It’s before dawn here in Tahiti. The morning light has yet to creep its way through the looming, otherworldly lush mountains that bulge right up to coastline, offering a striking backdrop for one of the Seven Wonders of the Surfing World: Teahupo’o.
From across our modest living quarters, I hear Ryan “Chachi” Craig rustling. He’s muttering to himself, slowly transitioning from the world of dreams into the realm of the living, and prepping for what’s poised to be the biggest day of competitive surfing in the Paris 2024 Olympics – and, perhaps, in the history of the sport. But first, something to get the cognitive functions flowing.
“Coffffffeeeeee,” he groans, grinding the beans in our makeshift, in-room caffeination station. “It’s time to wake the f*ck up. Today’s gonna be gnarly out there. I hope nobody dies.”
Before Chachi became a staple in the surf photography scene, primarily for shooting from the water at heavy spots like Pipeline and Teahupo’o, he was born and raised in Santa Cruz, California. In 2014, he won the esteemed Follow the Light Surf Photography Grant, a program designed to assist aspiring lesnmen and women, and honoring the late, great Larry “Flame” Moore. From then on, he was a staff photographer for SURFER Magazine from 2015 to 2020.