Garrett McNamara Net Worth

What Is Garrett McNamara's Net Worth?

Garrett McNamara is an American professional big wave surfer and documentary director who has a net worth of $3 million. Garrett McNamara set the world record for the largest wave ever surfed up to that point (78 feet) in 2011 and broke his record in 2013. The feat was documented in the HBO series "100 Foot Wave," which began airing in 2021 and earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.

Garrett is also the first person to ride a wave that was formed by calving glaciers. McNamara directed the documentaries "The North Canyon: An Exploration by Garrett McNamara" (2011) and "GMac Big Wave Attack: North Canyon" (2012), and he produced and served as a creative director on the 2012 documentary "ZON North Canyon Show 2011: Nazare Calling." He also produced the documentaries "The Glacier Project" (2012) and "Red Chargers" (2017). In 2016, McNamara published the memoir "Hound of the Sea: Wild Man. Wild Waves. Wild Wisdom."

Early Life

Garrett McNamara was born on August 10, 1967, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He has Irish heritage, and he has a younger brother named Liam. McNamara spent a good portion of his youth in Berkeley, California, and during their early years, Garrett and Liam went to Central America with their mother. There, she was abused by her partner, a man named Luis, and sometimes abandoned her children. A Guatemalan farmer tried to adopt McNamara, but Garrett's mother returned and took the children back to America. In an interview with Smithsonian magazine, McNamara said of this time in his life, "My mother found God. That is, she joined a strange Christian cult, the Christ Family. They were dominated by a guy who called himself 'Jesus Christ Lightning Amen' and they were committed to getting rid of all material things—no killing, no money, no possessions, no meat." He said that his mother burned their cash and possessions, and he revealed, "We ate out of trash cans and dumpsters from Mount Shasta to Berkeley, for six months or more." After the family moved back to Berkeley, Garrett lived with his birth father for a few years until his mother returned with a new partner. She then moved the family to Oahu, Hawaii in 1978. McNamara began surfing at the age of 11, and when he was 17, he competed in the Triple Crown of Surfing series and won prize money and started gaining sponsors. For the next decade, Garrett and Liam joined the competition circuit. In the early 2000s, tow surfing began gaining popularity, and Garrett was one of the first surfers who joined the movement.

Pro Surfing Career

After a year of training, McNamara and his tow-in partner, Rodrigo Resende, won a $70,000 prize at the 2002 Tow Surfing World Cup. Later that year, Garrett posed for the covers of several major surf magazines after he was photographed in a barrel shot off the coast of Tahiti. In 2003, he rode a wave with a 20-foot barrel, and onlookers feared that he had been crushed by the wave. In 2007, McNamara and his partner, Keali'i Mamala, sought out a tsunami in South-Central Alaska that was formed by 300-foot calving glaciers, and a documentary was filmed about their experience. In November 2011, Garrett set a Guinness World Record for Largest Wave Ever Surfed when he rode a 78-foot wave in Praia do Norte, Nazaré, Portugal; he was towed into the wave by a jet-ski. McNamara broke his record in January 2013 when he surfed a wave that was estimated to be 100 feet. In early 2016, Garrett had a severe wipeout in California on a 50-foot wave that resulted in a broken upper arm and dislocated shoulder. After the incident, he told ABC News, "I hit so hard, it was just like a big, bright light. It was definitely one of the craziest wipeouts I've ever had." He is also interested in Stand Up Paddle, and he designed SUP boards that would give him a more extreme experience. The International Surfing Association invited McNamara to compete in the 2009 World Stand Up Paddle Surfing Championship; only 32 surfers were invited to take part in the competition.

(Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)

Personal Life

In 2012, Garrett married environmental sciences teacher Nicole Macias in Portugal. They have three children together: Barrel ( born 2015), Theia Love Nazaré Celeste Rose (born 2018) and Fe do Mar Strawberry Lucy (born 2021). Garrett and Nicole were both married to other people when they met. McNamara was previously married to Konnie Pascual. They welcomed three children during their marriage: Ariana Kaimana, Titus Waimea, and Tiari. In 2016, Garrett released the memoir "Hound of the Sea: Wild Man. Wild Waves. Wild Wisdom," in which he "chronicles his emotional quest to ride the most formidable waves on earth."

Hawaii Property

According to property records, Garrett appears to be the owner of a 1.8 waterfront property in Waialua, Hawaii. He appears to have purchased this home in 2012 for $3.5 million, though for some reason the current estimated value is actually lower, at $2.3 million. The property features 9,000 square feet of living space over multiple structures, with 12 bedrooms and 14.5 bathrooms.

Awards and Honors

At the Jaws World Cup Tow, McNamara came in first in Tow in Surfing in 2002 and in Expression Session in 2003. He won the 2005 North Shore Tow Surfing Championships and 2006 Nell Scott Tow Surfing Championships, and he finished in second place at the 2008 Free Wave Challenge Tube of the Year competition and Puerto Escondido, Mexico SUP Contest. Garrett has won several Billabong XXL Awards: the Golden Donut Award (2006), Biggest Wave Award (2007 and 2012), Performance of the Year (2007 and 2008), and Wipeout of the Year Award (2012). In 2012, he was entered into the Guinness World Records for Largest Wave Ever Surfed (78 feet, Nazaré, Portugal), and the following year, he was honored with the Portuguese Navy Medalha Naval de Vasco da Gama.

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