gosh, it’s been a while since i shot photos so much. starting to get back into the groove. super fun and super rewarding to see the results.

a few days ago at haleiwa. super great memory surfing that epic morning. one of my best sessions ever out there. old time pro surfer friends Jason Magallenas and Ross Williams getting ready for the epic waves. actually was on the same team with Ross Williams for the 1990 world championships in japan.

Kimo Gasper also a good old time friend. another 1990 world championships team member. gosh, we had such a great time in japan that year. stoked to see the boys still charging big waves!

Kai Garcia or better known as Kaiborg is probably the most feared local surfer in the world. if you don’t know him, be careful. but if you know him, he’s the coolest guy. super respectful, super kind, super straight up, and super local. Kai’s the very one who told me 20 years ago “if you can catch waves at Backdoor, you can catch waves anywhere in the world.” he was right.

and Kai runs the volcom house right in front of pipeline/backdoor. so him showing up at haleiwa that epic morning made me feel good that i was at the right spot that day. right at haleiwa.

fast forward to yesterday as Kai was surfing backdoor. again, the best spot on the island, and again, i’m glad i was there too. i think we check the same surf reports? i seen Kai get some really sick long barrels!

had a lot of japanese surfers out surfing backdoor and off the wall too. in fact, there were a lot of waves yesterday so everybody caught something pretty good.

and many of drop in’s too. poor Ren behind this guy who just dropped right in on him.

solid 4-6′ barrels all morning. i still can’t believe i surfed in the dark and pulled into barrels like this. i wish somebody took a photo but that’s impossible because i couldn’t even see myself. all i know it felt so good!

Shun at the sandbar left.

Kanoa Igarashi nice spray.

Reo Inaba speedy left tube.

Jamie O’brian and friend getting creative.

and getting pounded!

Mason Ho got the wave of the day. this is epic backdoor!

this young 14 year old kid from shikoku is the next backdoor specialist. cool!

i’m a people watcher and i like to watch people like this. this is called the double wipeout.

Mar Ohno off the lip.

3 people per wave? yes, sometimes it gets crazy like this.

Coco Ho on a gem.

bodyboarding upside down?

Fumihiko Nishizeko going off the wall.

Tatsuya Fukagawa got some good ones at off the wall too.

Rick from the east side on the classic bottom turn.

many more photos coming soon to WWW.GO-NAMINORI.COM.

I’m going to Snow Country! So happy!
Good morning 5:15am.
North shore UP again.
6-8′ solid and super good.
Pipeline/Backdoor best barrels but Haleiwa and Sunset good too. South shore small swell continues.
Shoulder high at Diamond Head and smaller elsewhere.
Perfect conditions everywhere today but onshore winds around 10am. Cloudy morning with lots of haze. Looks like LA.
No wind.
Packing and traveling.
Have a wonderful day!

paddled out in the dark again! i just knew backdoor was going to be perfect. solid 4-6′ and the best it gets. perfect peeling rights and lefts constantly. only 3 guys out in the dark getting barreled out of our minds. caught so many perfect barrels before the sun and army of surfers came out. scored again! then came in, grabbed my camera, and shot some photos.

stoked to see Shun Murakami back here in hawaii. lot of my hawaiian surfer friends rate Shun on the top of japanese surfers. still young, this boy still has many golden years to come. here he is with his boys before they paddled out.

i can’t believe how fast this kid grew up! from the first time i met him when he was 10, till now, he is still a gentle and very kind kid.

Shun on a very thick sandbar left.

great to see Mar Ohno charging backdoor. he pulled in and made this amazing barrel.

and always stoked to see my nephew Micah Moniz making a place in the lineup. the hardest lineup in the world.

Ren Murakami is Shun’s younger brother. he’s still a fresh face on the north shore but starting to make a statement. nice bottom turn kid. keep on charging backdoor and you will get the barrel of your life very soon.

yes, i’m a people watcher and when i see something interesting, i shoot it. this lady has a very good fashion consultant. matching top and shoes.

the north shore draws the most beautiful beach bunnies in the world. you will see beautiful women walking by all day long. full photo gallery up tomorrow.

i was talking to Kinsan on the beach today. we’ve spent years and years traveling together so he knows me very well. when i told him i was thinking about taking a backpacking trip, he recommended hokkaido. the drew me a map and told me where to go. so at that moment, i decided to go to hokkaido!

on the way back to town i passed by the famous japanese temple in china town. so i washed my hands, did the customs, prayed, and wished for health and peace.

super amazing place that’s been here for a very long time.

then i came home, bought my JR rail pass, and started packing.

i did some research on hokkaido. it’s going to take me 10 hours to get there from tokyo. and once i get there, i want to check everything out. i want to go deep, not to tourists spots, i mean so deep that i can’t understand the language. maybe i’ll get buried in snow? maybe i’ll get lost? who cares? but the first thing i want to do is to eat the best hokkaido crab in the world! going to snow country tomorrow morning!
**and if anybody has a recommendation on somewhere super deep in hokkaido, please let me know. mahalos!