Pro Surfer Cory Lopez Takes Daughter 'Piggyback' Surfing, Cuteness Ensues

When your dad is a pro surfer, catching your first wave is right up there with saying your first word.

That's the case for Cory Lopez and his daughter Alana. The duo are seen catching waves on Oahu's North Shore in the video above, which was filmed in 2012 but recently went viral. Alana, who was two-years-old at the time, rides piggyback while her dad expertly maneuvers through the water. Not surprisingly, they both look to be having the time of their lives.

Lopez told The Huffington Post that he's taken all three of his kids surfing in this way: Alana, now 6, Luke, 4, and Leila, 2. "I just love to play with my kids, and the fact that I get to share my love of surfing and the ocean with them is a dream come true," he said. The experience mirrors his own as a child as he and his brothers also learned to surf at a young age. “We learned how to surf before we can even remember. We were two-years-old and standing on boards," he said.

Lopez makes father-daughter surfing look as safe as can be, but surf instructor Ikaika Kaulukukui urges parents to be careful when taking their children into the ocean, especially if they're inexperienced themselves.

"I would say that the parents have to trust their instincts if they're thinking of taking their young kid out into the water and only tandem surf [with the child] when the waves are small," Kaulukukui explains. "It's really up to the parents' discretion."

While Alana looked right at home speeding down the face of a wave on her dad's back, she looks even more comfortable on her own board now:

Like father, like daughter.

H/T Surfing Magazine