Jason Momoa details near-death experience that made him quit smoking: 'My body stopped'

Aquaman star Jason Momoa has detailed the near-death experience in the ocean that made him quit smoking.

Momoa told the story of the time he nearly drowned while surfing in Maui, Hawaii on the Smartless podcast with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett.

"We paddled 13 miles down the coast ... almost a mile offshore. We're about seven miles into it and my leash snapped," he recalled.

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"It's so windy on Maui and so the board just went, I couldn't even see it anymore."

The actor, 46, said 10-foot waves were smashing over his head in a notoriously dangerous part of the surf.

He was separated from his friends and they couldn't see him in that part of the reef.

"It pulls you out and you just get hit with these waves," he continued.

"So I was stuck in this crazy spot and unknown to me I was really on the outer reef and they couldn't see me. I had my paddle and I was waving it and they couldn't see me.

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"The waves were so big, it basically took my shorts off it was so f---ing big. I was out there for a while and then I just couldn't see anyone coming to get me.

"I couldn't move anymore and my arms and my legs gave up after I was out there for a while."

The Game of Thrones actor said he was thinking about his daughter, who was three months old at the time.

He said his body had "given up."

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"My body stopped, like, I couldn't move my arms anymore and I bubbled down."

The waves continued to batter him and his feet were being slashed by the coral underneath him. 

"My toe hit the outer reef. Like, I literally gave up and I'm screaming inside and my foot just hits the outer reef," Momoa continued.

"I don't know if it was a f---ing whale or like it just could have been one rock. But I just reached down, grab it. I jump up.

"I get hit by another wave and I dig my feet into the coral. And I'm literally in the middle of the ocean.

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"I could barely put my lips above just to breathe and get a break. But I had already given up. So it's like you've already given up and died and have a second chance at it."

After 10 minutes in the ocean, his friend Larry Hamilton came to his aid from behind him.

"I was hanging on the side of this reef, and I hear Larry come from behind and he's on my board towing his board," he continued.

"I get on and he's like, 'Are you alright? I'm like, 'No.' I remember seeing him, but I was 10 minutes dead already."

Momoa admitted that he was so sure he was going to die, he started praying to his ancestors for help.

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"I do believe in my ancestors. I prayed to my grandmother and my grandfather," he said.

"I was reaching and I was in a bad position and if you're stuck out there in that kind of waves with no board, you're f---ed and there's just no way to swim in. So it was a bad spot to be in.

"[When I got on the board] I had seven more miles to paddle, my feet are covered in blood, and I'm just literally looking for my ancestors just paddling the rest of this way, head down and we get out."

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He said the situation shook him so deeply that it prompted him to quit smoking.

"I used to smoke and I used to smoke like two, three packs a day. I couldn't stop for my kids, I couldn't stop for my ex. I couldn't stop smoking," he said.

"And the moment I came out, I never smoked again. Like, I just died. Like I tried and tried, but like I couldn't do it again because I just, I gave up. Like, I gave up my life."

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Title: Jason Momoa details near-death experience that made him quit smoking: 'My body stopped'
Sourced From: celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/jason-momoa-quit-smoking-after-near-death-experience/3a4136ff-0830-4fb1-b503-512aa7330176
Published Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2025 01:08:00 GMT