Our surf instructors



Emilia:  

I was born and raised in Western Australia where I competed as a professional bodyboarder. Most people don't realize that the ocean waters off the coast of Western Australia are as equally treacherous and formidable as the ocean waters off the coast of the Hawaiian Islands. This is where my foundation began. When I was 18 years old, I came to Hawaii for a competition and met Tamayo while bodyboarding out at Pipeline. A few years later, I picked up a surfboard, we got married and there was no turning back. As Tamayo fined tuned my skills, I became good enough to land a paid contract deal with one of the major brands in surf clothing. Ever since, I’ve been competing at Pipeline in any and every contest that has a women’s division available; whether it’s surfing, longboarding, bodyboarding or bodysurfing. The vast amounts of ocean knowledge that Tamayo has ingrained in me over the years is priceless. The knowledge and wisdom I have gained over the years has given me a tremendous amount of confidence in any body of water any where in the world. This knowledge has also helped me a great deal in competition, allowing me to place in the semi-finals of every surfing discipline. Whilst being a professional surfer, I have also had the privlage of working as a stuntwomen in such feature films as 'Battleship', 'Soul Surfer', the t.v. series 'Lost' and most recently 'Hawaii Five-0'.

Tamayo: 

I was born and raised here on O'ahu in a small country town just east of the North Shore. I’ve been surfing professionally for over 15 years and surfing the world's deadliest wave is what I got paid for (Pipeline). In 1999, I was launched on to the world stage when winning the prestigious Pipeline Master trials. This allowed me a spot in the main event where I was able to upset the #1 World Title Contender, show casing my skills in some of the biggest, rawest wave conditions the Pipe Masters competition has ever seen. Now proving that this small time island boy can bang it out with the worlds best, a Teahupoo, Tahiti Trials invitation soon followed. This was my introduction to the world's second most infamous wave (Teahupoo). Talk about being thrown into the frying pan...on a scale of 1 to 10 it was HUGE and the waves demanded 110% focus, commitment and respect. Being the waterman I strive to be, I keenly observed a solution that allowed me to tackle these waves of such imense magnitude and make it to the finals of yet another event. I had the late, great Andy Irons, the then 6 time World Champion Kelly Slater, Vetea David (the Tahitian king of Teahupoo), and myself, in what the industry marketed as a Super Final. I fought hard and proud but lost on name sake alone. As a devoted waterman, I’ve gained a tremendous amount of knowledge, not only from what I’ve accomplished, but also from what I’ve suffered. A number of years ago while surfing Pipeline on the Extra Large size, I was involved in a freak accident that turned into a near-fatal experience. The incident happened all because of someone elses lack of awareness. The lessons I’ve taken from that event have inspired me to my goal of instilling proper surf etiquette and safety into those whom I teach.

Besides surfing, another huge passion of mine is acting. I can be seen on movies such as Charlie’s Angels 2, Blue Crush, and Pirates of the Caribbean 4, as well as on the hit T.V. shows Lost and Hawaii Five-0. I have also landed national/international add campaigns for Nissan Xterra -which aired during the NFL playoffs and Winter Olympics, and appeared in a Coke-a- Cola Commercial. When I’m not acting, I’m still quite a character, so there’s always a ton of fun to be had.

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