We Tested The GoPro Hero9 In Hurricane Tubes

I’ve been an on-and-off GoPro user for a while now. 

At first, I was really into it. Being able to catalog my pocket rides was as novel as it was addictive, so whenever the surf got even remotely hollow, I was that guy: stance on poo-man, giant orange chindo strapped and ready for action. 

But it wasn’t always about self-serving pursuits. I also went out of my way to film my friends, many of whom had never received a proper pass-by shot of themselves. The GoPro made amateur water photography possible for any idiot with a pair of lungs and time to spare.

Then I moved to Costa Rica, where unlike California, you can get barreled almost every day. The novelty wore off. Excluding a few very special sessions at spots that shan’t be named, I hardly used the thing. Call me spoiled, but it’s really just the human condition. Ask the guy who lives next to an ice cream shop how often he eats the stuff. (Hint: not that often.)

Then I moved back to the US east coast, which delivered a quick dose of reality (and cheesesteaks, yum). I’m now lucky to get in a couple surfs a week, the majority of which are meager at best.

We did, however, have a noteworthy run of surf this September. Two significantly-hyped hurricanes followed by an understated (but in my opinion, far superior) wind swell. And serendipitously, the GoPro Hero9 landed in my mailbox just a few days prior to their arrival. The combination of a new shiny (actually it’s matte) toy in-hand and having gained a recent re-appreciation for tubes led to what you see above: my embarrassing attempt at a GoPro9 review, which is really just another unnecessary surf vlog.

Make all the jokes you want about me, but the camera is pretty damn good and shockingly easy to use. If you can take some minor abuse for your friends, the benefits of tube-replay greatly outweigh the minuses. 

Get your Hero9 here.