Watch: On The Lava, With Italy’s Next Star

Funny that people remark how, well, remarkable, for a young surf star to rise up out of tranquil Adriatic or Mediterranean waters. 

Well, it really shouldn’t be that surprising. Look at a map. Italy’s a few hour’s and a hundred euro flight away from so many ridiculous coasts—Portugal, Southern Spain, the Basque Country, Ireland, Morocco—all just… right… there. 

And that’s not even mentioning the European Atlantic islands off the coast of Northern Africa and Portugal, where Edoardo Papa, sixteen-year-old Italian heartthrob-in-training, holed up to cut this edit, The Island of the Dogs as it were, craggy volcanic islands with waves breaking over even craggier volcanic reefs.