Adiel “Tigre” Maldonado Abeja: A Living Legend Of Mexican Surfing

Adiel was fortunate enough to grow up by the ocean, which added an extra bit of fun to his childhood that continued on into adulthood. At 9 years old, his favorite pastime was catching waves (or their whitewater) with discarded cedar doors.

He saw the first surfers in the 1960’s while living at Playa Copacabana. What he discovered—“gringos” riding waves on their longboards and taking long rides—excited him enough to keep him practicing the sport to this day. The North American adventurers that sought perfect waves had reached the coasts of Acapulco and the rest of Guerrero; it was the era of the hippies...

“I remember in 1967, I met Rodrigo Huerta and Edgar Pintos, who surfed at Revolcadero and sometimes at Copacabana.

In 1968, I got my first board by bartering with Martin, a “gringo” that surfed here a lot.

In 1975, I started competing in events organized by the first surf club in Acapulco, the “Club Surf Safari”, which was directed by Rodrigo Huerta. Hugo Soberanis, Vicente Lorreaga, Luis Diaz and Tiquis Villalvazo were a few of the others who also surfed Copacabana.

My first contact with Evencio Garcia was when I accompanied Tiquis Villalvazo, who was there to give Evencio a board that he had made for him. He was something else...

In the 1970’s, I went on a lot of trips with my “gringo” friends. Our adventurous spirit took us to several points, including Petacalco, a paradise with potent tubes of 15 feet that you could stand up in. It didn’t scare us though; the adrenaline and satisfaction we got from riding those waves were unforgettable experiences... We combined fear and courage to get in the ocean and select waves with an exit...because a closed-out wave will get you into trouble...in a perfect wave, you don’t have a problem.”

THE DRAMATIC SCENE OF MARCH 1973 – MY SHARK ENCOUNTER

It was a normal day like any other and we went out surfing at Copacabana early. I was with Pepe “Pando”, Paco Soberanis, el “Moro”, Colin, “Bayo”, and Martin. It was 8 o’clock in the morning and I remember looking out and seeing various fish jumping out of the water. Suddenly, I felt something hit the fin of the board. I looked down and saw a large, black shadow below the surface. I instantly lifted my legs out of the water and paddled towards Martin, who was the closest one to me. I told him I thought I had seen a shark and he quickly laid down on his board and held onto the nose without moving. I thought the shark was beneath us, so I started swimming towards the shore but the movement only attracted it. Suddenly, I saw it face to face, with its mouth open, baring its teeth. Yes, there it was! And it was coming straight at me. I hit the nose of my board three times, making a splash. Because of this, everyone that was surfing noticed and went to the shore. The next attack was on my left side, after it did a few circles. I was also afraid that a wave would crash close to me and leave me without a board. In those days, leashes were hard to come by. I had designed one out of fishing line, the thick and resistant kind used to catch sharks, and would attach it to the board and then to the waistband of my northern cowboy jeans that I had cut off and was using as shorts. But, such was my luck that day that I didn’t bring that protection.

However, my luck hadn’t totally run out and soon a wave broke and the force of the whitewater pushed me to shore. Right before I got to the beach, my fin hit the sand and I thought of getting off the board but...the shark had followed me! I didn’t turn back but saw that everyone that had run to the shore was yelling: “Behind you! Behind you!” The shark had been stranded in an effort to catch its prey—me. Flopping around, the shark tried to get back to deeper waters. My friends came running with sticks, stones, anything they could find to hit the shark with. For a moment, I thought they were coming for me. Another wave broke and the whitewater dragged the shark back out to sea. It hung around the point were we were surfing and when the wave rose you could see its silhouette in the water like it was looking for us.

Before the attack, I was never scared to surf alone. Now, I look for friends inside, at least one or two to feel more confident. "I say to my son, Adrian: Let's go surf Cup and see who kills the first shark, has - has."

You can usually find Adiel every weekend (or at least when there are good waves) surfing at Playa Bonfil in Acapulco. I have a deep, firm voice and is very cheerful, which is to say, he's a jokester. But don't ask for Adiel, because he's not known by his real name, ask for "el Tigre" (the Tiger) instead.

This was just one story that I have shared out of the thousands that have ' s experienced throughout his lifetime (like being amongst the finalists at the first National contest in Petacalco, or becoming friends with the champion Evencio Garcia, just to name a few).