Her father Hiroshi Yokohama was the one who taught Mara how to surf. She learned how to surf at age 6 in the coastal barangay of Urbiztondo in La Union. In 2002 she won the Surfing Championship-Ladies Division at 11 and became the youngest Filipina surfing champion.
Lopez made her acting debut in 2003, playing a younger version of her real-life mother Maria Isabel Lopez, in an episode in GMA's Magpakailanman.
In 2006 she was launched, along with 23 other aspiring actors and actresses, as a member of Star Magic Batch 13. She then starred in ABS-CBN's Sineserye Presents: Natutulog Ba Ang Diyos?, a role which got the attention of the audience, critics and her co-stars alike.
Yokohama was one of the castaways of Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Doubles Showdown in November 2011.
Aside from surfing, she also practices Brazilian jiu-jitsu. She first introduced the sport under the guidance of actor Sid Lucero. Lopez is also set to compete in the 2016 World Jiu-Jitsu Championships to be held in San Diego, California on June 2016.
