Jade Darmawangsa: One girls journey to Pipeline
Jade Darmawangsa is a name that you might not be familiar with, or maybe you are!? She’s amassed a following of over 200K followers on instagram and has an almost 600K subscribers on you tube. Four years ago she set one audacious goal, to go from not being able to swim to getting barrelled at pipe, crazy right?!?
Jade has always been a go getter. Self proclaimed, she wasn’t the smartest, she wasn’t the best at most things. She didn’t come from money. She grew up 3 hours from the ocean and couldn't even swim. But one day she seen JJF surfing a huge tub at Pipeline and she decided that she was going to do it to.
Most people would watch that and appreciate it for what it is. A guy threading one of the heaviest barrels in the world and making it look easy. He grew up there, he surfed his whole life, did his time, paid his dues, he belongs there.
Along comes Jade with no business even thinking about paddling out at Pipeline. But she’s never let anything stop her before, so why start now? Join us for a captivating look into The “Darmanation” (Jades online following) and the journey that Jade finds herself on with a goal to conquer the world’s most iconic wave.
Jade at a recent photo shoot. Images by @grandierx
Q. Tell us about yourself and your decision to not only start surfing but set a goal for yourself that most would say is impossible:
So…4 years ago I didn’t even know how to swim! I didn’t grow up near the ocean or in a surf culture household. In 2020, I decided to go and get a surf lesson whilst on vacation in Huntington Beach, CA. Obviously, given that I couldn’t swim, I was really bad and thought I was drowning and got annihilated, but once I caught my first wave I was hooked! It consumed me and it was all I could think about.
Growing up, I was never the best at anything, but I always showed up. Whether it was school, playing violin or sports, my best asset was showing up and trying my best. I thought that committing to surfing was such a great way to continue with this analogy and outlook on life. But there was one big problem! I didn’t live anywhere near the ocean, I was 3 hours away from the nearest beach. But, I love a challenge!
So for a full year I committed to the idea of surfing without actually getting in the water. I saved all my money and planned and eventually I had enough money to make my move from Washington to a small town in California. It’s now 2021 and my surf dream is really just beginning. I’m surfing (or trying to) as much as I can and slowly getting better, but let me tell you, it wasn’t easy.
But why not up the stakes and aim for the most outrages goal possible. Not only did I want to get barrelled (every surfers dream) but I wanted to do it at the most iconic wave in the world….Pipeline.
Q. Where did the dream of getting barrelled come from and what gave you the confidence to persue such an audacious goal?
I grew up with no money. There were months were we didn’t have enough money to cover rent or buy food to eat. My parents struggled to give me the life they thought I deserved. They worked hard and tried their best. I dropped out of high school to help my family with money and didn’t go to college because we couldn’t afford it. I used social media as a way to make extra money.
I’ve never played it safe, didn’t finish school, didn’t go to college, didn’t do the things that “normal” people do. I just tried to make it work.
The first time I seen Pipeline on TV, John John Florance was surfing it and I don’t know why but I was like, Wahooo…I’m fucking surfing that! For some reason it lit a fire inside me and I thought, If I can surf that wave it means I’m a strong person. It wasn’t even about the barrel, it was the idea of the person that I would have to become to surf that wave was much better than the person I was in that moment.
It was a combination of never playing it safe and seeing where this journey might take me. I had nothing to loose.
Q. You’ve come a long way since you started surfing. Do you have any tips for those starting out and realising that surfing is not easy:
My biggest advice for anyone starting their surfing journey is to just “show up!” because its not easy! Put it this way, if you don’t feel like you want to quit it means you haven’t showed up enough!
Just getting out there is enough, even if you're not catching waves, just being out there is showing up. Eventually the goal is to catch waves, but trust me when I say, having surfed for over 4 years in locations all over the world, I still sometimes only catch one wave in a session, sometimes zero waves!
Lets be real, for every one session that I'm surfing, shredding and catching heaps of waves, there’s probably 7 or more sessions where I’m not doing so good!
