Legendary surfer Flea Virostko found sobriety; now he’s helping the place that helped save him.

Darryl “Flea” Virostko – nicknamed for the tiny figure he cut against massive waves – is a legendary surfer. Considered one of the last big wave pioneers, he started riding 30-foot waves way back when emergency teams on jet skis weren’t required by rule in surfing contests.

His most notable achievements are his “Fleapeat” wins in the 1999, 2000 and 2004 Mavericks Invitationals, off the coast of Half Moon Bay, when he mastered waves so powerful they registered on the Richter scale – and claimed the life of the international surfing legend Mark Foo in 1994. Flea also earned an upset win over then six-time world champion Kelly Slater at the Quiksilver Men Who Ride Mountains competition in 2000. Four years later, he was the winner of the unofficial “wipe of the decade” title bySurfing Magazine, after tumbling head first off of a 50-foot wave in 2004 during the Eddie Aikau contest in Waimea Bay.

He’s also a legendary partier, which led to a different type of wipeout. The trappings of good times are something he claims “came naturally with the limelight.” He took to drinking, smoking and recreational drugs before he was 18.

He later deepened into half a gallon of vodka a day and long lines of cocaine. He started smoking methamphetamine in 2006.

Within months his relationship with the drug became a full-blown addiction, cemented by his near-death experience in which he fell off a cliff in Davenport, coming down from a meth binge.

“I was up for four days and then I started feeling all dizzy,” Virostko says. He suffered compound fractures in his left forearm and had to be hospitalized at the San Jose Medical Center for four days.

“I just remember waking up and thinking, ‘I’m going to die here,’” he recalls.

But that didn’t stop meth from coexisting alongside, and as part of, Flea’s career.

“I was definitely on meth in a lot of competitions,” he says. That includes the daunting Mavericks.

He says his character started to suffer. “I don’t lie. I’m not a liar,” he says, “but I kept lying.” While on meth he lied to his sponsors like Quiksilver and O’Neill, saying he was surfing every day and avoiding drugs.

In 2007 his family intervened, handing him a pamphlet for Beacon House in Pacific Grove. “I was angry, but also I knew I had to get help,” he claims.

Prepared to leave his old ways behind, he spent the two weeks prior to his admittance on an all-out rampage binge-drinking, partying and smoking meth. By the time he arrived at the Beacon House he blew a 0.28 on a breathalyzer test. (It’s illegal to drive at 0.08 or higher.)

At the Beacon House, the physical side of his recovery came first. “I was sleeping for three days and then eating,” he says. “Then I was sleeping again. Your body just wants all the things it’s been deprived of.”

He was schooled on the chemistry of drug addiction and involved in various interpersonal group therapy activities. In one activity, he says, “My dad or girlfriend would have to have a conversation with me and then ask me questions. Then I’d have to answer them so they knew that I was listening.” He says it was this psychological and emotional side of his recovery that truly helped him find himself.

In 2008, on the heels of completing the Beacon House recovery program successfully, he wasted no time getting back into the ocean.

“I missed being out in the water,” he says.

Beacon House didn’t offer any water activities during his stay; that changed in August of this year when Beacon House invited Virostko back to teach monthly water activity workshops as a part of the rehab center’s Experiential Services offerings.

“He made such a strong recovery,” says Phyllis Meagher, executive director at Beacon House. “We wanted to give him a chance to help others because he is so passionate about helping others.”

Of all of Virostko’s turnarounds, that’s perhaps the most inspiring reversal: In addition to being a legendary surfer and partier, Flea has a reputation for being a legendary asshole. YouTube comments on his Mavericks profile level some nasty remarks. One of the kinder notes reads, “He thinks he owns the water.” Now that he’s in partnership with the Pacific Grove recovery agency, and sharing the waters with others in need, he’s performed a rather remarkable 180-degree turn. 

BEACON HOUSE is located in 468 Pine Ave., Pacific Grove. The center offers different treatment programs and offer several experiential services for both men and women. 372-2334, www.beaconhouse.org