Koa Smith

There are many ways you might know Koa Smith. Hardcore surf fans may have followed his surfing career from his successful junior competitive days. The Kauaian was a three-time National Scholastic Surfing Association National Champion and seen as a future CT star. Whilst an elite-level career beckoned, Smith instead chose the life of a professional “freesurfer” and has been paid to travel the world and surf the dreamiest waves he could find.

His performances at some of the world’s heaviest waves like Pipeline and Jaws in Hawaii and Tahiti’s Teahupo’o have made him one of the most well-known, well-liked, and well-respected surfers in the world.

Others may have first come across Koa after he posted Go Pro footage of an incredible 30-second long tuberide at Skeleton Bay in Namibia in 2014. It won Best Barrel at the 2014 Surfer Poll and also the inaugural GoPro of the World contest. It still has a good claim to the best barrel ever recorded.