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What If You Tried to Surf a Tsunami?

What If | January 29, 2026



Is surfing a tsunami even possible? And have people done this before? Thanks, Audible! Start listening with a 30-day trial and your first audiobook plus two Audible Originals are free when you go to http://audible.com/whatif or text whatif to 500-500

The biggest wave that someone has surfed on was 24.4 meters tall (80 feet). It happened in November of 2018. Tsunamis can be around this height but for our purposes let’s go a little bigger and say ours is 30 meters tall (100 feet). But if you want to surf on a tsunami — and we don’t recommend you do it — you’ll most likely have to travel to Japan or the Philippines.

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Transcript and sources: https://insh.world/science/what-if-you-went-surfing-on-a-tsunami/

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Planet Earth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-HhCwYD7rc&list=PLZdXRHYAVxTJCzxwmCq0NNpYq9N9wyb2l
The Cosmos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfuJyVkMH_g&list=PLZdXRHYAVxTJno6oFF9nLGuwXNGYHmE8U
Technology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS3bBO05fpU&list=PLZdXRHYAVxTIeRY3JtgXgoGqSEB7kDdKO
Your Body: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmXR46TrbA8&list=PLZdXRHYAVxTJNsV9FFeNAKl2ySsHj8GZO
Humanity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdCDQIyXGnw&list=PLZdXRHYAVxTIFnvmOeWbv-Mt8zFxSCSvZ

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Comments

This post currently has 40 comments.

  1. @nataschabenni2001

    January 29, 2026 at 12:30 pm

    But if you did manage to dodge the debree of the buildings, you could land yourself at Houston Hot Chicken in Texas, where their delicious hot chicken sandwich is the real gravity which is impossible to resist, from juicy chicken tenders to flavorful loaded fries and much more.

  2. @TheSquidlerr

    January 29, 2026 at 12:30 pm

    surfing it is the safest option ngl 18 years ago someone did that and it was a legendary moment no one seeing wont forget AND HE DID THAT ALONE he's alive i mean idk abt now but he didn't die from the tsunami, but driving is an other option lol but running nahh your cooked,

  3. @neltins5308

    January 29, 2026 at 12:30 pm

    It would theoretically be possible if you have a specific high tech surf board & it was an expert surfer with a lot of luck on his side… but in general its impossible for the average man.

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