The Kauai Pipe charger puts in some quality time on Fiji
Aamion has one of the best jobs in the world. Well, that’s if you even consider working as a Tavarua boatman an actual job. Surfing perfect waves and hanging with island guests every week sounds like a pretty sweet gig to us. But it isn’t all play for Aamion. He also teaches Fijian kids and Tavarua visitors valuable tips and life lessons when it comes to surviving on a remote Pacific island. Ever wondered how to properly crack a coconut, make a hunting spear, catch dangerous finger-snatching coconut crabs or collect a feast with just a single palm fron? Well if so, Aamion is your guy. – Phil Bannan
HURLEY.COM: HEY AAMION. HOW’S FIJI TREATING YOU? GETTING ANY WAVES OVER THERE?
AAMION GOODWIN: I’ve been over here for about three weeks. We just had a few different swells come in. The week of the Hurley trip was probably the best waves we’ve had this whole time. It’s been really fun, but I go home tomorrow.
I HEARD YOU’VE BEEN WORKING AS THE BOAT MAN OVER THERE?
Yeah, I wouldn’t call it too much of work. It’s a lot of play. It’s really fun working as a boatman, it’s a pretty killer set up. It’s nice to come out here once the North Shore dies down in the summer months to get your sanity back. You can enjoy surfing a lot more. In Hawaii you’re always fighting for that next wave, but over here there are plenty to go around.
HOW GOOD DID IT GET THE WEEK THE HURLEY GUYS WERE THERE?
We had a great time. There were a couple of big swells. Both Restaurants and Cloudbreak got really good. Everyone was surfed out by the end of the week. It’s fun when you can get good Restaurants because it doesn’t happen very often.
WOULD YOU TAKE PERFECT RESTAURANTS OVER PERFECT CLOUDBREAK?
I don’t know about that. I think I would rather have perfect Cloudbreak. It’s a hard one, but one wave at perfect Cloudbreak will dwarf your waves at Restaurants. Sometimes you go out to big Cloudbreak and you don’t even get a wave, you just get pounded the whole time. But it’s definitely worth waiting for that one good one. That’s not to take anything away from Restaurants. If there’s a slight onshore wind at Cloudbreak, I’ll be at Restaurants for sure.
ANY PLANS FOR AFTER FIJI?
Yeah. I’m going back home to Kauai to regroup and then I might be going to Japan with my family. There’s a documentary on our family in the works, and the people filming it wanted to go over to Japan to do some shooting over there.
THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT WILL BE FUN. WHAT’S THE DOCUMENTARY ABOUT? IS IT SURF RELATED?
It’s surf and family related. It’s about eating healthy and stuff like that. We’re trying to combine surfing with healthy living in the way we’re raising our son. He just turned two in April. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me…times a thousand (laughs). It’s super fun. They change so much at that age. I’m excited to get back home and see him tomorrow. Hopefully it will work out, and I can bring the family over here to Fiji next year.
RIGHT ON. THAT SOUNDS AWESOME. WELL HAVE A SAFE TRIP BACK.
Thanks. Have a good one.
Not a bad place to wake up and go to work
Aamion putting speed to good use
Pre-Fijian feast
