<\/p>\n
Jason Momoa<\/a> has revealed that he nearly drowned while surfing in his native Hawaii<\/a>, leading him to quit smoking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The \u201cChief of War\u201d star, in an appearance on the \u201cSmartless\u201d podcast with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett<\/a>, recalled going to the renowned big wave surfing<\/a> break Pe\u2019ahi (Jaws) in Maui when \u2014 while almost a mile offshore \u2014 the leash connected to his surfboard snapped.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so windy on Maui, and so the board just went. I couldn\u2019t even see it anymore,\u201d said the actor, who had paddled 13 miles down the coast with friends at the time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Momoa, who wanted to be a surfer growing up<\/a> and who hails from a family of<\/a> celebrated<\/a> surfers and watermen, said he \u201ctrained pretty well\u201d for such situations, but he \u201ctook quite a few\u201d to the head as 10-foot high waves rolled in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s actually, this place is called Shitfucks, and it\u2019s literally because there\u2019s all this water that pulls out … and it just pulls you out and you just get hit with these waves,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSo I was stuck in this crazy spot, which is probably the outer reef, and unknown to me, I was really on the outer reef, and they couldn\u2019t see me, and I had my paddle, and I was waving it, and they couldn\u2019t see me. And the waves were so big, it basically took my shorts off they were so fucking big.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Momoa noted that he began to think of his daughter, who was 3 months old at the time, and he was unable to move his arms and legs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cLike I literally gave up, and I\u2019m screaming inside, and my foot just hits the outer reef. And I don\u2019t know if it was a fucking whale or like just could be one rock, but I just reached down, grabbed it, I jump up, I get hit by another wave,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI dig my feet into the coral, and I\u2019m literally in the middle of the ocean, and I\u2019m just, I could barely put my lips above it just to breathe and get a break, but I had already given up. So it\u2019s like, you\u2019ve already given up and died and have a second chance at it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He said one of his friends came to the rescue, but it was \u201cbrutal\u201d getting out to safety, adding that his feet were \u201ccovered in blood.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Momoa said he used to smoke two to three packs of cigarettes a day before the experience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t stop for my kids, I couldn\u2019t stop for my ex, I couldn\u2019t stop smoking<\/a>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe moment I came out, I never smoked again. I just died. I just died. I tried and tried, but I couldn\u2019t do it again because I just, I gave up. Like, I gave up my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n