AGE: 22 | LOCATION: Flagler Beach, Florida | on the Proust Questionnaire

“Rasta Rob” is the quintessential cult hero. For the past few years, he’s made cameos in dozens of short vids and his name always comes up in conversation and email (anyone I spoke to about this issue made it clear they suggest me talk to Rasta Rob), but until now it was kind of hard to put your finger on who he was, where he came from or even how old he is. Well, we’ve since learned he’s 22 and from Flagler Beach in Florida and there’s a good chance he’s going to be one of your favorite surfers once you put it all together.

Being from Florida, he knows how to get pop out of any kind of wave and with a pretty solid connection to the North Shore through his brother who lives there, he’s down to send it with the best of them. And the sickest thing about Robbie is he’s one of the most likable dudes there is. When Nate Lawrence calls us from Indo and says, “Do you guys know this Rasta Rob dude? He’s so sick!” we know it’s time to start paying attention.

We put Rasta Rob through the Proust Questionnaire to put some context on his cameos, but it’s only a matter of time before he’s the main attraction.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Perfect happiness. Um, fuck…my idea of perfect happiness is perfect waves [laughs]. Just surfing every day and doing whatever I can to stay in the water. That's happiness for me.

What is your greatest fear?

I'm pretty scared of spiders. I'm actually really scared of spiders. One time I woke up in the middle of the night and I had a huge spider on my chest and I freaked out but couldn't find the spider so I didn’t even sleep in the house for the rest of the trip.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

I'm really bad at communication. That’s definitely one thing that I don't like about myself. I'm pretty bad at socializing and talking to people and groups. I get shy.

What living person do you most admire?

Well, I have two of 'em — definitely my mom and my dad. Just because I kind of came from nothing and they helped me out surfing from the start and just kind of helped me get to where I am today. So I admire them the most for sure.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Fishing? I spend way too much money on fishing. I love fishing. That's all I do when I'm in Florida.

What's your current state of mind?

I've been very happy for the last year ever since I re-signed with O'Neill. I've been super happy just because I've been surfing more and traveling more and just doing things that I love. So that stokes me out the most.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Probably confidence. I hate cockiness. That's like my least favorite thing. I try to be the opposite of that. I'm not a cocky person at all.

On what occasion do you lie?

Sometimes when the waves are kind of good, I'll tell everybody that it's firing. I'm from Florida so the waves are always really bad so whenever I see any kind of wave, I think it's firing. Then they come down to the beach and they’re like, “What are you talking about?” That's probably the only time I really lie or tell a fish story. I've lied about a couple fish too [laughs].

What is your least favorite thing about your appearance?

I'm so hairy. I grow way too much hair. All over my body.

Which living person do you most despise?

Despise? Oh no. I can't even say that [laughs]. Probably Joe Biden right now. I don't like that guy. Yeah. I know that's horrible to say, but I really don't like that guy.

What's the quality that you most like in a man?

If your personality is shit, then I probably won't like you.

What’s a quality you most like in a woman?

Sense of humor. I just like people to be themselves. I don't like people to try to fake anything or make themselves sound better in any type of way if they're not, you know?

What word or phrase do you most overuse?

“Oh, hell yeah, brother!” I always say, “Hell yeah, brother!” Sometimes I'll just walk up to the beach and just say, “Hell yeah, brother! [laughs].

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

My girlfriend is definitely the greatest love of my life. She supports me super hard and she's like my backbone pretty much anytime I'm stressed out or struggling at all, I just give her a call and she always calms me down and helps me out. She's super sick.

When and where were you happy?

Before my old surf coach passed away. His name was Jamie Ridgewell and he used to coach us all at the beach in Flagler where I lived. We used to all meet up every day after school and train and stuff for surfing. I just thought it was so fun. Like meeting up with all my friends and training and surfing and getting better at surfing. That was probably the happiest I was in my life. For sure.

