I love this photo!!!
Good morning 6am.
North shore 2-3′ now but GROWING!
Buoy 1 was 9′ at 19 seconds last night 11:50pm.
Solid 8′ North/West coming today.
South shore waist high and clean.
Lighter winds today so cleaner conditions everywhere.
Clouds, sun, showers, and rainbows.
Sunset Pro contest probably on Stand-by.
Have a wonderful day!

had an awesome morning with this wonderful couple from Hokkaido. third time to hawaii, and first time ever surfing. today was the day their life will change forever. and yes, i think it did!

first wave of Yoko-san’s life. got the shot!

and the first wave of Naoyuki-san’s life. got the shot!

it’s pretty easy to tell if people enjoy surfing or not. all you have to do is look at their face after their first wave and you will know they are hooked. Yoko-san and Naoyuki-san are hooked.

smiles from ear to ear. only a surfer knows the feeling.

can you imagine coming to hawaii from hokkaido? omg, from one of the coldest places on earth to one of the warmest places on earth. hawaii might be in winter season now but don’t tell that to people from hokkaido. this is paradise!

then we went to eat lunch at the health bar. the mana acai bowl is mandatory. thank you Naoyuki-san and Yoko-san for the wonderful day!

i ordered the pastrami sandwich today. it was so delicious!

then i came home, switched boards, and grabbed the 4 young ladies. we went out for a great surf session and i was happy to take this little 9 year old girl out with me. we had so much fun in the sun. the little girls surf club is getting bigger and better so today i made a name for them. i’ll introduce you to the “South Shore Monkey’s!” haha.

i’ve been checking the waves around the world for my upcoming trip. so far, the philippines looking biggest. not too sure about the winds and conditions but i wouldn’t mind eating adobo and drinking san miguel’s. we will just have to see what happens next week. also speaking of next week, i was thinking about traveling deep into japan this year for a week to experience the cultural lifestyle. mountains or ocean, it doesn’t matter. wanted to do a home stay with a normal japanese traditional family to experience old japanese living. and if i could find a home with a samurai and geisha, that would be best. please let me know if you have any information.

i’ve been spending a lot of my free time in the ocean. and the more i spend time in the ocean, the more i feel connected to it. look at this beautiful photo i took the other day. this is what you call “paradise.”

i’ve been teaching this girl how to surf since she was 2 years old. now i’m teaching her how to cross step. and now that she’s getting better and better, she’s hooked on surfing. i’m pretty stoked about that.

and so is she! so excited and happy to accomplish a perfect cross step. these are the very reasons why i love to teach surfing. you will see facial expressions you won’t see on the land. only surfing can make you this happy!