Koa Rothman has surfed a lot of amazing waves in his life. Most of the best waves on Earth, I’d wager. The North Shore is his backyard, so he grew up feasting on the Seven Mile Miracle’s miraculous waves. He’s a barrel hound par excellence, and when the North Shore’s not in season, he follows the waves wherever they take him.
He’s been on many a surf trip to many a perfect wave, so when he says a surf trip is the “surf trip of a lifetime,” it’s not a statement to take lightly. And, as I said, he’s a barrel hound with experience at the best barrels in the world, so when he says Cloudbreak is the best barrel in the world… well, that’s saying something. That’s exactly what he said about this particular trip.
Cloudbreak, of course, is a perfect wave. To use an over-used cliché, it’s the wave you doodled in your notebook at school while the teacher droned on about history or fractions. It’s not an easy wave, despite the fact that surfers like Koa make it look as though it is, but when you get it dialed, you’re surfing a wave that will stick in your brain for the rest of your life.
On a recent trip to Tavarua, Koa and his friends, including Billy Kemper and Matt Meola, scored far harder than even they expected. As Koa said when he saw the waves on this particular day, “It’s like a video game. This is as good as it gets!”
