First Major Surf Trip
Costa Rica
This was the first major surf trip I did and the first one where I felt comfortable truly surfing. I had my first real shortboard. I actually had Brett Simpson, Mick Fanning, and Chris Ward sign the nose of my board. It was a 5’0” swallowtail quad that I got from South Coast Surf Shop in San Diego, and I was hooked. It was so electric and felt like a professional. It was the first board I could truly duck dive on. This is definitely when I went from being a beginner surfer to being someone who “surfed.” It’s the first board I truly competed on. A bunch of firsts for me on this trip. Also, it cut my head open surfing, which was less fun for my mom, who watched me come in with blood on my face. At the time, I thought it was the coolest thing ever to be surfing in a way that I thought was “good.”