“I had priority so I just had to be in the perfect spot for it, and I was. It was such a good wave. I was able to really dig into my cutback, hit the lip and also get a big finishing end turn.”
Kaia Howard, June 2025
That’s what Kaia told me about the wave she got a 9.77 on in the Finals of the recent Board Riders competition. Her score helped to clinch the National Championship for the Club and got her the title of MVP. Kaia is 16 years old and attends Coastal Academy High School. She has spent the past 8 years perfecting her craft at her favorite local breaks in North County, San Diego and beyond.
Competing in surfing competitions is nothing new to Kaia. She surfs in USA Prime as a member of the US Junior National Team and has done many regional WSL QS events, placing 5th in the Super Girl Surf Pro. Additionally, she has won both regional and National NSSA titles. Surf competitions have taken Kaia across the globe as far as Japan when she competed in the prestigious Stab High competition. When the surf is up she will typically spend 3 hours a day surfing. When she’s not riding the waves she enjoys training in the art of Muay Thai Kickboxing. That’s something you may want to keep in mind the next time you think about dropping in on her.
One measure of a person’s character is how willing they are to freely share their talents to help train and inspire others. Here is another area of the sport where Kaia excels. For the last two years she has served as a coach for the young girls in the Board Riders’ Wahine Surfing Clinic. Regarding her time in the clinic Kaia said, “It is really cool to see all the young girls just frothing and wanting to go out there and surf.” Finally Kaia told me that surfing is more than a hobby for her. Competing as a Pro is her dream job. If you ask me, she is building a solid foundation from which to follow that dream.
Written by Nicholas Paoni
