First debuting in May 2023, Netflix’s scripted series is loosely based on a true story. That true story rewinds the clock back 24 years to June 2001, when the sailboat Sun Kiss 47 sank off the coast of the Azores, spilling more than 500 kilos of ultra-pure cocaine into the waters near the village of Rabo de Peixe. Valued at over 150 million euros in today’s money, the drugs quickly made their way into the community.
What followed was chaos: some locals tried the cocaine and, unprepared for its potency, ended up in hospital, while others began selling it for as little as 25 euros a beer glass. The fallout was devastating, leaving behind addiction, tragedy, and a legacy the town still grapples with years later. This new Netflix documentary promises a gripping look at how one shipwreck changed an entire community, revealing the human cost behind a story that has long been shrouded in myth.
Behind the new documentary is director João Marques, a Lisbon-based filmmaker who cut his teeth in commercials and branded work before moving into shorts and music-driven projects such as Journey Into Intentions for electronic artist ANNA.
The documentary is written by Marcos Nine Bua, who hails from Galicia, Spain, and has built a career across television and documentary. He is best known for the award-winning A Virxe Roxa (2021), alongside other nonfiction projects, such as La Brecha and El Viaje de Leslie.
Season 2 of Turn of the Tide and Turn of the Tide: The Surreal Story of Rabo de Peixe premieres on Netflix globally on October 17th, 2025. The show has also been pre-emptively renewed for a third season, which is being filmed back-to-back alongside season 2.
