Ivah Wilmot And Parker Coffin Share The Secrets Of Jamaica

Do you remember Greg Browning’s Drive Thru series?

Of course you do.

Greg, who was himself a talented pro surfer from the LA-area, assembled a crew of eclectic surf personalities and flew them somewhere around the the world, from which point they would spend 14 days traveling together by van.

Drive Thru went to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Americas, and within the Americas, the Caribbean, on which trip they visited the small island nation of Jamaica. After meeting Jamaica’s iconic surf guru, Billy Mystic, the crew (consisting of Yadin Nicol, Pat O’Connell, Donavon Frankenreiter, Kalani Robb, and Benji Weatherly) visited several fun-looking waves and seemed genuinely at peace in the Ganja nation.

Now more than 10 years later, a new crew of surfers (Parker Coffin, Nate Zoller, and LJ O’Leary) have returned to Jamaica to be led by none other than Billy Mystic’s son, the well-surfing Ivah Wilmot. 

Over the course of several sessions (at some of the same waves surfed in Drive Thru), Ivah divulges some profound thoughts about his home nation. For instance:

“The Jamaican surf culture and the Jamaican scene are very similar in the way that it’s almost not touched by the world much. It’s still in it’s rawest, most pure form.” 

“In Jamaica if you don’t have a talent or a hustle like something you can do forreal, like with your hands or a skill set, life will be hard for you.”

“Jamaica is a third world country, and we don’t have much in the way of materials and money, but your respect and reputation – that carries you so far in Jamaica. It’s more valuable than money.”