Author: Dagmar Reinhard

Brisa Hennessy was born in 1999 in Matapalo on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica.

Her Hawaiian mother and Californian father moved in the 90s to this very remote town in Osa, where Brisa grew up close to the South Pacific and the tropical jungle with all kinds of wild animals in her yard. Her father used to run a surf school in Matapalo. At just three years old, she got up for the first time on a wave.

Brisa greatly appreciates being born and raised in one of the most beautiful places in the world, with incredible waves and outstanding natural beauty. She lived in Costa Rica until she was nine years old, when she moved to Hawaii to pursue a professional surfing career. Fiji, which offers excellent surfing conditions, became her destination in the summers.

In 2017 she won Gold at the ISA Junior World Championship in Japan and Gold in the Open Category at the Peru Pan American Championship in 2018. Excited, she brought two gold medals to Costa Rica. At the age of twenty, she participated in the Championship Tour that earned her direct qualification for the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2020. She was classified as the best Central American in the debut of women's surfing. 

In January 2022, Brisa Hennessy was runner-up in the Triple Crown of Surfing Hawaii. And in February of this year, she won the final of the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach, as well in Hawaii. The island has the most iconic waves on the planet. 

In an interview, she said, "The sea is my love, the sea is for the animals, we need to protect everything we can. Costa Rica is doing a lot, but we need all the countries in the world to do everything they can. It is crucial because we only have one world and one ocean."

For most of the year, the wide-smiling Costa Rican and Pura Vida ambassador lives out of suitcases, participates in tournaments worldwide, and always returns to her family, who now lives in Fiji.

Congratulations, Breeze Hennessy!