Which talent would you most like to have?

I've always wanted to be really good at soccer. I always try to dribble the ball on my foot but I'm so bad at it. Everyone's super good at soccer and I suck. So that’s a talent I wish I had.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Can I say nothing? I wouldn't want to change myself. I've been working really hard lately on just being the best person I can. So I guess there isn’t really anything about myself that I would want to change right now. I'm super stoked with where I am in life. I'm fucking traveling the world and surfing perfect waves and hanging out with my friends, I have a beautiful girlfriend at home and my parents support me — life is really good right now.

What would you consider your greatest achievement?

My greatest achievement was freaking when I got sponsored by O’Neill! They've just been freaking helping me out ever since. Definitely, probably getting on O’Neill and traveling the world and surfing is my greatest achievement. It's always what I wanted to do when I was younger is just travel the world and surf. So it's so sick to be able to do it now.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

I always told myself I wanted to be a fish or a dolphin or a shark or something like that. Something in the ocean that swims, I thought it was so cool seeing fish swim around on the reef and stuff and they always look like they're enjoying life [laughs].

Where would you most like to live?

Probably in Hawaii with my brother. My brother lives on the North Shore of Oahu. That would probably be my dream place. I'm going to try to get a house and stay there every winter and then come home to Florida for the summers.

What's your most treasured possession?

My surfboards and my fishing poles — actually probably my fishing poles though because I break way too many surfboards. I don't really break fishing poles [laughs]. I have a bunch of really expensive fishing poles. I love fishing. That's all I do whenever I'm home.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Probably getting in a plane wreck where it just started falling out of the sky. That would be like the worst thing that could happen to me.

What's your favorite occupation?

Can I say surfing?

What's your most marked characteristic?

Um, I don't know… happiness. I’m always stoked.

What do you most value in your friends?

Probably just the good times that we live every day. All my friends and I are super close. We all grew up together and we're all like brothers. So we all go fishing together and do everything together. I just value every moment that I have with them.

Who are your favorite writers?

I have never finished a book in my whole entire life. I’ve never had anybody tell me that I need to read a book or anything. So besides when I was younger — actually I think I read Huckleberry Finn — that was like the only book I think I I've read before.

Who's your hero of fiction?

Spiderman was my shit. I used to go crazy over Spiderman. I'd wear the Spiderman Halloween costume all year round.

Who's your hero in real life?

My biggest hero is my surf coach, Jamie Ridgewell. He was probably the coolest guy I could have ever had in my life. There was no reason for him to do what he did for me. And he just did it because he liked me. He was always my hero. I always looked up to him. Everybody always looked up to him.

What are your favorite names?

I always thought the name Forest was really cool.

What is it that you most dislike?

I hate when people are negative. I'm a pretty stressed out person — and I probably shouldn't be because my life is pretty great, but I always try to stay positive. And when people are negative, it just brings me down. It’s my least favorite thing.

What's your greatest regret?

One time I got invited to go up to North Carolina and all my friends went and it was like one of the best swells that ever came to the East Coast and I didn't go. I stayed in Florida and for four days in a row my friends were sending me videos every day of perfect waves. That was probably my greatest regret because I missed the best waves of all-time and totally could have went. I'm pretty sure I was just arguing with my ex-girlfriend and that was the reason why I didn't go. So I was so pissed that I didn't go —because me and my ex-girlfriend ended up not even working out and then it was just a waste of me sitting at home being pissed off.

How would you like to die?

I’d rather die surfing than anything else. Just because that's what I love to do. I wouldn't wanna die any other way, even though it's kind of shitty to say, because that's all I do is surf, but I feel like if I'm gonna surf and push the limits and one day you never know, whatever it could happen. I've always kind of learned to accept the fact that you could die anytime whenever you're surfing. So that would probably be the way I'd wanna die.

What is your motto?

Can I make one up? I guess just stay happy and positive and life will be easier.