Maria Souza was born in March 1969 in Recife, Brazil. She is a Brazilian-American big wave surfer, waterwoman, and swimwear designer based in Maui, Hawaii.
Her historic tow-in surfing achievements and decades of water sports mastery have made her one of the most respected figures in the sport.
Who is Maria Souza?
Maria Souza is a big wave surfer, surf instructor, and ocean wear designer. She grew up in Recife, Brazil, where a deep connection to the ocean shaped her life from an early age.
She is also widely recognized as the former wife of legendary American big wave surfer Laird Hamilton, co-inventor of tow-in surfing. Their marriage brought Maria into the heart of the tow-in surfing movement during its earliest days.
Maria became the first woman ever to tow-in surf Pe’ahi, the legendary Maui break known worldwide as Jaws.
Later, she built her own identity far beyond that milestone. She went on to found a stand-up paddle surf school on Maui and run Ocean Sports LLC, offering personal training, body therapy, and corrective exercise programs.
Early Life of Maria Souza
Maria grew up in the city of Recife, Brazil, in a family with deep roots in nature and healing. Her grandmother was a plant healer, and her mother believed in the restorative power of early mornings by the sea.
Maria spent every morning before sunrise at the water’s edge as a child. That daily ocean exposure gave her a rare ability to read conditions and even rescue people caught in rough surf.
In 1988, she visited Hawaii from Newport Beach, California, where she had been attending school and surfing the cold Pacific. She came for one week and never truly left.
She settled on O’ahu for five years, and it was there that she first met Laird Hamilton while surfing Waimea Bay.
Maria Souza Age
Maria Souza is 57 years old as of 2026, born in March 1969. Her zodiac sign is Pisces. She has spent the majority of her adult life on Maui, where she continues to teach and train in the ocean.
Maria Souza Ethnicity and Nationality
Maria Souza is Brazilian by birth and holds American residency, having lived in Maui, Hawaii for the majority of her adult life.
Her ethnic background is Brazilian, with indigenous heritage through her plant-healer grandmother.
That cultural connection to the land and water shaped her approach to the ocean throughout her life.
Maria Souza Height and Weight
Maria Souza has not publicly disclosed her exact height or weight measurements. Her build reflects decades of athletic water sports training, including big wave surfing, stand-up paddling, and yoga.
Sources consistently describe her as fit and physically capable of handling some of the most demanding ocean conditions in the world.
Maria Souza Education
Maria Souza attended college and completed a marketing program while also working as a designer for an ocean wear company.
She later became a certified yoga instructor through Maya Yoga Studio in Honokala Valley on Maui’s north shore, trained under instructors Eddie Modestini and Nicki Doane.
She also developed professional qualifications as a personal trainer, nutritionist, and massage and physical therapist. Those credentials became the foundation of her Ocean Sports LLC school on Maui.
Maria Souza Career
Maria Souza’s water sports journey began before she ever touched a surfboard. She practiced gymnastics as a child and first encountered surfing at the age of 13.
By the time she arrived in Hawaii in 1988, she was already a capable bodyboarder and surfer. Living on O’ahu, she fell in with the group of watermen who were pioneering tow-in surfing, including Laird Hamilton, Darrick Doerner, and Dave Kalama.
She became the first woman and first Brazilian ever to tow-surf Pe’ahi, better known as Jaws, on Maui’s north shore.
Early Water Sports Career
Maria’s tow-in surfing career began around 1989 to 1990, when she joined Laird Hamilton and his crew as they tested the early zodiac-assisted tow-in concept on O’ahu.
The group later brought the technique to Maui’s Pe’ahi, and Maria was part of that pioneering group from the start.
After giving birth to her daughter Izabela in 1995, Maria stepped back from big wave surfing for eight years. She chose stability and safety for her child over the risk of the massive winter swells.
In 2003 and 2004, she returned to big wave surfing with a new partner, Brazilian waterwoman Andrea Moller.
The two pooled their savings to buy a used jet ski and spent a full year learning to launch, drive, and tow each other into waves at Outer Sprecks before ever approaching Jaws.
Historic Achievements at Jaws
In the winter of 2004 to 2005, Maria Souza and Andrea Moller made history as the first all-female tow team to both drive and surf the waves of Jaws.
They were recognized by the surfing community, including Adventure Sports Network, as a milestone moment in women’s big wave surfing.
The pair competed in the women’s division of the SUP channel crossing, finishing first in 2005, 2006, and 2008. That record, noted by Maui Now, reflected a combined record of “all wins and no losses” in channel crossing competition.
Maria brought the same philosophy to every water sport she attempted: preparation, partnership, and a belief that surfing is an art form rather than a competition.
Surf Instruction and Business Ventures
Maria founded Amazon Swimwear, her line of ocean wear clothing designed for active women in the water. She temporarily set the brand aside when she launched Ocean Sports LLC, a school focused on body therapy, corrective exercises, and injury prevention through movement.
Through her Maui Stand Up Paddle Surf School, she teaches tow-in surfing, foil surfing, windsurfing, kiteboarding, Hawaiian canoe paddling, tandem surfing, stand-up paddling, SUP Downwind, SUP yoga, and SUP racing.
Her approach is highly individualized, with a maximum of two students per instructor in each session.
She also pioneered SUP yoga on Maui, combining stand-up paddle surfing with Ashtanga, Hatha, and Iyengar yoga poses. Her certification from Maya Yoga Studio gave that program a serious athletic foundation.
Current Activities
Maria Souza continues to operate her Maui-based surf school as of available records. Reviews on platforms like TripAdvisor describe her instruction as transformative, specifically praising her background as a physiotherapist and her ability to identify and correct movement limitations in her students.
She has been credited in The Surfer’s Journal as the woman who first introduced Andrea Moller to big wave surfing and inspired a generation of female waterwomen.
Maria Souza Awards and Championships
Maria Souza won the women’s division of the SUP channel crossing competition in 2005, 2006, and 2008 alongside partner Andrea Moller. The duo finished first in every race they entered together.
She is recognized in the surfing community as a trailblazer in women’s big wave tow-in surfing, a distinction confirmed by Maui Magazine and multiple surf publications.
No formal individual championship trophies from sanctioned competitions are publicly recorded, consistent with her stated preference to view surfing as art rather than competition.
Maria described her team’s preparation for Pe’ahi as her greatest achievement, noting that completing all logistics themselves against the skepticism of others meant more than the ride itself.
Maria Souza Husband
Maria Souza married Laird Hamilton in 1992. The couple shared three years of married life before separating and finalizing their divorce in 1995.
According to a 2011 profile by Behind the Lens Maui, Maria later married a man named Kawika, whom she met while paddling canoes on Maui. The article reported that the two shared a love of ocean life and had done tandem surfing together.
Maria and Kawika were married in Tahiti, per that same 2011 report. Laird Hamilton went on to marry Gabrielle Reece on November 30, 1997, per IMDb.
Maria Souza Children
Maria Souza and Laird Hamilton have one daughter together, Izabela Hamilton, born in 1995. After Izabela’s birth, Maria stepped back from big wave surfing to focus on raising her.
By the time Izabela was a teenager, she was helping Maria on weekends at the surf school and was described as a natural in the ocean. Maria spoke warmly about their close relationship in a 2011 interview.
Izabela also has two half-siblings from Laird Hamilton’s marriage to Gabrielle Reece: Reece Viola Hamilton and Brody Jo Hamilton.
Maria Souza Net Worth
Maria Souza’s net worth is not publicly confirmed by any major financial publication. Her income streams include her Maui Stand Up Paddle Surf School, Ocean Sports LLC personal training and therapy services, and her Amazon Swimwear clothing line.
She has noted in interviews that she preferred to fund her water sports activities independently rather than through formal sponsorship contracts, partly due to the flexibility required as a single mother.
Given the nature of her self-funded, locally operated businesses, a precise net worth figure is not available from reliable sources.
Maria Souza Social Media
Maria Souza maintains a relatively low public profile on social media compared to many professional surfers. Her surf school has a listing on TripAdvisor, where clients have reviewed her programs.
Her school website, referenced historically at standuppaddlesurfschool.com, served as the primary online presence for her instruction business on Maui. Verified current handles on Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok are not publicly confirmed at this time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Maria Souza’s net worth?
Maria Souza’s net worth is not publicly confirmed by any major financial source. Her income comes from her surf school, personal training business, and clothing brand on Maui.
How old is Maria Souza?
Maria Souza is 57 years old as of June 18, 2026, born in March 1969 in Recife, Brazil.
What is Maria Souza known for in surfing?
Maria Souza is recognized as the first woman ever to tow-in surf Pe’ahi (Jaws) on Maui, and as co-founder of the first all-female tow team to both drive and surf Jaws in the winter of 2004 to 2005.
What is Maria Souza’s height?
Maria Souza’s exact height is not publicly confirmed. She has not disclosed specific physical measurements in any verified public source.
Who was Maria Souza married to?
Maria Souza was married to big wave surfer Laird Hamilton from 1992 to 1995. She later married a man named Kawika on Maui, as reported in a 2011 profile.
What businesses does Maria Souza run?
Maria Souza operates the Maui Stand Up Paddle Surf School and Ocean Sports LLC on Maui, Hawaii, offering surf instruction, personal training, body therapy, and SUP yoga.
The Bottom Line
Maria Souza became the first woman ever to tow-in surf Pe’ahi, Maui’s legendary Jaws break, a milestone she achieved alongside the pioneering crew that included Laird Hamilton in the mid-1990s.
She and Andrea Moller then made history again in 2004 to 2005 as the first all-female tow team to both drive and surf those same waves.
Her Brazilian roots, with a grandmother who was a plant healer and a childhood spent at the ocean’s edge before sunrise, shaped a philosophy that treats surfing as art rather than sport.
She chose to fund her own equipment, raise her daughter independently, and build businesses that combined ocean training with physical therapy.
Today, Maria continues to teach at her stand-up paddle surf school on Maui, where students describe her instruction as genuinely life-changing.
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