Watch: Supernatural Surfing From Italo, Adriano, The Pupos, And Cruz Dinofa In A Pool Twice The Size Of Waco - Stab Mag
1176 Views

Watch: Supernatural Surfing From Italo, Adriano, The Pupos, And Cruz Dinofa In A Pool Twice The Size Of Waco

Break your brain in 10 minutes or less at the new PerfectSwell® machine in Brazil.

cinema // Jan 10, 2023
Words by Holden Trnka
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Since September, we’ve been slow-fed bits and pieces of the newest PerfectSwell® pool in Sao Paulo, Brazil — yeah, the one with a double air section. But we’ve been waiting on a full clip.

Fortunately, we must wait no longer.

PerfectSwell® just sent us a full-fledged 10-minute montage, which features a Brazilian Storm battalion thoroughly enjoying their nation’s new pool — located at the newly developed Boa Vista Village. 

Italo Ferreira, Samuel Pupo, Miguel Pupo, Adriano De Souza — along with honorary Brazilian Storm members Rob Kelly, and Cruz Dinofa — hop, skip, and jump along what the elder Pupo called “the best wavepool in the world.”

At one point, someone asks Italo if he can do an alley-oop. He responds with an interplanetary oop-reverse one-two. Everyone is surfing well in clip, but Italo is literally on video-game mode as he button mashes his way to some of the most absurd combos and aerial variations we’ve seen in a wavepool.

“The performance wave and the double air section are the best I’ve surfed in a pool by far,” said Ferreira. Sorry Uncle Slatz!

Conveniently placed logo, eh?

Between World Champion approval and this treasure trove of footage, the caliber of this wavepool is pretty clear.

Miquel Lazaro has been the lead engineer of American Wave Machines (AWM) — the company that invented and develops PerfectSwell® technology — for roughly 9 years, and is understandably excited about the doors this achievement has opened for the wave-pool world.

“This pool is twice the size of Waco, which we thought was huge — but the clients always want something bigger than the last one, so we’re definitely gonna find out what the limit is eventually,” he says. “Since Japan, we’ve been really interested in exploring how to experience every surfing feeling in the book. Barrels, airs, and turns on the same wave, ideally. Our pools have so much variety now, that it just depends on what you want your day to look like.”

The easiest vision of Italo’s life.

As he possesses the ability to play god, I curiously asked Miquel what his ideal wave look like.

“One of my dream waves would be: takeoff, stall into the barrel, do one turn, then hit a small, realistic air section, make the air and then bottom turn last second under the lip into a crazy wedge barrel.”

Fair enough. Let’s hope he makes it happen.

One can’t help but wonder what the future holds for wavepool contests, especially air comps. While many have mused on the potential creation of “wavepool specialists” and usage of wavepools in the Olympics, it’s a slow-road until much of that is realized. This pool however, is the clearest step towards those possibilities that we’ve seen in a long time.

On this front, AWM’s Willy McFarland added, “Wavepools are beginning to closely mimic other sports, and more disciplines will open up within them, just like skateboarding or snowboarding. I think it’s creating more options for people — more surfing for everyone, basically.”

It’s also creating more clips of Italo being so distinctly Italo.

Very few 13-year-olds can hold their own amidst CT talent. Cruz Dinofa is one of them.

If the airs in the clip above feel too unapproachable for your taste and/or skill level, be sure to stick around for the tube clips at the end.

When can we, the laypeople, go surf it anyway?

If you happen to have purchased one of the apartments at Boa Vista Vilage, you’ll be butt-dragging through extendo-cones this month.

As for the rest of us peasants, we’ll need to wait until they finish building the hotel on the property. “When it rains in Brazil, it rains, and there’s been some weather delay,” Miquel told me. “The hotel is still being built, but once it’s done you’ll be able to stay there for access to the pool.”

We’ll keep you posted on that.

A rare Adriano De Souza sighting!

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

World Champs And WSL President Reject Surfing’s New Olympic Qualification System, Demand Revisions From ISA

Yago Dora, Caity Simmers, Ryan Crosby and more take a stand.

Feb 21, 2026

Hemp In The Athlete Zone, Pipe Master On Hypto Kryptos, Freesurfers Monetize Loneliness

This is the new order of operations — a Q1 industry report.

Feb 20, 2026

“It Was Like the Fourth of July. The Kitchen Sink’s Shattering. The Curtains Are On Fire. I Was Just Swimming Though Black Smoke.”

Kolohe Andino recalls the Gold Coast apartment fire that almost took everything.

Feb 20, 2026

Watch: Dane Reynolds Quizzes The Reigning World Champ | StabMic Episode 02

Yago Dora on his title year, the Volcom x Dad split, EAST over SITD, CT…

Feb 19, 2026

What I Learned Shooting Stab in the Dark with Kelly Slater

These innocuous observations from 11 days working with the greatest surfer of all time. 

Feb 18, 2026

Why Aren’t There More European Freesurfers?

Charly Quivront's new film, 'Who Is Charly?,' helps explain it.

Feb 18, 2026

Ferrari Boyz: Mikey Wright’s Apocalypse-Proof Ram 3500 Mega Cab

A daily driver with a 9-ton towing capacity.

Feb 17, 2026

Kurt Van Dyke, Renowned Californian Surfer, Brutally Murdered in Costa Rica

The 66-year-old was discovered under his bed with multiple stab wounds and a knife nearby.

Feb 17, 2026

Rebuttal: Never Stop Watching Surf Movies 

Social media makes us anxious and depressed. Surf content does not.

Feb 16, 2026

How Italo Ferreira Bought His Way Into Nike, The Reality Of Fatherhood, And Embracing Global Scrutiny

The Stab Interview with the most sleep-deprived man in surfing.

Feb 13, 2026

Will A GOAT Bite On Gnaraloo’s $17 Million Price Tag?

World Champs and Hollywood circle a red-dirt kingdom that can never truly be owned.

Feb 13, 2026

Dane Reynolds On His Favorite Surfer, Storytelling Through Surf Media, And Releasing Former’s New Film

Our first official episode of StabMic is live. 

Feb 12, 2026

Watch: Episode 03 of Stab In The Dark X Starring Kelly Slater

The untold story behind the GOAT’s split from CI + a three-layer wax cake theory.

Feb 11, 2026

Why You Should Stop Watching Surf Videos*

Instagram reels and the twisted fantasy of the parasocial surfing life.

Feb 9, 2026

Breaking: Rogue Boat Plows Through Steamer Lane, Capsizes With Family Of Six Onboard

Stab writer Holden Trnka saves a kid, gives a first hand report.

Feb 8, 2026

Watch: How $13M And 70,000 Tons Of Granite Changed An Australian Surf Town Forever

A documentary on Midds Reef — the world's best artificial wave — by Rhys Jones.

Feb 7, 2026

Pipeline Was Really, Really Good Today

CT qualifications, countless nine point rides, Australian domination, and the journey of a local hero.

Feb 6, 2026

Why Chapter 11’s Doors Are Shut + Why Former’s Output Is About To Spike

Former drops teaser for upcoming feature, ‘Defect’, starring the entire frozen pea army.

Feb 5, 2026
Advertisement