John John Florence, Cloudbreak bladerunner, Fiji

After John John Florence copped a last minute report about a swell hitting Fiji, he did a milk run of flights via Samoa to lock down five days in the tropics before heading to Cali for the Hurley Pro at Trestles. While your instincts may be that Cloudbreak seems an odd practice wave for the skatepark that is Lowers, John says that even though the waves couldn’t be any more different, “as long as you’re surfing before events, it doesn’t matter at all.”

John’s been busy this year, diving into myriad surf trips between world tour events. He spent over two weeks in South Africa, chasing a monster spot called Dungeons. He even forfeited a chance to surf that left in Namibia to get it, borrowing a 9’6″ and donning rubber.

Topics currently lighting up John’s mind and conversation include but ain’t limited to: Excitement about Lowers and having Dane in the event, and the belief that Dane will probably make the final, and waves already starting to show up on the North Shore (Rockpiles was five feet yesterday and this week the north shore is looking like starting to come to life again)…

And, spending time in the water. Yesterday John logged six hours straight at Cloudbreak, surfing five to six foot waves on a 5’10 which really is starting to feel like the norm, the best surfers in the world riding solid waves with boards that certainly seem too small. He says that you learn more of the nuances of surfing by spending time in the water. He says that the best training for surfing is surfing. He says that he can’t believe Kelly doesn’t try that hard in sessions out of singlet in fear of injury, but also reasons “but it seems to have worked pretty well for him so far.” That is has.

John’s team consists of bro Nathan, Koa Smith and Eli Olson. While the wind ain’t yet ideal, the crew are waiting for what could well be a very good coupla days. Then: Going back to Cali…