Why slop through a murky lake when you can bodysurf the ocean blue?

A fun-loving hippo seems to have answered that very question. The adult male recently delighted locals of a small Mozambique town when he ditched his regular watering hole for the beach.

“I was impressed with how he stood his ground in the surf,” Angie Gullan, a marine guide who photographed the hippo frolicking in the waves, told Barcroft Media.

The hippo is presumed to have been forced out of nearby Kosi Bay by more dominant males. But he appears to be enjoying himself on the beaches of Ponta Do Oura, where the locals nicknamed him “Mr. Hippo.”

“I felt privileged to be so close to this animal and witness his strength and determination,” said Gullan.