For whatever reason, surfing took some time to catch on in Jamaica. According to Ivah Wilmot, though, in the last fifteen years, the sport has blossomed in earnest with a focus on doing things “for real,” including contests.
Recently, the Roark team paid the island nation a little visit to experience what Wilmot calls Jamaica’s raw if not insular culture.
“We’re almost sheltered from the world,” says Wilmot. “So we came up with a lot of things on our own, you know, like music styles, art styles, how we dress even. So the Jamaican surf culture and the Jamaican scene is similar to that. It’s almost not touched by the world too much. It’s still in its rawest, most pure form.”
Take a vicarious trip to paradise by clicking the little triangle above.
