There's a moment in the original "Point Break" — Kathryn Bigelow's epic ode to adrenaline — when Johnny Utah (played by a pre-Matrix Keanu Reeves) goes to rent his first surfboard. At the surf shop, he's greeted with contempt by a 15-year-old who tells him: "Hey, man, a lot of guys your age are learning to surf. It's cool, there's nothing wrong with it." Put out, Utah responds coolly, "I'm 25."
The teen's reply is as devastating to the budding surfer as it is short, "That's what I'm saying, it's never too late."
After turning 24 in the summer, and not wanting to be called out by a snarky teen, I feel the urge to get a leg up on Utah and put my mind toward learning how to surf. The U.K. — aside from a few choice locations — doesn't usually receive much in the way of waves, but since moving to the city of Fukuoka, great tales of Kyushu's surfing scene have been in abundance. And so, I venture out to find some of the island's best surf.