Born and raised on Maui, Imaikalani deVault spent his childhood at the beach, surfing and dreaming of someday qualifying for the Championship Tour. In 2022, deVault’s dreams came to fruition and he joined the CT for his rookie season. Although deVault had an exciting run, including defeating 11x world champ Kelly Slater in a head-to-head match up at Bells, he fell short of the mid-season cutline. Here, deVault shares why Maui was an ideal place to grow up as a surfer, what it was like falling off the tour, and his plans to try and qualify once again.
Why was Maui such an ideal place to grow up as a surfer?
I couldn’t really imagine a better place. Naturally, I gravitated to surfing just because we were a beach-going family, my parents along with my three sisters. We all would spend the entire weekend at either Launiupoko Beach or Puamana over in Lahaina. My sisters and I would spend six to eight hours in the water surfing basically every Saturday and Sunday, and we would try to go after school whenever we could.
When did you first start competing?
I still remember my first contest and heat so vividly to this day. My first event ever was at The Cove, over on the south side in Kihei. It was just the local longboard kids event all ages and I was five. I was a very shy kid and the concept of surfing a contest in front of a lot of people terrified me. I didn’t want to do it at all. Luckily, my dad talked me into it by promising me we would go buy my first real custom board if I entered and just tried. So, I did.
I remember getting fourth in my first heat so I didn’t make it, but we left the beach and immediately went to the surf shop in Kahului and I picked my first real board. The experience left me pretty stoked, so soon after I was excited for the next chance I got to do any contests.
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What were some of your top accomplishments in your junior career?
As a junior I never did crack a big win in any of the national events nor in any of the pro juniors. However, my highlights as a junior were a few finals at the Pipe Pro Jr. and the Queens Pro Jr., along with making the final at the ISA World Junior Champs in Ecuador. My amateur events as well are similar: I have a lot of second place trophies from NSSA Nationals and the U.S. Champs, maybe six. A big win still eludes me, even today on the QS and CT.
What was it like taking out Kelly Slater at Bells during your rookie season?
That was the highlight of my CT debut. Drawing Kelly at Bells in round three, when I had to win to try to make the mid-season cut, I was feeling all of those nerves. I guess the way that I beat him was the most exciting just for the fact that I needed a huge score in the dying minutes, I think around an eight.
I remember getting the wave and surfing it pretty well, but in my mind I couldn’t tell if it was enough. Hearing that I got the score was one of the only times I can remember letting out screams in the water. The adrenaline was just flowing and I kind of blacked out honestly. It’s funny too because one of my main goals growing up was to qualify while Kelly was still on tour, so it was a childhood dream come true.
What was it like achieving your dream and then falling off after the mid-year cut?
It was crazy, a lot of emotions in a very short span of time. In December, I was celebrating and feeling on top of the world. I just achieved my childhood dream that I’d worked for my entire life and by May I was off tour back on the QS questioning if I even deserved to be there. I guess the good thing was that the Challenger Series started right up just a few days after falling off the tour, so it didn’t give me much time to dwell on it. The focus just went right back to re-qualifying.
How has the CS been going this year?
After falling off tour last year, then coming close to re-qualifying but falling five spots short, I was left pretty shocked and kind of questioning my surfing. I just lost a lot of confidence I think. However, we had a solid break before this year’s Challenger Series started up, so I had time to really work on a lot of my mental and physical strengths/weaknesses. So far, this year has been the best start of my career along with my best ever result. I started the year with a final appearance (second place) in Australia at Snapper Rocks, so I was in a solid position at the start of the year. I just need to finish strong and I’ll be cack on the CT in 2024.
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Do you have a favorite stop on the CT and the CS?
I’d have to say Pipe and Bells on the CT, Snapper and Portugal on the CS.
What would you say your greatest strengths and weaknesses are as a competitive surfer?
I’d say my strength would be that I don’t hold back when I surf in a heat. I’ll still push as hard on turns or in the air as I would in a free surf. I guess that could also be a weakness, like going too big early in the heat and falling. That was something I really had to work on, and I feel I’ve improved. Also, I think a weakness up to two years ago was more on the mental strength required for surfing heats. But I’ve definitely improved on that a lot. I feel this year is my strongest I’ve been when it comes to mental heat IQ as well as confidence.
Do you have a crew that you usually surf and train with?
I surf a lot with my friends when I am home. There’s a great group of us out of Maui right now all competing, so we push each other a lot. Ian Gentil, who’s currently on the CT, Cody Young, as well as the upcoming talent a few years younger like Jackson Bunch. Most of us are out at Hookipa everyday when we’re home.
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What are your long-term surfing goals?
Long term, my goals would be to have a solid run of years on the CT, fighting for world titles and winning events. My goal is to inspire kids from Hawaii just as my heroes growing up did for me.
What would you be doing career-wise if you weren’t a surfer?
I’ve thought about that a bit the last few years and I honestly can’t say for sure. I could imagine myself on Maui though with a job still relating to being around the ocean. Maybe surf lessons or working on the boats.
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