Meet Reza De Nicker

Age?
27 years 

How long have you been surfing for?
11 years

So tune us about your grom years.
Well I started surfing at the age of 16, so I never had those serious grom years, you know, like Jordy Maree.  Prior to that I was a mall rat, typical kid stuff, go to the mall, pull chicks, you know. I used to play soccer also, did a full season with Camps Bay when I was U17 and played for my high schools U17 soccer team too. Other than that just did my own thing until that magic day came when I was helping my dad in the garden and this guy walked past our house with a trolly filled with scrap metal and he had this surfboard on top of his pile, I asked my dad if he would get it for me, he paid R50 and next thing I was surfing.

Any abstract “grom” memories from back in the day... all 11 yrs ago?
I had heard about Long Beach and told my dad he HAD to take me there as I wanted to see if the pretty pictures in the surf mags were true. So with car packed and sarmies in the box we hit the road, only, my dad drives to Simons Town Long Beach and I see it, 1 foot and closing out and I am thinking to myself holy sh1t these guys that surf here are seriously good. It was  only later that we found out that we were at the wrong Long beach.

Few weeks later we missioned out to the Kom and found the proper Long Beach. It’s still one of those private jokes between me and my old man.

So... with Cape Town as a base you aren’t lost for finding the perfect board. Who is your favourite shaper and what shape do you love most.
Ah to many to choose from, for now it would be Ian Ihlenfeldt, just got my 2nd board from him recently and it goes pretty well. Also the boards my boss Clinton Filen has been making me go really well! Shape would be a standard shortboard (rounded thumb tail, slightly fuller nose) and also dumster diver profiled shapes are sick for Muizenberg.

Do you have a quiver?
Yeah quivers grown quite substantially over the past few years, right now I think I have 15 or so boards.

FCS fins or fixed fins and why?
FCS for sure as you can swap out fins depending on where you surfing at a given time, glass ons are great but haven’t had them in a while, had one magic board I got from Mike February a few years ago that had on Future Fins and that board went well till I snapped it.

Now speaking of fins… and seeing as everyone is debating it these days after Fanning took Chopes on a Quad setup, what do you prefer Quad , thruster, or the deep south staple of the single fin setup?
I have ridden most fin sets up, the thruster is always great for average day to day surf and it is what I have gotten used to, other than that I have ridden quads and they work really well in the barrel, but Kalk Bay isn’t Teahupo’o if you know what I mean.

What are your thoughts on sharks and cage diving?
Sharks, well they been around for millions of years and we are playing in their domain, we have to respect the ocean and ocean life but I will say one thing, when they take a group of tourists on a game safari, they do not drag a big piece of meat behind the car to make the lions come out the bush...

How long have you been surfing the Reef for?
Ive been paddling out there for the past 8 or 9 years I think, not to sure actually but those first few years I was probably more in the way and lost out there and shitting myself more than anything, I have only recently started to get a good feel for the wave but I have a far way to go and I get humbled everytime I surf out there which is good, we all have to pay the reef conductor to be rewarded out there!

Other than Muizenberg, what are your favourite waves around the Peninsula?
I would say Krans, Llandudno and the Hoek, got my first proper barrel at the Hoek so that love will always stay with surfing there. I love beach break barrelling waves.

And waves outside of the peninsula?
Number 1 would be Supers at Jbay, such a perfect wave and forces you to draw a proper line while surfing which is never a bad thing! Elands Bay and the surrounding waves in that area are also special to me.

Dream surf mission?
Just an extended land and boat trip with all my friends to a chain of tropical islands that offer lefts and rights for the boys to go wild on and I would pay for everyone if I could afford it.

Who would you take with on that?
Like I said all the boys but few names that spring to mind are:
Josh Salie, Justin and Clint Stevens,Andrew Wilsnaugh, Rudi Breuningler, Dave Coleman, Steve Gadd, Chris Bond, Matthew Moir, Brian and Rob Hope, Nick Grondman, Bruce Anderson, Garth Reid, Craig Paul, Brandon Kilbride, Frank Solomon, Wok, Dooma, instant renta crowd!

