Girls Who Surf™ highlights rad female surfers all over the world – exploring their passion for surfing and what it means to them. Meet Heimiti Fierro, a surfer based in French Polynesia, Tahiti & listen to her story here.
Hello, my name is Heimiti and I’m a Girl Who Surfs.
Where are you from and how long have you been surfing?
I’m from French Polynesia, Tahiti and I’ve been surfing since I was the age of four and I’m 18 now. So it’s been 14 years.
Why do you surf and what does it mean you?
I surf because of how good surfing just makes me feel in general. It’s my happy place. It’s where I feel the happiest being in the ocean with my family and sharing waves. That’s why surfing just means a lot to me because it’s a family thing. It’s a passion that we all get to share together.
Describe your hometown and what it is like being a surfer there.
So, my hometown is very small. Everyone just knows each other. Something that’s very special as well is the fact that we are surrounded by a lot of nature like trees, rivers, mountains. So we grew up in nature as our playground, which I think is something that we were very lucky to have.
It’s, I think the best thing ever being a surfer here because we have so much diversity in the types of waves in Tahiti and its islands, they can have reef breaks to beach breaks, to river mouths and it’s something that I think we are very lucky to have as well.
What is your favorite local surf spot and why?
So, my favorite local surf spot is on another island of French Polynesia. It’s actually an atoll.
It’s a right reef break that just sweeps around a motu, which is a small island that is still part of the atoll. What’s very special about that surf spot is that it’s kind of a mission to go surf it. You kind of have to camp on that little motu because it’s very far from the main island and it’s so different. We, it kind of brings you out of your comfort zone and it’s just such a fun surf trip to do.
What do you love about your local female surf community?
What I love about the female surf community here is that we just keep going together. We keep getting better at surfing. The younger generation is getting so strong. Now, I remember we used to be maybe 3 to 4 girls that surfed and for the past couple of years, now there are more little girls and also there are more women that didn’t used to surf that surf now. And I think it’s just something that we are very passionate about.
Watch Heimiti’s full episode below!
