“I Was Thriving in the Cold Water”: Changing Countries Didn’t Mean Shifting Comfort for Surfer Nathan Florence

The Hawaiin pro surfer Nathan Florence and his beautiful wife Mahina Florence took a long surfing trip. During their travel, which lasted an entire summer, they touched nine destinations in search of some awesome waves to ride. Not only did they find these awesome waves, but they also found some amazing people as well. While lugging around all that luggage might have been tough, it seems like they had fun doing it.

Despite Nathan Florence hailing from sunny Hawaii, he went to some places with cold waves, such as Scotland and Ireland. The switch from hot to cold might have been a shocking experience for Florence while surfing. Or was it?

Nathan Florence thrived in the cold waves

In an interview that was conducted by his wife, Mahina Florence, that Nathan Florence posted on his YouTube channel, he revealed that he actually did not mind the cold. He said, “I didn’t mind it at all… I was thriving in the cold water.” This is surprising, coming from someone who is used to warm sunny waters and golden tans. But Nathan Florence had a very logical reason to feel this way.

“Honestly, I was not uncomfortable. I loved it. I sleep better in colder weather. I love being cozy and… And I actually loved all the gear… All the extra excess gear on your body compared to just board shorts in Hawaii. A wetsuit and booties and gloves… the stiffness and all that. Which definitely was restrictive in like, my agility was a little bit restricted,” he said.

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While the gear might have restricted his moment, it provided one very obvious advantage to him. “But, you feel so protected. If you land on a reef on your feet, your feet are fine they are in booties. If you land on your back on the reef, my wetsuit tore and not my skin. Like, we had that happen multiple times. We had that happen at the cave… and these other slabs. You feel like you have a little padding on your body.” And while Florence found that he was able to flourish in the cold weather, that was not the only great thing that happened during the trip.

The Florences made many friends along the way

On their travels, both of them met a lot of new people and experienced some great hospitality. Locals were welcoming and seemed excited to meet them. Nathan Florence said, “That was one of the coolest things about the entire summer of travel… All the new surfers we met… Local crowds that shared information with us, and were just stoked to surf with us.”

Not only did they meet new people, but they also made relationships that would last for a lifetime. “And we made these relations with people that, now, moving on… we can hit them up and be like ‘Hey, what do you think of this?’ or ‘Do you wanna surf together?’. You have friends.” The trip also included meeting up with some famous surfers. The couple also spent a lot of time with the pioneer surfer Tom Lowe while on the trip. Overall, it turned out to be a great vacation for the Florences.

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Which weather, according to you, is better to surf in?