Maui’s 22-year-old Jackson Bunch is in the middle of what might be the hottest streak of his career, and if you’ve been paying attention to the WSL Hawaii/Tahiti region events, you already know that. Three wins. Three events. A triple play that has the surf world buzzing.
It didn’t come without a little drama. When Bunch flew into Tahiti just hours before his event, his boards got stuck on the West Coast. “My surfboards were left in San Francisco,” he said. “I was lucky to have my friend from Maui bring me two surfboards that I had given him before, and he brought them.” Bunch has been riding Glenn Minami designs since he was about 8 years old. That’s a unique relationship. Most competitors would have crumbled. Bunch didn’t flinch and went to work.
He went on to post an incredible 18.50 out of a possible 20 in the Quarterfinals at the TOA Pro Punaauia, followed by an 18.23 heat total in the Semifinals, including a 9.50 and a 9.23 as his single scores, winning the event and then backing it up with another first-place finish the following week. He then capped the triple with a first-place finish at the Local Motion Surf Into Summer at cranking Ala Moana Bowls, putting a punctuation mark on one of the most impressive regional runs in recent memory.
“These last two events, just to get that connection and just get in a good rhythm to make heats and get excellent scores,” Bunch said. “It was awesome to get that confidence going. It’s unreal to win three events in a row, especially knowing how tough this regional tour is. The waves have been absolutely firing at the first three events, and I’ve been having so much fun. Honestly, I just wanted to keep making heats so I could surf perfect waves with no one else out there!The momentum this brings for the qualifiers, heading into the Challenger Series is huge. Any extra confidence is a bonus, and I’m really excited to get the season started.”
Long before Jackson was trading heat wins with Tahitian powerhouses, Bunch was one of the most decorated young surfers in Hawaii. With a runner-up finish at the 2023 World Junior Championships, a Quiksilver sponsorship that took him from Hawaii’s regional circuit to Australia and France while still in his teens, and a track record of contest wins up and down the islands, built a foundation any sports competitor would envy.
Way back when Freesurf first sat down with Mr. Bunch, he was all of 10-years-old with a huge smile who listed Joel Parkinson, Mick Fanning, and John John Florence as his three favorite surfers, told us his favorite all time food was cheeseburgers, got straight A’s, and surfed every single day. Oh, and don’t let that sweet smile fool you. He’s a fighter. Literally and he’d been boxing since he was a wee lad, saying if he ever stopped surfing, he’d probably become a pro fighter. Easy to see, he’s still throwing knockout blows.
After a standout sophomore year on the Challenger Series, he earned the final spot on the 2025 WSL Championship Tour, becoming one of only a handful of Maui surfers ever to reach surfing’s elite level. A tough year on tour sent him back to the Challenger Series, but after this triple header Bunch himself put it, “That’s the best to start a season. It doesn’t get much better. We’re surfing in perfect waves and if I were to come up with my dream wave, it would be this.”
Bunch is going toe to toe with some of the best in the world and winning handily. His shine is only getting brighter.