By now, Italo Ferreira’s humble beginnings are well-documented.
The story about how his passion for surfing began from riding the waves of his hometown in Baía Formosa, Brazil on a Styrofoam cooler lid is a common talking point for surf contest commentators, showing that, although the odds were against him, he went on to become a world champion, Olympic gold medalist, and one of the most explosive surfers the sport has ever seen.
And recently, Italo returned to his unconventional surf craft roots, when he took out a cooler lid, and towed behind a boat in the alligator-infested waters of the Amazon. See below.
Captioning the clip, which in addition to the cooler surfing, shows Italo hanging out with the native people of the Amazon, the Brazilian wrote:
Amazon with the indigenous peoples
@nike has invited me for a great adventure in the Amazon rainforest. Got a chance to surf with a cooler lid while some alligators circled the riverbanks.
It was a pretty wild experience!
Related: Italo Ferreira Stomps ‘First 720°’ in Wave Pool (Video)
For more on his uncanny introduction to surfing, here’s an explainer from the WSL:
“As a boy, Ferreira wasn’t a pampered professional-surfer-in-waiting. He famously learned to surf on the Styrofoam lid of a box his father used to store the fish he would sell. This is the perfect illustration of Italo’s humble upbringing, and explanation of his passion and commitment.”
Recently, Italo came up short during the 2025 WSL Finals Day. While others were hunting the tube, or smacking the lip, at Fiji’s Cloudbreak, he was throwing massive airs into the extremely shallow shish kabobs section of the reef.
In other Italo news, as he mentioned in post above, he signed with Nike, along with a select few other surfers sporting the iconic swoosh. What’s more, he’s about to become a dad. So, watch out; there’s a brand-new Italo coming to the Championship Tour in 2026.
Related: Italo Ferreira Backflips at New Brazil Wave Pool (Video)