Dakoda Walters is living the dream. The electric natural footer lives in Byron, grew up surfing Angourie, and his parents live in Cooly. When he's not competing (and we’ll get to that later), Kodes spends his time putting on the afterburners on the points, reef and beaches between the three iconic Aussie locations. He’s a low-key kid, with a high-voltage approach to riding waves. A quiet guy who surfs loud. A humble dude with big dreams.
“If I’m at home in Byron, a dream day would be waking up, having a good breakfast and the surf is pumping,” Dakoda said. “We’d hit one of the sick beaches. Byron is pretty crowded now, but every now and again you get to score the random little pockets of class with just your mates. Doing that and losing our minds over pumping waves is what I live for."
In this ideal world, Kodes would nail a quick round of golf, and after a sweet drive would notice that the wind has swung onshore. “That’s kinda my dream day; offshore waves and barrels in the morning and big airs in the arvo. In the evening, the boys would probably get on the beers, though I’m not much of a drinker and we’d gather for a barbie. One of our mates who is a great filmer would have logged all the action and we'd sit around talking shit and watching the clips.”
Navigating the home crowd
Dakoda has spent the last few years living in Byron with his partner. When we chatted he was just back from the Byron Bay Boardriders annual presentation night where he'd handed out a few trophies for the groms. And while he has helped the club to some big success, it is a few hundred clicks down the road at Angourie, that most shaped his surfing.
This is where he grew up surfing with his Dad and younger brother Harley and lived next door to Aussie legend Baddy Trealor. Neighbours like Dan Ross, Bryce Young, Nav Fox and Laurie Towner, were mentors. When asked about a dream day in Yamba, Dakoda wouldn’t mess with the dream day formula. In an ideal world, there'd be a solid swell and an offshore wind that would open up most of the classic waves on the stretch. He’d surf The Point or one of the reefs located a short walk from his house, with his brother and the crew he learned to surf with.
Variety is the spice of life..... or so they say
“I’d want the wind to come up in the arvo, so you get to perform different types of surfing in one day; that's my ideal way of surfing. Loads of variety, to keep it fresh unpredictable, and surfing with my oldest friends is always the best,” Kodes reckons.
Recently though Dakoda’s folks moved up the Goldy, and he’s been surfing up there more regularly. When he surfed in his first Challenger Series event at Snapper, he rode his bike down from his oldies to the comp. Despite feeling physically sick with nerves and having to wheel back a few times to get his leggie and wax, he made the Quarterfinals in pumping waves. He would back it up with a 9th at Huntington, and go into the last two events in Portugal and Brazil with a real chance of qualifying for the CT.
“It didn’t work out and I ended up finishing 24th, so there was some disappointment,” he said. “But it was my first year of travelling and competing, and I would have bitten your hand off when I started to get that result. I went to some sick places, travelled with a good crew and because it was such an unknown, it was a real step up for me.”
Back on the Goldy, in an ideal scenario, he wouldn’t manufacture a win at Snapper, and even in people's dreams, the Superbank stays crowded. He ain’t going to get waves with a few mates, or wait for the onshores.
“That stretch is best with a big swell that sees Kirra pumping. You are doing run-arounds until you can’t feel your arms. You spend the whole time watching crew standing in barrels and trying to get a few yourself. You paddle out with your friends, and you don't see them till you are back at the car six hours later," he said.
Dream Days
But be it at his new home in Byron, his old gaff in Yamba or on visits to his parents at Coolangatta, Dakoda is mainly about pushing his surfing to the highest level. When he’s not riding self-shaped boards, or surfing old ones with his brother Harley, he is doing some of the most creative, high voltage, high-performance surfing on his, or anyone’s, coast. And stacking clips like this.
“I’m incredibly lucky. I don’t have to push the boat out too far to think up ideal scenarios where I live," he finishes. "There are dream days here all the time. Give me some good waves, some good mates and surfing does the rest.”
Words: Ben Mondy
Filmed: Mitch Imgraben
Stills: Andrew Shield
Edit: Ben Lang
