Professional surfer Kai Lenny performed an incredible mid-air 360 rotation while surfing down a 40-foot wave in Nazare on the coast of Portugal on January 14.

Video shows the athlete drop in on the wave and instantaneously perform the twisting trick and subsequently doing another mid-air jump to the audible shock of filmers.

The footage has since gone viral in surfing media as the stunt was completely unexpected when riding a wave of this magnitude as surfers are usually in "survival mode," said the filmer.

Lenny, 27, is a Hawaii native and is not just a big wave surfer but a windsurfer and kitesurfer among many other aquatic traits.

The filmer explains: "He’s considered among the surfing industry as one of the best watermen of all time and an innovator of the sport.

"Last season Kai Lenny won the WSL XXL award for Biggest Wave of the season, on a wave he rode in Maui in Hawaii."

Praia do Norte beach, near the fishing village of Nazaré, has become famous worldwide for huge waves in 2011, when Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara set a world record for the largest wave ever surfed at 78-foot at the time, in 2017 that record was broken by Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa, setting the bar at 80-foot.

The video captured on January 14th, contains Raw footage of a highly improbable big wave manoeuvre, it shows professional surfer and Watermen Kai Lenny performing a mid air 360 down the face of a 40 feet wave in Nazaré, and it doesn’t stop there, after successfully completing this infamous stunt, Kai Lenny still manages to survive a massive air drop falling down the face of the wave, landing impeccably on the base in a casual manner.

The footage was released on social media and went instantly viral among the surf media reaching millions of views, as this is not the type of stunt expected on waves of that size and consequence, most big wave surfers are in survival mode while riding waves like this one.

Kai Lenny, 27 years old from Maui (Hawaii), is a big wave surfer, stand-up paddle (SUP) surfer and racer, surfer, tow-in surfer, windsurfer, kitesurfer and celebrity watersports enthusiast. He’s considered among the surfing industry as one of the best Watermen of all time and a sport innovator, last season Kai Lenny won the WSL XXL award for Biggest Wave of the season, on a wave he rode in Maui in Hawaii.

Praia do Norte beach, near the fishing village of Nazaré, has become famous worldwide for huge waves in 2011, when Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara set a world-record for the largest wave ever surfed at 78-foot at the time, in 2017 that record was broken by Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa, setting the bar at 80-foot.