South Shore Legend Carissa Moore Announces Retirement from Competition
Carissa Moore has been one of the most competitively dominant female surfers of all time, and is arguably the greatest surfer of her generation.
Ever since she was a young grom ripping her home breaks of Ala Moana, we South Shore surfers have known that she was going to become a superstar—and she did a lot more than that.
After winning multiple national championships, Carissa joined the World Tour, where she absolutely dominated.
She won five world titles, 28 World Tour events, 3 Triple Crowns, and the first Olympic gold medal in surfing. She also finished runner-up for the title numerous times, won Rookie of the Year her first season on tour, and was the youngest ever winner of the Triple Crown (at 16) and world tile (at 18). Amazingly, she accomplished all of this in less than 15 years.
Carissa has been riding Mayhem boards from …Lost and Matt Biolos for years, proving how good they are with each dominant win. Her trusty 5'11" CM-Pro model provides consistency and reliability, allowing her to do whatever she wants on the wave face. Carissa has also used the Driver 2.0 to great success. In fact, we have sold a few of her used …Lost boards here at Hawaiian South Shore! While Carissa’s immense talent meant that she was always destined for greatness, the quality boards she has had under her feet over the years have certainly helped.
Carissa Moore is still arguably the most accomplished competitor on tour. The past two years, she dominated the regular season, ending the year thousands of points ahead of the second-seeded surfer.
In years past, this would have won her two extra world championships (including one over Steph Gilmore, which means Carissa would currently be tied with Steph and Layne Beachely for most world titles).
However, the WSL’s new format where the world title is decided on one day at Lower Trestles has seen Carissa lose out to lower-seeded surfers in the final heat of the year the past two years. Despite this fact, there is no one on tour who is more feared. At the same time, however, there is also no one who is more loved.
As fearsome as Carissa is as a competitor, she’s incredibly sweet and considerate as an individual. Her reputation for kindness and humility is universal, which is why everyone was so sad to hear that Carissa will be retiring from competition after the Lexus Pipe Pro this week.
After 13 years of world tour competition (and another five+ years of amateur contest surfing), Carissa is ready to start a mother and pursue the journey of motherhood. Pipe will be her last contest as a world tour surfer, although she will return to the jersey this summer when she defends her gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games at Teahupoo.
Carissa hasn’t ruled out the prospect of returning to competition in the future—and like Kelly Slater, who has retired numerous times in his career, there’s no doubt that she will receive a wild card into any event she wants to surf—but for now her focus is on her ohana. Here at Hawaiian South Shore, we can appreciate that. Our family—at home and here at the shop—are our reason for existence. We love and appreciate all of you, just as we love and appreciate Carissa.
Let’s all take a moment to celebrate the career of this incredible surfer and human, who has made the South Shore proud over and over again—and who will continue to do so, regardless of what she chooses to do with the rest of her life.
As a tribute to Carissa and the incredible impact she has had on surfing, we invite you all to comment below, sharing your congratulations, appreciation, or personal experiences with Town’s favorite surfer girl.
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