Jason Momoa may have played the king of Atlantis.

But in real life, the Aquaman star knows firsthand how powerful and untamable the ocean can be. In fact, Jason recently recounted a terrifying experience in which he almost drowned 18 years ago while surfing off the coast of Maui, on a break referred to as “Jaws” because of how big and powerful the waves there can get.

“We did like a 14, 13-mile paddle, I was with Dave Kalama , my friend Joe Flanigan and Laird Hamilton ,” he said during the Aug. 11 episode of Smartless . “And you're kind of almost a mile offshore. And then my leash snapped. We're about seven miles into it and my leash snapped.”

Jason said he immediately lost his surfboard, and “took quite a few [waves] on the head,” noting the swells were reaching 10 feet

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