Keeping Up with the Hayeses, and the Joneses

Like it's a little more attainable than it was to you?
Conan: Probably. Shane [Dorian] and I didn't have a bunch of pro surfers all over the place when we grew up on the Big Island. You have to hold onto those dreams and keep them. It was more like growing up in Florida. When those guys get waves, they freak out. Because the other islands block the Big Island, when we do get good waves, it's on. A couple days in Tahiti this year, Shane and I surfed nine hours straight. I saw people go in, come back out and go in again while we were out there. I get super excited if the waves are good cause I wasn't always around that.

Mikala, what was it like growing up at Rocky Point, in the scene?
Mikala Jones: We didn't move up to the North Shore until I was 12 or 13, but prior to that we all stayed at the Parker's house on the North Shore. When we finally moved up here, we knew a couple pro surfers, but we were never in the scene because that's down the beach more toward Pipe. Being on the North Shore, we've been privileged to witness it all and be so close to the ocean. When I started going on tour and traveling, I realized the waves aren't as good as Hawaii. I travel five months out of the year, and when I come home I don't go anywhere. It's over.

With an Op Pro Junior victory and numerous other titles, you were really successful as an amateur in contests, but you don't really compete all that much anymore. Why is that?
Mikala: Last year I stopped doing the WQS and went to find perfection. To me, traveling every week and going to new places is more fun than two-foot lapping shorebreak. I still have a desire to do the WQS. Maybe I'll do a little bit this year and full-on next year. It was just nice to take that year off to clear my mind about contests.

Has that been a good decision so far?
Mikala: Definitely. There are so many places in Indonesia I haven't surfed yet and want to go. There are thousands of islands. So much to explore, so little time.

Daniel, how strong is your desire to compete?
Daniel: I don't think it is as strong as it needs to be...I gotta work on that. It seems like you have to dedicate the next eight years of your life if you want to qualify. I just want to go on a few more trips, and then hopefully I'll be ready.

Do you learn a lot from all these old people?
Daniel: Of course. In the contest at Sunset this year, Mikala made the finals of the trials and I caddied for him and got to watch him surf all his heats.

Malia, how do you feel about Conan and Mikala tow surfing the outer reefs together?
Malia: I think it's exciting. To see them grow up and be friends and brothers, it's neat. They're both amazing surfers who know the water really well. And to see them doing it together is comforting. They take care of each other out there. When we went to France we were a little gang. It was fun traveling with them, to show them things but also to realize Mikala is way more responsible than he makes out, and Daniel is actually slower then he usually is.

What do you mean slower?
Malia: We call him the sloth. He sleeps and surfs and that's it. He will surf for hours and hours, but waking him up or getting him in the car is so slow. That's when the brothers and sister come out of us, yelling and dragging him out. It's funny, even Conan gets into it.

What was that trip like, Daniel?
Daniel: It wasn't the best year for waves, but we went to Morocco and that was really fun. I got to see Paris with Malia. She and Conan have a little place over there and they both speak French so we were basically living there, doing contests and traveling around.

You guys speak French?
Malia: We speak better French when we're there. It totally goes away in Hawaii. In Hawaii we can barely speak English. We go to the Big Island and we start talking pidgin.

Did you learn French from immersion or was it something you studied?
Malia: When you're there and you need things, you're forced to speak it. I like it and want to get good at it, but it seems like one of those life-long languages that you just keep getting deeper and deeper into. Hopefully one day I will be fluent, but I can get by.
Conan: I love other languages. I wanna learn for the rest of my life. And this part of my life, I won't ever get back to it. I see all these tour guys getting jaded on traveling and think, "You guys don't even know how good you have it." There are guys who sit in an office eight, 10, 12, 15 hours a day staring at a computer. Think about that, and then I wanna hear professional surfers complain when there's a small day at J-Bay. It's like, "Oh, you gotta go to an animal park or go on safari?" Come on! We don't feel sorry for you. I have no sympathy for these guys if they want to complain about their lives. They have no idea.

Do you feel like you get a taste of office life through RVCA?
Conan: Pat is one of the hardest workers I have ever met. Working with him really makes me understand the realities of this world, cause we're so fortunate. Every single one of us who can lead this life needs to appreciate it and realize it's not forever. I want it to be but I'm not going to bust airs when I'm 50.
Daniel: When Conan works, he works really hard. Like when the surf's good he'll stay out all day, and then he'll get on a plane and go to California for work.