Uruguayan surfer Santi Medeiro paddled out during a rare night when a red, lightning-filled sky coincided with bioluminescent waves, calling the session “the most magical surf” of his life. The clip was shared widely and picked up by Surfline, which compared the visuals to Netflix’s Stranger Things. NOAA explains bioluminescence is produced by chemical reactions inside marine organisms and serves roles like defense, prey attraction, and communication.
Surfer Paddles Into Fiery Red Lightning Storm and Bioluminescent Sea — A Night Surf Like No Other
The old mariner adage “red sky at night, sailor’s delight” has been repeated in many forms for centuries, appearing in Shakespearean and biblical references, according to the Library of Congress. But one recent night offered surfers something far stranger: a blazing red sky streaked with lightning over an ocean glowing with bioluminescence.
Uruguayan surfer Santi Medeiro chose to paddle out in those eerie conditions and captured what he called a once-in-a-lifetime session. The footage — shot during a storm-lit night when the sea itself shimmered blue — quickly drew attention online.
“Inexplicable what the last night of 2025 gave us. I am still speechless on what this experience was. From 11pm to 1am had to be the most magical surf of my life. The storm behind intensified everything.” — Santi Medeiro (translated from Spanish)
Surfline amplified the clip and likened the scene to the red-lit “upside down” world in Netflix’s Stranger Things — an atmospheric comparison driven by the storm’s red lightning, though the show’s fictional realm is far darker in tone and lacking the ocean’s natural glow.
Scientists say the glowing water is a natural phenomenon: NOAA explains that bioluminescence is light produced by energy released in chemical reactions inside (or sometimes ejected by) organisms. If you’ve ever seen a firefly, you’ve seen bioluminescence. In the ocean, many organisms — from bacteria to small fish and even some sharks — can produce light. Bioluminescence commonly serves to deter predators, attract or detect prey, or communicate with other members of the same species.
The combination of a storm-scored red sky and a luminous blue sea turned Medeiro’s night paddle into an unforgettable, otherworldly experience — a vivid reminder of how dramatic and surprising nature can be.
Publication note: This story was originally published by Surfer on Jan 5, 2026.
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