- August Howell
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- surfer.com
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- January 29, 2026
During the making of his 2024 surf filmHorse, prolific Aussie freesurfer Noa Deane spent five days in the Canary Islands surfing alongside a local teenager. The kid’s name was Makoa Gomez, a born-and-raised Lanzarote surfer with a penchant for grabbing rail and stalling backside at his homebreak, which happens to be one of the heavier waves in the archipelago.
Makoa got enough solid waves that Noa, who'd noticed and hyped the kid on Instagram, put several of his barrels into the movie. It turns out that was just a taste of what Makoa was capable of at this spot. Volcom just dropped a highlight reel of some of Makoa’s best clips at the barreling lefthander. It’s impressive stuff. If it weren’t for the wetsuits, you’d be forgiven for thinking he was at Pipeline.
Folks hold their own in the Canary Islands lineups. Some take it way too far. You don’t just waltz in and pick off waves like this. If you do go, do as Noa did and have a connect. Makoa was raised in this lineup, and his father, Charly Gomez, is one of the island's mainstays. But you can’t teach natural ability, and Makoa’s poise under Atlantic pressure leaps off the screen. And of course, he caps it off with a clean alley oop. Kids these days.
