Moana Jones Wong was born on May 16, 1999 on the North Shore of Oahu, resides in Haleiwa, and is widely considered to be one of the world's most accomplished female Pipeline surfers.

Because of her skill at this wave, she was awarded a wild card entry into the 2022 Billabong Pro Pipeline – the first full Championship Tour stop at Pipe for women – and proceeded to win the event over five-time World Champ and Olympic gold medalist Carissa Moore.

"I can't believe it, I'm losing it right now," Wong said from the water immediately after defeating Moore. "This is the best moment of my life. I never thought I would accomplish this." The win came to Jones Wong in her first CT event, and marks her second win at Pipeline after taking top honors at the 2021 HIC Pipe Pro, a Qualifying Series event.

Before Jones Wong, the last time a wild card surfer won on the Women’s CT was in 2010 when two-time World Champion Australia’s Tyler Wright won at the O’Neill Women’s World Cup at Sunset Beach in Oahu.

As a child, Jones Wong never thought she was going to be able to surf Pipeline but worked hard, put in her time at the break and eventually made it happen to great success. Her goal remains to catch bigger and hollower waves at Pipeline, surfing deeper in the barrel than she has before.

“I’m very feisty,” Jones Wong laughs as she describes herself. “Big things come in little packages.”

When not surfing, Jones Wong occupies her time operating a surf school on the North Shore. When Jones Wong was younger, she wished she had a talented female surfer to encourage her surfing and push her development, and her belief in giving back to kids and the community are principles she holds dear.

Jones Wong also holds the distinction of being one of the first graduates of the University of Hawaii’s Bachelor of Applied Science-Hawaiian and Indigenous Health and Healing (HIHH) program, which she completed in the spring of 2021.

Part of her studies focused on how surfing empowers Native Hawaiians to connect to their culture. It was a topic Jones Wong, who is part Hawaiian, was happy to write about and present. “Surfing is my passion,” said Jones Wong to the University of Hawaii News. “I feel so connected to my culture, my ancestors, and the ocean when I am out there. Surfing gave me my identity. It empowered me. In my hardest times I found peace in the ocean.”

Jones Wong has competed in WSL events at Pipeline since 2014.