i came home yesterday, checked the web cams, and saw this!!! omg, pipeline and backdoor super good this mid-morning. i thought i was dreaming!!! look at guys getting barreled left and right. isn’t it may already? and you know what? this whole week is going to be like this!

i was so happy to see my mexican friend Palma in panama. i met him last year diving in mexico and we had a great time. this time was great too. just constantly laughing at this super funny mexican, probably the funniest guy i’ve ever met. i know and i hope i’ll see Palma again.

i meet the coolest people on trips. Demetrius is from maui and was in our group. 1 week ago, he was a stranger. now, he’s a friend. an awesome diver, very smart, very technical with his equipment, funny, and overall a cool guy. Demetrius reminded me of my friend Mike Woo. they even looked alike. so of course, we got along very well and i’m sure i’ll be in touch with him for future dives. and hanging out with him really made me miss Mike a lot.

right around the corner of our resort has a super good river mouth right. i was kind of bummed i couldn’t go surfing in panama this time, but i will for sure next.

we had ahi “maguro” steaks every night. it was really good in the beginning but after 5 nights straight, i was ready for a something else. i never thought i would be tired of eating fresh tuna. so healthy and so tender all week long. so last night, i cooked up a huge juicy rib eye steak and ate it all. now i’m craving for tuna steak again. haha.

took some ponzu to panama.

on the last day, i seen a perfect size fish to sashimi on my last dive so i thought to myself “sashimi for the ride home?” bam! then Keaka came back with a lot of reef fish. i cut up some filets and put it on ice.

this type of fish tastes much better when you keep it in the refrigerator for a few days. the meat firms up a bit making the texture perfect. for us, it was our last day so we ate it right out of the ocean. not the best, but still pretty good.

the last day was crazy! lightning hitting the ocean around us. i will never forget the flashes i seen underwater. kind of scary, but kind of exciting. it was raining so hard that the rain was stinging your face.
somebody asked me yesterday about the diving in panama. i told him “the fish was there, but the water was dirty. you can see the big tunas jumping out of the water right in front of you, but as soon as you look underwater, you can’t see a thing. it was actually funny! but overall, the whole experience was awesome.”

Finger Pet
Good morning 5:30am.
North shore 1-3′ and perfect!
South shore shoulder high and perfect!
Super clean conditions everywhere with light winds.
Cloudy becoming sunny.
Great to be back in Hawaii.
I’m surfing all day!
See you in the beautiful ocean.

12 days of traveling and only 4 days of diving. this had to have been one of the longest trip of my entire lifetime. 8 airplanes with total time of 45 hours inflight, not too mention the hours and hours of check ins and transits. i got stuck in LA last night, grabbed a hotel, slept, then straight back to the airport this morning. luckily got a seat on a flight back to hawaii. as soon as i got off the airplane, i told myself “i’m not traveling for a very long time!”

the cool thing is that i am getting much more patient. i seen some people almost having heart attacks because they couldn’t get on the flight. there is absolutely nothing you can do when you’re traveling like this, nothing. just sit patiently, and pray!

and look out the window watching airplanes leaving without you. haha.

i spent hundreds of dollars eating unhealthy food at airports. this was my breakfast at LA and it was terrible.

the drive up my street is a very joyful time for me. the blue sky, white clouds, green mountains, and fresh air revives my body and soul.

i ate a basic japanese lunch which i dearly missed. i could eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner forever.

then straight to the beach! paddled out and felt so free! and luckily the waves were perfect and uncrowded!

then driving home and watching all the construction going on. it’s the first time i appreciated traffic. haha.
i’m totally jet lagged now. hopefully i can get some good sleep before my normal lifestyle starts tomorrow. want to thank the hawaiian crew for the wonderful time in panama. and thank each and every person i met along the way. goodnight from beautiful hawaii.