Q. Having surfed all over the world, is there a day or a session that really sticks out for you?
One session that sticks out to me was on the north shore in Hawaii in March 2025. It was Hawaiian 6-8ft, it was pretty big in my eyes. I managed to catch like 10 waves that day. It was a good session and I think it was because I was super present with the waves. Let’s be real, I’m definitely not great at surfing but I got to a place where I could be present with the waves and be present in the moment and in my opinion, that’s what makes a good session.
That was the biggest day I've ever surfed in my life and I caught heaps of waves.
Q. You recently made a short film called BLUE. What was the significance of making that film?
I didn’t set out to make a film initially! I was just recording a bunch of clips on a surf trip that I went on and one night I was sitting down to dinner and thought, why don’t I turn the camera on and just document everything, not just the surfing.
I was on the trip with a bunch of other people that love to film, so there was a lot of footage to choose from. There were no film crew or producers or anything like that, it was all just us recording the trip. That’s how the idea for BLUE started.
It has always been my dream as a creator to make a short film and host a premier and this was my opportunity. Editing was insane, it took like 70 hours to edit it, I hired someone to help me colour grade it and put it all together.
If you haven’t seen it the film is about surfing and mental health and how surfing can help you clear your mind.
You can stream BLUE on Jades You Tube Channel
LINK: https://youtu.be/uA9oGMT3Ziw?si=CNXpO0nmtyBrug2X
Q. How confident are you that you will actually get barrelled at Pipeline in the future?
You know what, I'm going to be completely realistic, I’m not sure if I ever will get barrelled a Pipeline. Let’s be real, it takes decades to get that good at surfing. I respect the line up, I’m not silly…..I know that it’s a really tough wave.
What I will say is that I will definitely surf Pipeline, I will paddle for waves and I’ll get waves there. Will it close out on me, most likely, probably, but I’ll still go for it.
How confient am I that I’ll get barrelled in general? Pretty confident, maybe like a 60% chance. But I’m 100% confident that I’ll be there trying. That’s the only thing I can control.
I’ve surfed Pipe maybe 3-4 times now and I hope to have more sessions out there soon.
Jade contemplating the paddle with a friend, somewhere in Costa Rica
Q. You’ve been to the North Shore a few times and many people are aware of you from social media, how are you received by the locals?
This is a really funny question to be honest. I don’t even think about it. If I think about it to much I get really, really nervous. For example, as a creator, I think it’s really important that you post and ghost. Once I post to my social media I don’t even look at the comments or stats for like 48 hours.
When I’m surfing I try not to think about it. Otherwise I’d spend the whole time thinking, should I be here? do these people like me? The answer is, they probably don’t like me.
What I can control is being respectful to the locals. Having said that, I know for a fact that may of the locals and professionals on the North Shore don’t like me and don’t think I should be there. But I don’t let it stop me. I just keep being very respectful in the line up, I don’t sit on the peak, I always sit back and wait for my turn.
Q. Any tips for people who’d like to make a career out of their passions into a social media?
There’s 3 things that in my opinion are super Important:
Observe: Look for the top 3 creators in your neiche and observe what they do. This is really important. True creators observe and learn from their idols. There is no such thing as an original idea, we all just use other peoples ideas and add our own spin on it. Observe who is successful and what they are doing to achieve it and then do it. I take inspiration from a few people, like Jamie O’brian for example.
Implement: Copy what successful people do and add your own spin on it. Study their content. How often do they post? when do they post? What do they post? Use their format and make it your own.
Consistency and quality: Try to match the level of content successful creators are posting. You don’t have to post every day but be consistent and have a plan. I went from 50K to 200K followers in a few weeks by posting 3 times per week. The key is to make your content good quality.
Jade: That’s all from me, thanks so much!
Story by: Kylie Palmer (Cheif creator for SLAB MAG, The Slab Lab store)
Words by: Jade Dermawangsa (creator, surfer, dreamer) @jadedarmawangsa
