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John John Florence.
Credit: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- John John Florence caught up with PEOPLE amid his two-year hiatus from the World Surf League Championship Tour
- The four-time world championship surfer opened up about his off-grid excursion with his wife and young son, setting sail on a near year-long adventure at sea
- He chronicled his travels and surf exploration in his new six-episode series, Vela
John John Florence is going with the flow.
The three-time world champion surfer, 33, caught up with PEOPLE about his decision to leave the World Surf League (WSL) tour to sail around the world with his wife and newborn son nearly two years ago, while opening up about his future competition plans — with the 2028 Olympics on the horizon.
After winning his third WSL Championship Tour in September 2024, Florence — who's arguably one of the best, if not the best, surfers in the world — opted to forgot competition to spend more time with his wife, Lauryn Cribb, and their first child, Darwin, who was born in May 2024.
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John John Florence surfs.
Credit: Parallel Sea/Erik Knutson
The Hawaii native has a connection to nature given his upbringing, born on O'ahu's scenic North Shore and raised by the waves. Sailing is a passion of Florence outside of surfing, and the reason for his nearly year-long, global excursion with his wife, brothers and now nearly 2-year-old son.
Florence documented their off-grid travels in Vela, a new six-episode series named after his high-performance sailing catamaran. The project is inspired by the Jacques Cousteau travel documentaries of the 1970s mixed with the surfer's innate drive to push his knowledge of the ocean to its limits.
"It's just always something that I've wanted to do, but never had the time to do it," Florence tells PEOPLE exclusively of why now was the perfect time to create this series. "The competitive schedule is so busy," he adds, noting that his third title win and having his son was the push he needed.
"Competing is hard because you're so focused into what you're doing and making yourself better. It's just kind of selfish in a funny way," he says of wanting to "spend the time" with his son instead. "It's hard to include other people or have the space for other people in your life while you're trying to win."
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John John Florence sets sail around the world with his wife and son, documenting his near year-long excursion in a new series titled, "Vela."
Credit: Parallel Sea/Erik Knutson
Focusing on his family, Florence — who was also joined by his brothers, Nathan and Ivan — set sail for almost the entirety of 2025, exploring remote corners of the ocean as they searched for new waves and different ways of living.
"Our stint was March through November essentially on the boat, and we went from New Zealand to Fiji to Banaba to Australia. It was a most-of-the-year thing," he shares. "Now, we're doing a pretty similar section of the year, like March through November."
Florence, who called into the Zoom interview from his boat somewhere in the Caribbean, withdrew from the 2026 WSL Championship Tour season after enjoying his hiatus the year prior. Meanwhile, he found that navigating the open seas and first-time fatherhood was surprisingly similar to competing on the tour.
"Every day we're together in whatever we're doing, so I feel like that was a big reason why this felt so good — it was still a really big challenge and a lot of learning and everything that I loved about competition, but then I'm able to do it with my family," he explains.
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John John Florence waves to his wife and son as he paddles out for a surf.
Credit: Parallel Sea/Erik Knutson
The world champion surfer is no stranger to danger, as someone who charges some of the biggest and most death-defying waves on the planet. Navigating uncharted waters, however, added its own set of challenges, all documented in the series.
"Our trip up from New Zealand to Fiji was just way harder than I thought it was going to be," he recalls, noting that his wife and son weren't on the boat for that crossing. "Through night and day, just getting hit by waves from the side... just terrifying."
He adds, "It's big, it's really big, but you're so far from land. You're like, 600 miles from the closest piece of land, and so you just feel very committed to what you're doing."
The last two years have helped Florence reexamine his relationship with surfing.
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John John Florence sets sail on his catamaran, Vela.
Credit: Parallel Sea/Erik Knutson
"I don't think I fell out of love with surfing. It was more of my focus on surfing had changed so much to competing and everything felt like it was so much about competing," he says.
"It's kind of funny because I ended last year and I was planning to go back on tour and then I was like, 'Damn, that was actually pretty fun. I think I'm going to do it again,' " he continues. "And so that's where I've ended up... I guess just taking it year by year and seeing how each year feels."
Florence adds, "I still feel really young and I still feel like I have a lot of years left to competing, but I'm really enjoying this right now, and so I don't want to ignore that."
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John Jorn Florence surfs the Tahiti Pro in August 2023.
Credit: Matt Dunbar/World Surf League
While the WSL Championship Tour will always be there, there is one looming event that isn't as consistent: the 2028 Summer Games. While a gold medal is enticing, the two-time Olympian is still awaiting that special calling within himself.
"To be honest, I'm not even sure yet," he says of eyeing the Olympic, which will be held in Los Angeles in two years. "I think seeing what ends up happening with our qualifying situation and seeing how that's all going to work out will probably play a big part in it."
"And then at the same time, it's just like, 'Yeah, what do I want to be there for?' I don't think I'll go back to competing unless I really feel like, 'Yes, I know what I want to do with it,' " he says. "Me going back to compete just to compete, it doesn't feel very fulfilling for me."
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John John Florence with his wife and baby amid their near year-long excursion while he takes a break from the WSL Championship Tour.
Credit: Parallel Sea/Erik Knutson
As for whether he misses competing?
"I miss parts of it. There's definitely parts of it that are great, the process and the focus — it's almost easier in a way because you're just focused on one thing and you can shut a lot of things out and say no to a lot of things because of that excuse you have," Florence explains.
"But at the same time, I'm enjoying this place that I'm in where I have so much space and time to really do what I want to do and how I want to do it," he says. "I feel like there's a little more creativity in it."
"I feel like we just have one life and it feels pretty short," adds Florence. "So I want to take advantage of that while I'm young....I want to do it all, but we'll see."
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