When Joel Parkinson retired from professional surfing, fans of watching him surf competitively were disappointed. He was a staple of it for two decades, after all, hanging around in the title conversation for years before finally nabbing one in 2012, beating Kelly Slater in the process.
His first year on tour was 2002, and he didn’t take a break until he announced his retirement in 2018 at J-Bay — fitting, considering the fact that his first wildcard appearance occurred there in 1999 — but since he called it quits, he hasn’t quit surfing. No one thought he would, really, but he, by his own admission, lost the burning competitive fire it takes to win. Now, all he wants to do is surf… and that’s what he’s doing.
So when he headed to the Mentawai Islands for a surf trip that was just a surf trip and not something where judges were staring at him being judgy, he was bound to enjoy himself. Hard not to in a place like that, but he says this particular trip was the best surf trip of his life. And that’s saying a lot for a guy who’s spent his life on surf trips.
A good surf trip requires a pile of good friends, so Parko wasn’t alone. Creed McTaggart, Eithan Osborne, Jai Glindeman, Kian Martin, and Dakoda Walters were along for the ride, and what a ride it was.
