Get to know Coco Ho

Professional surfing is in Coco Ho’s blood, but Coco says her family never pushed her into competing. Surfing has always been a choice, which is probably why Coco continues to love surfing and competing.

It’s no exaggeration to say Coco comes from one of the most prestigious surfing families ever. Coco first took to the water to impress her brother Mason, a pro surfer. Her father Michael has won the Hawaiian Triple Crown, the Duke Classic, the World Cup and in 1982 won the Pipemasters, with his broken wrist in a cast. He also finished in the ASP top 16 for 10 consecutive years. Oh, and her uncle is World Champion Derek Ho.

Enough about her surfing celebrity family, I’m writing to shout about Coco Ho.

Here are Coco’s vital statistics:
• Born April 28 1991 in Honolulu, Hawaii (now 22)
• Learned to surf when she was 7
• Sponsored at age 8
• 2007 triple crown rookie of the year
• Qualified for ASP World Tour at 17
• 2009 rookie of the year
• 2011 1st Place on WQS
• Repeatedly voted a top three fan favourite in Surfer magazine’s Surfer Poll
• Appeared in the movie Blue Crush
• 2014 featured naked in ESPN’s Body Issue

Getting personal

Coco has a distinctively loud laugh and says the best feeling is ‘clear water barrels in bikinis with friends’. Her favourite book is Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult and her favourite live concert was Beyonce at the Staple Center. Her style guru is Beyonce.

In fact, I think it’s safe to say that Coco loves Beyonce. When asked ‘what’s the most daring thing she wants to do’, her answer wasn’t ‘surf naked at Teahupoo’ but ‘perform with Beyonce!’

Since a young age, Coco has been an inspirational quote collector and shares her favourite words of wisdom with the world on her website.

A social girl

Coco loves to hangout with friends, workout with friends and make music videos with friends. Fortunately Coco is by all accounts a lovely person and a friend magnet, so she’s never short of someone to enjoy life with.

Coco also knows how to party, for her 21st birthday Coco had a blowout in LA that included strippers, dwarves and glow in the dark cocktails. Of course she partied with friends including surfers Laura Enever, Kelia Moniz, Nage Melamed and Bruna Schmitz, along with snowboarders Mark McMorris and Louie Vito.

I think it’s safe to say that Mark McMorris is Coco’s boyfriend.

Like many of the most popular professional surfers, Coco Ho uses social media to reach out to her fans. You can read Coco’s thoughts at:

• Facebook (46,768 likes)
• Twitter (35,606 followers)
• Instagram (70,247 followers)

With Coco’s naked photo shoot for ESPN’s Body Issue 2014, I think it’s fair to say her fan base will increase rapidly.

Charity

Coco Ho volunteers her time to support the charity Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii (BGCH).

Coco chose to support BGCH saying she wanted “to help give young girls a chance to live their dreams, just like I do mine”.

Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii inspires the youth of today to become the responsible citizens of tomorrow. They create a safe haven for kids to grow, provide professional mentoring and caring, nurture character development, build life-enhancing skills, and provide hope and opportunity.

Simply stunning

Both in and out of the water Coco Ho shines brighter than most: