6-7 wonderful hours in the ocean today.

started early this morning with Shintaro-san. he left today and wanted to get in a last session before he jumped on the airplane. so we went out at sunrise and had a super fun time. it was so beautiful!

Shintaro-san caught 95 waves on this trip to hawaii. 95 long waves and each one getting better and better. now he’s taking off and turning right away. perfect!

it’s been a while since i done a sunrise session. i just love this time of day. feel so much energy from the sun and the best way to start off a day.

riding into the golden sun is so beautiful. i can do this everyday if i could.

Shintaro-san looking so good! i was so happy to see all the improvements in the 95 waves ridden. an awesome accomplishment.

thank you Shintaro-san for the great surf sessions. you did so good! see you back here in july! and keep on surfing in japan too!

i will call this second morning but it was actually still first morning? went to pick up Kai-san and Saori-san at 8:30am. when i paddled back out, my friends were thinking “hey, i just saw you out here???” haha. anyway, the 3 of us had a wonderful second morning surf session.

then we jumped on Mayuki and headed out to the ocean.

did some free diving. Kai-san is such a cool guy. just so mellow and calm.

Saori-san flying in the underwater world.

we went looking for turtles and found them. luckily the water finally cleaned up.

seen a school of papio’s swimming right by me. i wish i had my spear.

i was thinking this would make a good sashimi dinner tonight. i could have grabbed this one with my hand. just didn’t feel like killing today so i let him go.

an awesome full day with this wonderful young couple. surfing photos coming tomorrow. better sleep because it’s already 8pm! another long day from morning till evening tomorrow. can’t wait!

All day in the Sea.
Happy Hawaii!

yesterday afternoon was so fun! got to take a 6 year old kid named “Shuta-kun” surfing for his first time. as we were paddling out, he was kind of nervous. but, i started singing the “ABC’s Song” with him and he loosened up a little. such a cutie. imagine the two of us singing “A,B,C,D,E…” on the way out. haha.

then i tell him “paddle!” he starts paddling his hardest and as we caught the wave, check out his expression. this is pure stoke!!!

i yell “stand up!” Shuta-kun stands up and surfs the wave perfectly!!!

we rode it for so long and he was so stoked!!!

one thing about kids i love is their pureness. you can’t fake a smile like this in the ocean. it comes out naturally.

then Shuta-kun just being a kid and sticking out his tongue at the camera. haha. i still do this at my age so it’s ok. haha.

Shuta-kun’s father surfed for the first time too! a very athletic and energetic man. i was surprised on his paddling power and his ability to catch and stand up on his very first wave of his life. it was absolutely perfect!

Kuruhara-san caught another one, another one, and more, and more. so much energy and so much stoke.

surfing brings out the pureness in adults too. i usually take photos when nobody knows. so this smile is simply describing the way Kuruhara-san feels at this very moment.

thank you boys for the wonderful surf session! 5 minutes before i picked you guys up, it was raining and raining. then 5 minutes after i dropped you guys off, it started raining and raining again. we were so lucky to surf with Mr. Sun!!! hope to surf with you guys again! aloha.