Below is our very special interview with Jerome Sahyoun – one of the craziest surfers we know, in the very best way.
First off — can you give us a little bit of a background on who you are, where you grew up, and how you became enamoured with nature and the sea?
Hi, my name is Jerome Sahyoun. I’m 44 years old and I’m from Morocco. I’m married with two kids. Today, I have an eco-lodge and work in the family’s company.
I’ve been fishing and hunting since I was five years old, which taught me how to be very connected to nature. Surfing came a few years later when I was 15 years old.
As a surf mag, we have to ask you to rant about surfing to us. What boards do you like to ride and what are your favourite breaks? What are the joys you find in surfing?
I don’t have one special board that I like to surf, but if I had to choose one, it would be my Dylan Longbottom. My two favourite breaks in Morocco would be the Imsouane slab and Miami (Mici Mici). What I love about surfing is getting barrelled alone, far away from people or with a group of friends, always in Morocco.
We wanted to call you out on something. In one particular interview we read about you, you expressed fear of a certain wave. I believe it was a break back home in Morocco – the heaving right hand barrel at Safi. We feel you were being disingenuous.
There is no way a guy who surfs that same wave in the dead of night with a headlight, or who gets nominated for the biggest wipeout of the year at 80ft Nazare, or who tackles monstrous slabs at Shipsterns or other farflung locations way out to sea, has any form of fear.
If you do, in fact, feel a sense of fear, how do you quell those nerves?
I’m very scared, but I do it for myself and not for the cameras. The more I get scared, the more I feel alive, and this is where my satisfaction comes from. It doesn’t come from the other – I only do it for love.
Are we right, or was there a photo of you strapped into your surfboard hanging onto a BASE jumper some several hundred feet above the ocean? What was the reason behind such craziness?
A few years ago, I got the idea to surf a wave coming from the sky. When we surf, we always watch the birds coming from the sky and surf the waves. I wanted to be a bird. When I presented my project to some brands to help me financially, none of them accepted, so I did it alone. It was a super gnarly project because it took me one week to get two waves. I had five to seven jumps per day.
After a few years, I saw on social media a video of one guy jumping from a plane into Kelly Slater’s wave pool. It made me laugh, because the logistics of his project were way easier than mine. In his project, between the time he jumps from the plane and the time he arrives on the wave, everything was calculated.
The funniest part of it is that brands refused my project but jumped on his. But today my project is not over – I still have it in mind. The only thing is that now I have a family that I have to take care of, but the next step is to get a huge barrel from the sky.
How did the jump come together?
I had to run to get enough speed and jump from the cliff so that we could fly. If I didn’t get the amount of speed needed, we would just fall down the cliff. In this super intense week, there were few days with no wind where I tried getting towed by a jet ski.
We tried for a few hours until we understood that it wasn’t possible, but all of this has created amazing memories that will stay forever in my heart.
You speak of qualities your father has instilled, one such being to always give your best when pursuing something you are passionate about. You then go on to explain that preparation is key in such endeavours – you must be well prepared to give something your best effort.
To that point, being acutely aware of your surroundings and the conditions is paramount. Have there been times when you have not gone out into the surf on this basis?
My dad has always taught me how to be ready at any moment. When I was five years old, he would wake me up at any time to go fish or hunt. I can remember when I was a kid we would wake up at 1:00am and I would be ready in just five minutes.
I could be having fun with my friends on weekends and I would receive a call from my dad telling me, “Jerome we are going to hunt right now,” and I would be ready in only a few minutes. This is the experience that he gave me.
The logistics and organisation came with time and experience. For being physically ready, it was different – I never went to a gym until I was 29 years old, so it’s only in the last few years that I’ve been physically ready for swells.
Morocco is not known to be sharky, but surfing way, way out in the ocean and even during the night at times, do sharks ever enter your mind? Do you have absolutely no fear of them either?
Morocco is not sharky at all. I have more fear of hitting a rock when I’m surfing in the night than seeing a shark.
We note in one big wave session last year, your son Liam also came out and took the drop on a few bombs. Did you get a little nervous or fearful at all for him?
This day, Liam was 14 years old. Liam arrived before me on the spot, and he was getting crazy. When I made it to the spot, he told me, “Dad I want to surf. Can you tow me?”
At this moment, my legs went empty! But as a father, you don’t show anything and do your best to stay calm. I didn’t want to tow my son, so I decided to ask Dylan Longbottom to tow Liam and Axi Muniain to drive the jet ski with me on the sled, because if something happens to Liam, I want to be the one rescuing him.
Liam caught his first wave. Dylan placed him like I asked him to, on the shoulder, but Liam went straight down and took a while before he started planting the rail to turn. The wave swelled bigger and almost swallowed him!
The whitewash covered him up for a few seconds, but when he reappeared, it was good to know he had made the ride. For a few seconds, it was the scariest moment of my life. I was proud and scared, and it was so intense that for the first time, I cried.
We see your daughter, Lou, also surfs. Does your wife surf too?
My daughter just started surfing. My wife doesn’t surf, but she loves going to the beach to chill, watch us surf, and film. For me, this is the perfect combo – my two kids in the water and me and my wife on the beach. What more could I ask?
You have lived quite an adventurous life and pushed the limits in virtually everything you undertake. Do you see yourself slowing down at all or perhaps being a bit more risk-averse?
I don’t see myself getting older, and I’m not ready to stop pushing the limits. One of the reasons why I can’t stop is because my son Liam just started surfing big waves, and today I have to train more and harder than ever if I want to be able to surf these kinds of waves and share what I have been doing my whole life with him.
You have become a renowned big wave surfer, obviously respected by peers and everyday surfers worldwide, and with that comes a public profile.
Do you ever feel you need to be more reserved in what you put out into the public
domain, such as your love for hunting, for example? This is no doubt polarising to
some, but we see it has been such a large part of your upbringing.
No, I don’t think I should be more reserved because I don’t post shocking stuff. People think they know everything about you just by social media, but the reality is that we show only what we want to show.
Can you explain a little about why living off the land, and the sea for that matter, is so important to you?
When I’m in the ocean I feel free, alive, myself. I need the kinds of moments where I’m alone on my jet ski searching for waves in the middle of the ocean, riding kilometres to no end. I feel like these kinds of moments are the only time where I can actually be myself.
Another feeling that I love is knowing that, when in the ocean, everything can happen. You can pass from the best moment ever and, in only a few seconds, have the worst situation of your life. When I know that this can happen at any time, having this feeling makes me feel alive.
Finally, surfing in Morocco – why should people venture there? I see you opened a surf lodge back in mid-2022.
I personally think that people should venture to Morocco first of all for the culture, because you have the Moroccans, the Berbers, and the Sahara people, so already there are three different cultures.
The second reason is because of the waves. Everyone only knows one area going from Safi to Taghazout, but there are so many others. Between the north, the middle, and the south of Morocco, the swells are all different and not the same type at all.
The last reason is for the food, especially Moroccan tea and tajines. Just like the waves, the cuisine is completely different from the north to the south.
When it comes to my hotels, I have one eco-lodge in Dakhla in front of a perfect little right. These waves are incredible for beginners and also for professionals. Then I have another hotel in front of the famous wave and cliff of Imsouane. Just like Dakhla, these waves are perfect for every level of surfing.
Thank you so much for your time Jerome. Any closing remarks?
Today, surfing has changed a lot. People don’t even surf for themselves anymore. For me, if you want to be a surfer, don’t surf for others and social media. Surf for yourself.
There have always been rules in surfing, and you should never forget them, but we are lucky to live with this sport, so let’s have fun and do it for the good reasons.