Ocean conditions in Hawaii, specifically within surfing’s hallowed ground, the Seven Mile Miracle that is the North Shore of Oahu, can change quickly.
It will be manageable one minute, and the next, you’re practically drowning.
But for North Shore natives – like Koa Rothman and John John Florence – they’re used to this variability. And recently, although the waves haven’t necessarily been ideal in Hawaii, Koa and John paddled out in victory at sea conditions, attempting to find a few diamonds in the rough. And even for these two, the session was a tough one.
“John sent me a photo that looks like it was four feet,” Koa explains before paddling out. “And I get here, and it’s like 10 feet breaking on dry reef. It’s going to turn into a sick session. We waited all day for the swell to come down. It’s going to be fun.”
“Biggest swell of the year!” John adds.
Safe to say, this wasn’t one of those dreamy sessions somewhere between Log Cabins Rocky Point. The boys struggle through this one, rarely finding something makeable amidst the chaos. But they give it a go nonetheless.
Related: North Shore Flash Floods Turn Oahu Lineups Unrecognizable (Video)
As Nathan Florence recently noted, while documenting the extremely rainy month they’ve been having on the North Shore, “this February has probably been the worst February for waves that I’ve ever seen. Super weird winter. Probably what we deserve after last year’s February, which was like 25 or 30 days of nonstop crazy Pipeline. Not only has it been pretty bad conditions, but it’s been a massive rainy season.”
The ocean giveth and taketh.
Meanwhile, as the waves have been pretty mediocre recently on the North Shore, John has been spending time with his young son, Darwin. The two even caught some waves together, as seen from Alex, mama Florence, here. And that’s pretty rad.
Related: John John Florence Withdraws from the 2026 WSL Season