of nerves and excitement. Before the big tow day we had, I was pretty scared knowing that it was going to be huge. The winds that day were almost as bad as it gets, coming out of the West North West at like 35 knots. Ideally you want light East North East winds. However, I was also very excited knowing I was going to get the chance to surf the biggest wave of my life. It’s the adrenaline rush which keeps me coming back for more.
What kind of preparation goes into surfing on days like that?
Preparation starts before I even get there. I was training four times a week at home, doing breath work and weights in order to make sure I was physically and mentally fit before I got there. I continued training at a local gym when I was there too. In terms of equipment, it’s stuff like making sure your straps on your tow board are perfect, make sure your CO2 canisters work, the ski’s are operating properly. The preparation is so important and can be the difference between life and death.
Who were you working with out there?
On the big days I was working with Eric Rebiere who is one of the best surfers and jet ski pilots out there, as well as another guy called Daniel for back up safety. On the big days you must have two skis running for you and a spotter. You also have to wear a pull vest, which is pretty self explanatory. Funnily enough, the first session of the trip I had no ski driver and it was huge, like 20 to 30 feet and pretty clean, so I decided to paddle out on my own without a pull vest, just me, my board and a 5mm wettie because I didn’t own a pull vest at the time. I still really wanted to get a big one but as soon as I got out there I almost copped one on the head, the wave was double the size of anything I’ve ever see in my life. Local charger Tony Laureano rushed over and told me to go in as it wasn’t safe without a vest and luckily it all worked out for the best as Tony reached out later that day and offered me his vest for the rest of the trip. Lesson learnt.
Who do you look up to for inspiration out there?
I look up to people like Kai Lenny and Lucas Chumbo who are surfing 60 foot waves like they’re six foot, doing big airs and turns. In the future that’s how I want to try and surf these types of waves and I think that’s how big wave surfing is going to continually progress.
How does Nazare compare to other waves like Shipsterns and Deadmans which we’ve seen you charging regularly?
The power of Nazare on a big day is something else, it’s a lot more powerful than Shipsterns or Deadmans and the hold downs last a lot longer. Shipsterns and deadmans are a lot more difficult to surf though because of the steps in the wave and the close proximity to the rocks.
What does the rest of 2025 look like for you?
I want to spend the year chasing swells all around Australia at waves like Deadmans, Shipsterns but also The Right, Ours and other slabs. I’m also hoping to get back to Nazare next winter to score some bigger and cleaner days.
