The Hype Is Real - with Luiz Buccieri

It’s February. Not August. Not a postcard swell. Cold water, clear light, Riviera doing its winter thing. And Luiz is already smiling, ear to ear like a kid in a candy shop, eyes hidden behind sick Oakleys.

He’s been in the water. He’s probably going back in. If there’s energy, even a hint of it, he’s not sitting still. That much is obvious within five minutes of talking to him.

“Whenever I’m in the water, I feel like a challenge,” he says. “And that challenge stays in my mind the whole day.”

That’s the core of it. Luiz doesn’t surf to switch off. He surfs to lean in.

Built on Challenge

Ask Luiz why he surfs and he doesn’t talk about waves, or boards, or clips. He talks about confrontation, with himself.

“It’s normally just me and myself,” he says. “Trying to make movements better, trying to feel more comfortable in the water.”

But there’s a balance to it. He’s not chasing frustration.

“I try not to ask too much from the ocean,” he says. “So I don’t get frustrated.”

That mindset comes up again and again. Surfing as effort, but also acceptance. Push, but don’t force. Commit, but don’t demand.

“Surfing is full power,” he says. “I don’t think anything else has the same effect.”

A Brazilian Start, a Long Pause

Luiz first surfed in Brazil. His dad had a board. He was pushed into waves as a kid. Then life happened.

“I stopped for about twelve years,” he says.

He came back properly in his early twenties, living in a hostel in Ubatuba on the coast of São Paulo.

“We surfed every day,” he says. “The waves were amazing. That beach life - it was great.”

Then another break. Ireland. Italy. No easy access. No gear. Cold water. Expensive logistics.

“You adapt,” he says. “In Ireland I started skating. I put all my effort into skating.”

But the absence was always there.

“When you miss something - when you know something is there for you, but you can’t access it - that feeling stays.”

Finding It Again in Malta

Malta wasn’t a return to abundance. It was a return to intention. “I’m still finding it again,” Luiz says.

Here, nothing is guaranteed. Surfing is conditional. Windows are short. The sea asks questions before it gives answers. Luiz responds by showing up more, not less. “You deal with cold water, rocks, bad conditions,” he says. “You go through all the elements just to be in the water.”

That’s not a complaint. It’s a choice, a challenge, a conscious decision from a determined mind.

“I tailor my life around surfing,” he says. “If I need to change shifts, I do it. If I need to change jobs, I do it.”

He laughs when people tell him that’s why he’s progressing.

“If you’re there every day, you improve,” he says. “Even if it’s not perfect, things start to feel right.”

Best Surf Lessons on Earth

Indonesia sharpened everything.

“That was the best surf school of my life,” Luiz says. “One hundred percent.”

Fifteen days. Surfing every day. Waves that allowed calm instead of panic.

“You don’t even need to choose,” he says. “You get waves. Perfect ones. You can adjust your feet, read the sections, do everything calmly.”

But it wasn’t just the waves.

“I didn’t even go out. I didn’t drink,” he says. “I woke up at six, surfed, slept early, surfed again.”

Simple. Focused. Joyful.

“It was the perfect life.”

Energy Is Shared

If you’ve surfed with Luiz, you’ve heard him. Shouting. Laughing. Hyping. That’s not accidental.

“That’s something I learned in Brazil,” he says. “We always shouted for each other. It gives energy.”

He sees encouragement as part of progression, his own and everyone else’s.

“People helped me when I was learning,” he says. “I love helping.”

He believes happiness translates directly into better surfing.

“People surf better when they’re happy,” he says. “Happiness is the key. Shared happiness is even better.”

It’s not forced. It’s natural. A Brazilian instinct brought into a Mediterranean lineup that sometimes forgets to smile.

Simple Dreams, Clear Direction

Luiz doesn’t dress his future up in big language. “Surfing will always be the main thing,” he says. “Everything in my life will be built around it.”

He doesn’t talk about money or status. “I just want to surf the best waves in the world,” he says. “It’s simple.” Indonesia again. Costa Rica. Anywhere with energy and room to move.

“Every new place is a new dream.”

Why the Hype Makes Sense

The hype around Luiz isn’t built on moments. It’s built on presence.

He’s there when it’s average.
He’s there when it’s cold.
He’s there when it’s not obvious.

He surfs with effort, but without bitterness. With intensity, but also joy. He brings energy into the water and leaves ego on the rocks.

We’re lucky to have him here! “I love being in Malta,” he says. “It’s a pleasure.”

That’s the Brazilian ethos showing through, not loud, not performative, just alive. Surfing as commitment. Surfing as happiness. Surfing as something you give yourself fully to, without needing much back.

That’s why the hype feels real. Because it is.