Bodyboarder Dies Surfing XXL Swell In Lanzarote

Europe has been enjoying solid, long-range groundswell and favourable winds for what seems like weeks on end.

While many around the content have been in a perpetual state of rejoice, the Canarian surf community is mourning this week after the tragic death of bodyboarder Santi Cruz from Tenerife.

The twenty-seven year old was reportedly out surfing a secret reef off the coast of Lanzarote at the end of last week, as a mammoth swell battered the coastline. He was later found unconscious by a group of local surfers on the island’s northwesterly coast. Santi was rushed to hospital with severe lacerations to his head, but doctors were unable to revive him.

“Today is a very sad day. A bad wave took our friend Santi Cruz.” the Isla Baja Surf Club wrote in a statement. “We will miss his eternal smile, his passion for the ocean, surfing and bodyboarding, and his infinite motivation in the big and extreme waves.”

“We have the consolation of knowing that he was doing what he liked to do best and that wherever Santi is, he will continue to fly and land the best inverted and el rollos. You will always be with us, friend.”

“The crew were just shocked,” local photographer Manu Miguelez told Magicseaweed. “You need time to just process what has just happened, but the problem is, we didn’t have any time because of the swell… one of the local guys got injured and is still kind of in recovery but felt the need to go and surf in memory of Santi.”

Our thoughts go out to Santi’s friends and family and the whole Canarian surfing community at this difficult time.