The question of the biggest wave ever recorded does not have a single, straightforward answer because the measurement depends entirely on the type of wave being discussed. The term “biggest” can refer to the maximum absolute height reached by water, the power of a wind-driven wave in the open ocean, or the surfable face height of a breaking wave near the shore. These distinct phenomena are created by fundamentally different processes, ranging from geological disasters to the interaction of wind and ocean floor geography. Understanding the record requires separating waves into categories based on their origin and how their height is measured.
The Absolute Record: Impact Waves and Megatsunamis
The most immense wave event in recorded history was not a typical ocean wave but a colossal displacement of water known as a megatsunami. This record belongs to the event that occurred in Lituya Bay, Alaska, on July 9, 1958. This wave was initiated by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake along the Fairweather Fault, which dislodged approximately 30.6 million cubic meters of rock.
This enormous mass of rock plunged from an altitude of about 3,000 feet into the deep waters of Gilbert Inlet, generating a massive splash wave. The resulting wave surged up the opposite mountainside of the narrow, steep-walled fjord.
The wave’s height is measured by its run-up, which is the maximum vertical height the water reached above sea level on the land. In Lituya Bay, the water scoured the trees and soil up to an astonishing elevation of 1,720 feet (524 meters). This run-up height is significantly greater than any other wave ever documented.
This type of wave is fundamentally different from a seismic tsunami, which is caused by vertical seafloor movement and travels across the entire ocean basin. The Lituya Bay event was a localized, landslide-induced splash, concentrating immense energy within the confined geography of the fjord. Its run-up height secured its place as the absolute tallest wave in modern history.
How Bathymetry Creates Giant Surf Waves
The largest waves that occur consistently and are actively surfed are created not by a single geological impact, but by the unique contours of the ocean floor, known as bathymetry. The most famous example is found in Nazaré, Portugal, home to the largest surfable waves on the planet. These colossal waves are the result of the Nazaré Canyon, one of the largest underwater canyons in Europe.
This submarine canyon stretches for about 230 kilometers and plunges to a depth of over 5,000 meters, ending very close to the shore at Praia do Norte. The canyon acts like a funnel, channeling powerful North Atlantic swells directly toward the coast with minimal loss of energy.
Waves traveling over the deep canyon move faster than the portions of the same wave traveling over the shallower continental shelf beside it. This difference in speed causes the waves to bend, a process called refraction, which focuses the wave energy. As the focused swell moves from the canyon’s extreme depth onto the sudden shallows near the beach, the wave slows down, its wavelength shortens, and its height dramatically increases in a process known as shoaling.
This shoaling effect, combined with the convergence of the canyon-channeled wave and the slower wave from the continental shelf, creates a massive, towering peak. This unique geographic configuration routinely produces waves that can exceed 80 feet (24 meters) in height. The current Guinness World Record for the largest wave ever surfed stands at 86 feet (26.21 meters).
Rogue Waves: The Open Ocean Goliaths
A third distinct category of extreme wave is the rogue wave, also known as a freak wave, which occurs unexpectedly in the open ocean far from coastal effects. Unlike bathymetry-dependent surf waves, rogue waves appear seemingly out of nowhere in deep water, often in sea states that are otherwise moderate. An ocean rogue wave is technically defined as a wave with a crest-to-trough height that is more than twice the significant wave height (SWH) of the surrounding sea.
The primary mechanism believed to cause these unpredictable giants is constructive interference. This occurs when multiple independent wave patterns, traveling at different speeds and directions, align their crests at the same point and time. The height of the individual waves temporarily adds up, creating a single, massive, short-lived peak.
Nonlinear effects in wave dynamics can further enhance this process, contributing an additional 15 to 20 percent to the final wave height. These waves are particularly dangerous to marine vessels because they have unusually steep faces and often appear as a wall of water with deep troughs preceding them. The largest documented rogue wave measured was the 85-foot Draupner wave in the North Sea.
Comparing Maximum Wave Heights
The maximum height of a wave depends entirely on its classification, making direct comparison difficult. The absolute record belongs to the impact-generated megatsunami, where the 1,720-foot run-up at Lituya Bay defines the maximum vertical reach of water against land. This measurement is a geological metric, not a crest-to-trough height in the ocean.
In the category of wind-driven waves, the largest surfable waves are those amplified by bathymetry, such as the ones at Nazaré, which have confirmed measured heights of over 86 feet. These waves are consistently reproducible under the right storm conditions.
Finally, rogue waves represent the largest unpredictable peaks in the open ocean, measured from trough to crest. While they are usually shorter than the largest surf waves, their sudden appearance and extreme steepness make them distinct. The estimated maximum heights for these open-ocean goliaths are typically in the 60- to 100-foot range.