Gabriela Bryan arrived in Fiji as the number one-ranked surfer in the world, riding a breakout 2026 season that has put her squarely in the middle of the women’s world title race. But rather than becoming consumed by the pressure, the surfer from Hawaii has found a way to keep things loose. Part of that comes from a change in her approach to the tour, and part from having one of her childhood heroes, five-time world champion Carissa Moore, by her side. The two now travel together, surf together, and have become fast friends. SURFER sat down with Bryan on media day at the Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay, and while she was all smiles during the interview, she’ll be all business when the Fiji Pro kicks off.
Surfer: You’ve had such a great season. Are you having fun with it?
Gabriela Bryan: Yeah, I’m having a lot of fun. It’s been a bit of a change-up for me this season, coaching-wise and doing things a little differently. I’ve got a good crew I’m traveling with, and my mom’s here with me this event, so it’s super fun.
What did you change?
I opted away from having a full-time coach the whole year. I’ve just been changing it up event to event, meeting new people and using a little bit of local knowledge. That’s probably been the biggest change.
You and Carissa seem to be traveling together quite a bit.
We’re technically pretty much traveling together. We hang out every day. We’ve done a few events together, and at some we’re actually working with the same filmer, Nick Christie. But yeah, we’re pretty much traveling together.
You guys seem to have a really special friendship.
Yeah, it’s so special. Carissa is the best. It’s been really cool. We were laughing on the boat yesterday, doing something so silly and just having a good time. She was like, “I don’t know if any other sport’s No. 1 and No. 2 in the world are laughing and doing this silly stuff.” So it’s been super cool.
You grew up in Hawaii looking up to Carissa. What’s it like to now be doing this alongside her?
It’s pretty crazy. If you’d told me, even during my rookie year on tour, that Carissa would be one of my best friends, I wouldn’t have believed you. She’s such a special person. I looked up to her when I was super young. She was on tour winning multiple world titles, and I was doing junior events, the NSSA. I actually won her Carissa Moore Rookie of the Year award. And now we’re such good friends doing this together. I still look up to her so much, but she’s also a really good friend that I would call for anything. I think that’s the most special part.
And now you’re making dance videos together…
[Laughs] Yeah, it’s pretty crazy.
What about Cloudbreak? You’ve had some experience here already this season.
I came here for the two previous contests, and then right before Tahiti I came here for a week. I’m so glad I did that. Cloudbreak is such a tricky wave, so I feel like I’m picking up right where I left off when I was here three weeks ago.
What makes it so tricky?
The playing field is huge. I think it’s the trickiest playing field on tour by far. At Teahupo’o, you’re kind of looking for one thing. Here, there’s so much more variety. You can get some fours and fives, build scores, and there are different ways to get excellent scores. You can get a crazy barrel, or someone can just belt it four times over the dry reef.
Are you thinking much about the world title race?
At the moment, I’m keeping it in the background. The girls’ tour this year is so tight. No one’s running away with it. We’re all right there, so anything could happen. I just know I have a lot more surfing to do. It’s not just going to fall into place. I’m not going to stumble into a world title. I’ve got to run away with it. It’s pretty crazy how tight we all are, but it’s insane that I’m a part of it.
You’ve also been making an effort to enjoy the places the tour takes you.
Yeah. Like I said, I’m traveling with Nick Christie, who’s filming me, and it’s been fun not even really focusing on the competition side of things. If one day I want to make a film, we can go, “Okay, let’s adventure down the coast this way and get some fun waves.” I’ve just fallen in love with surfing again and having fun that way. Results aside, I’ll still hang around a place. In Tahiti, I lost pretty early, but I stayed. We surfed the next day and then I went swimming with whales. My first few years on tour, I’d surf my heat, win or lose, and then book it home. I’d get home and think, “I love home, but there’s nothing here waiting for me.” Now I’m learning to enjoy being happy everywhere around the world.