Bourez is one of the most beloved Championship Tour surfers ever. Photo: Red Bull
There’s a new guard in Tahitian surfing. Vahine Fierro, Kauli Vaast, Tya Zebrowski, and Matahi Drollet lead the charge, covering every major base: male and female pro surfing, the Olympics, and freesurfing. And with Vaast’s gold-medal performance in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, we are perhaps a world-title away from the coming of a Tahitian Storm, née Brazil (though that front is still a derecho).
To understand where the movement came from, we look back at one of Tahiti’s most successful professional surfers: Michel Bourez. I had a chat with Michel on his surfing life, and what the future of surfing looks like for Tahiti’s finest.
Born and raised in Tahiti, it comes as no surprise that Michel loves big barreling breaks. “I’ve been surfing reef breaks my whole life, surfing all kinds of conditions,” says Bourez. “Especially Teahupo’o — there are a lot of waves that get super fun at all sizes, and most of them are lefts. There are so many great waves around, not only Teahupo’o, but other waves where I surf by myself as well.”
It was there, on those powerful reefs, that Bourez learned to surf heavy waves. It’s where his power comes from too. Heavy carves and a fearless brand of surfing earned him the moniker, “The Spartan.” Well, that and a few other stories. Bourez survived a harrowing encounter with a hammerhead shark while foiling, and also won the 2025 Four Seasons Maldives surf comp with a banged up hamstring.
Teahupo’o is the kind of wave that can turn a boy into a man. And it didn’t take long for Bourez to make the jump into professional surfing’s biggest stage.
“Life on the (WSL) tour is so much different than what people expect. It’s super mellow actually,” says Bourez. “There’s so much pressure that you put on yourself, and then you become calm. It’s a weird feeling. When you’re on the QS or the Challenger Series, you’re pretty much in a jungle. Everyone wants to win. When you get to the tour, it becomes more quiet, more mellow, more difficult at the same time, and there’s more pressure as well.”
In short, the highest level of surfing was the good life. Sure, in order to stay at the top of the mountain you have to be ready and focused, but surfing against the best in the world is what brings out the best in people. “I loved surfing with Mick Fanning. He always brought the best out of me, and I feel like he represented surfing so well when he was on tour — and still does now.” A part of that good life was also access to the best waves in the world. His favorite spot? Fiji.
“The vibe over there is the best. Tavarua and Namotu are like nothing you’ve ever seen before. The locals are so welcoming, and it’s great to have everyone stay in the same spot and just enjoy the sun, the tropical mood, and the island vibe. It reminds me of home so much, and the waves are so good. Fiji, Tavarua, Cloudbreak — I love going back there, especially if it gets big.”
The Spartan, fully kegged during the Surfing Champions Trophy. Photo: SCT
Big surf helped define Michel’s career, and when he won the Pipe Masters in 2016, he etched his name among the greats. “We had Backdoor, and we were surfing Backdoor most of the time. I remember surfing the quarterfinal against John John, and I told myself, ‘If I beat John John, I’m going to win the event.’” Bourez stayed at the Coffin’s house, right in front of Backdoor. He studied the surf every day, which gave him an edge. “Hawaii gave me so much in my career, and I know I wouldn’t be here if the waves and the contests weren’t there. I love Haleiwa, I love Sunset, I love Pipe, so I’m grateful to have been able to surf the Triple Crown my whole life.”
He followed up that career high with another, representing France in the 2020 Olympics, surfing’s debut. “It was such a big opportunity, and I’m grateful to have been part of it, especially the first event. I was getting thousands of messages from people all over the world. I didn’t know we could reach that amount of people who don’t even know surfing, but they were cheering for us because we were representing France. To me, that gave me so much strength during the event. I feel like if surfing on tour was like that, surfers’ lives would be different for sure.”
When asked about the future of surfing for Tahiti, Bourez sees nothing but success. “It’s good to see all the young surfers making the tour. I’m so proud of them, it makes me want to watch the tour again. I kind of stopped watching the tour, and now I’m always excited to watch and hope for the best for them — to make the final, to win their first event.” There are a lot of young Tahitian surfers coming through, he says. “I love all the kids here under 14. They’ve really stepped up their game, all charging Teahupo’o. To me, the best upcoming kid will be Liam Sham Koua. He’s maybe only 12 or 13 years old, but he surfs really good. I love watching him surf, and I hope he’s going to show the other kids how to get on tour, so everyone will try to keep up, connect, and make the tour with him.”