That’s a heavy crowd, both in the water and in the bar.
Hey we ARE dreaming here bro, but I would if I could.

Who are your current sponsors and what do you have to do to keep them happy?
Reef Wetsuits South Africa has been helping me out with great wetsuits and the rest of the gear for the past few years. I have never really competed, well I have but I suck at heats so I am happy that I have had no real pressure to go surf contests. I do enjoy the alternate contests a lot as the vibe at the beach is mellow and it's not each man for himself type of deal.

I just try and go surf with good guys all the time and tag along and if I get lucky I can score a photo or two from the sessions and then mail the guys at Reef the photos. Just pretty much be myself and act as a good brand ambassador.

I also recently got picked up by New Balance, thanks to the help of Justin Stevens, I am part of the Make Excellence Happen program, they help me out with insane and comfortable shoes.

Rumour has it you want to be Steve Gadds sunscreen massager, wingman and board caddy in Hawaii, is that true?
Well Yeah would love to get to Hawaii but only as wingman as you say in the question but I think he has filled that spot so will have to find another way to get there someday.

We hear you are working in the Kite surfing industry these days.. Do you kite surf too?
Yes that’s correct, no not kiteboarding just yet, did do a weekend lesson course at Constantly Kiting in Langebaan which was super fun and I learned alot but still need to get into it properly.

Tell us about your passion for your skateboard?
Well I used to have one of those banana skateboards or whatever you call them when I was a laatie then I started surfing and naturally I jumped back on a skateboard, Its super fun around the beach and at home and instead of pulling your car out to mission to the shop or whatever you just jump on your board and cruise. I have done the Moonlight mass event on my longboard and it killed my legs but was super fun and worth it.

We all know about your on-going bromance with Josh Salie. So the question here is: Are you jealous of Josh Salies girlfriend?
hahahah that’s a hard question man! Well yeah been best friends with Bobby Salie for years now, we met through surfing and did a lot of  partying and surf missions over the yearspartying and surf missions over the years. As for being jealous, no I am not anyways have you seen Kat's older sister, she's fire!!!

You have the most epic surf wagon, fill us in on that one..
Thanks man, yes its super cool and old school, it is a 1983 VW Passat station wagon, super light on petrol, no problem and definitely a surf jammie that was worth every rand I paid for it. Still trying to figure out a proper name for her though, so far we have Yellow Mellow Wagon, Passion wagon, Cream Machine but im always open to suggestion so if people see me around in it don’t be shy to suggest a name.

How many people can you fit in it?
Probably 8 or 9 with no boards inside, yet to set a record, will keep you informed.

Ever sleep in your car?
Uhhm yeah woke up in in this past Saturday morning in Pepper street in
town, I will leave it at that..

Who inspires you, both in and out of the water
In the water it would and always will be the late Andy Irons, he was so good and amazing to watch and charged and all his style was the same from small waves to big waves, he is the biggest influence on my surfing even though I never got a chance to meet him. Other than him, in the water would be Josh as he rips and pushes me and gives me such good advice with my surfing and it has definitely helped get me to
where I am today, so a big thank you to Josh. Out the water would be my Dad for sure, he works so hard and hardly ever complains and has always been super supportive of my surfing and always told me to go have fun which I am doing all the time. He bought me my first surfboard and always used to take myself and friends to the beach to surf and pick us up, that was the routine back then when we first started surfing, getting picked up and dropped off at the different spots.

If you could assign a value to yourself in a fantasy surfer kind of way for the Kalk Bay Shootout, how much would it be?
Wow uhm I would say if the salary cap was R50 000, I would value myself as R5000.

And the other contestants, how much would they cost?
I would put Ian Armstrong, Andrew Wilsnaugh and the top reef guys as the highest valued surfers, probably around R20 000 each?

Other than yourself, who do you think is going to take the Shootout?
Well if it were me to take the win I would be happy and real stoked but I honestly can't say who will win, the reefs a tricky wave and anyone can just have that good run up to the final and just come out on top!

Shot bru, that’s it.
Happy days, catch you in the lineup.