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Hawaii's Surf Icons

A look at Hawaiian men and women who tirelessly promote surfing culture

Contributing editor Eric Rumble travelled to Hawaii in the spring of 2009 with a simple mission: Find Hawaiian men and women who are passionate about the Pacific Ocean that surrounds their beloved homeland.

From pioneering lifeguards, event organizers and pro surfers, the people he met are truly fascinating. Delve into what makes these surfing fanatics tick, and then check out staff photographer Jared Sych's gorgeous portrayals of these Hawaiian icons of the big blue sea in the gallery below.

Clyde Aikau

Claim to Fame: Surf icon and entrepreneur

“Being on Waikiki Beach, there’s a lot of excitement going on here all the time,” says hot-blooded big-wave paragon Clyde Aikau—a larger-than-life enterpriser who has taught people to surf, stand-up paddle, jet-ski and parasail here since the 1970s.

“But even today, I can grab a surfboard and paddle out and it all comes back to you: the solitude of the ocean is still here in Waikiki. That hasn’t changed. But, sure, there are a lot more buildings here, just like any other place.”

Today, Hawaii is peppered with all sorts of riffs on the maxim, “Eddie would go,” harkening back to Aikau’s exalted brother, who disappeared after his canoe capsized near Molokai in 1978. Clyde himself is a decorated surf champ and a cultural giant around Waikiki, where he runs one of the state’s oldest surf schools, Waikiki Beach Activities, out of the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel.

Keala Kennelly

Claim to Fame: Elite pro surfer and budding actress

Before she could rip monster waves, before she carved a berth for women’s voices in a man’s sport, before David Milch wrote a character for her in HBO’s John From Cincinnati, Keala Kennelly’s presence commanded attention.

“My parents always told me I walk like John Wayne,” she says.

Kennelly started surfing around the age of five, learning to rip alongside the famous Irons brothers on the Hawaiian island of Kauai and eventually turned her talent and fearless, punk-rock demeanor into a remarkable career.

Not surprisingly, balance is her blueprint, on and off her board.

“I really love being surrounded by nature, hiking trails, ocean, parks, whatever,” says Kennelly, who now lives on bustling Waikiki’s leafy eastern fringe.

“But I also love being able to get a taste of the city whenever I want. It’s a very delicate balance, and it’s really easy for there to be too much city.”

Archie Kalepa

Claim to Fame: Lifeguard-in-chief

With a native bloodline and Greek god’s physique, Archie Kalepa was born to shepherd his community.

He’s been running Maui’s lifeguard corps for a decade and has been patrolling beaches for nearly 30 years, during which he saved 15 people from a hurricane with an ocean-rescue technique he created.

Yet, his most amazing feats seem to involve putting himself in harm’s way. The toys in Kalepa’s garage reveal his daredevilry: scuffed dirt bikes, fishing spears and boards to ride all types of peril.

“I got a guy from NASA to make me some fins,” he boasts, grinning at his hydrofoil. He’s surfed Jaws for 13 years and goes big with tow-in pioneer Buzzy Kerbox.

“It’s like a marriage. It’s all about trust, respect, support,” Kalepa says. “Buzzy and I almost don’t need to talk to each other out there, because we know what the other guy is going to do.”

Dave Kalama

Claim to Fame: Tow-in surfing legend and philanthropist

A four-star general in the ranks of watermen, Dave Kalama is among the exclusive brotherhood that invented tow-in surfing.

Between bouts against Jaws (a huge reef break off Maui’s north coast) with his legendary tow-in partner, Laird Hamilton, he masters stand-up paddling (on epic solo missions between islands), bonds with his three kids and pours time into charity.

Kalama and Hamilton biked and paddled the length of the archipelago state—750 kms in seven days—for autism in 2006, and, in 2008, they launched Pipeline to a Cure, an annual cystic fibrosis benefit.

His father and grandfather were also famous watermen, and Kalama’s documented dedication has been credited with reinvigorating modern surf classics like Step Into Liquid and Riding Giants.

Mark Cunningham

Claim to Fame: Retired lifeguard and bodysurfing pioneer

“Once you step in Hawaii’s water, you’re in over your head,” cautions Mark Cunningham.

He’d know, having spent more than two decades patrolling a stretch of Oahu’s North Shore that’s famous for its mammoth waves. Cunningham started lifeguarding in California during “the summer that Jaws came out, and nobody went swimming.”

On his watch, towers and technology replaced rickety stands and whistles, and prevention became as important as reaction. But Cunningham is really renowned—and owns many trophies—because he moves his sleek 6’4” frame through the tide like a dolphin.

“As a bodysurfer, there are certainly spots in the water where you feel like you’re part of the food chain,” he says.

“But I love that you’re totally embraced by the water. It’s such an incredible sensual experience, one you can’t ever get from standing or riding on top of it.”

Jeff Bushman & Kyle Bernhardt

Claim to Fame: Environmentally minded board shapers

The founders of Country Feeling Surfboards started their environmentally sensitive board-shaping business with the intent to educate their fibreglass-happy, polluting industry.

They design and build gorgeous retro boards—finned cruisers, fishes, longboards and paddleboards—using soy- and sugar-based foams, sun-catalyzed resins and inlays made with hemp, organic cotton, bamboo and silk.

“We’re trying to promote an open-source format, to show other shapers and manufacturers that it’s not that hard, it does make a difference down the line and that difference can come from just one layer of materials,” says Bernhardt.

They couldn’t ask for a better laboratory.

“If it can hold up on the North Shore, it can hold up anywhere,” says Bushman. “Better yet, we can build something here and test it that afternoon.”

Sig Zane

Claim to Fame: Artist

For 15 years, Sig Zane, a social pillar and spirited artist, has sold his handcrafted shirts, dresses, bags and other garments out of his sleek boutique, Sig Zane Designs, in Hilo. His signature style explores heritage, with designs inspired by ancestral plants, literature and symbolism, and defies kitsch.

In 2007, Zane started creating longboard graphics for shaper Jeff Hunt.

One design echoes Polynesia with leaf patterns from a breadfruit tree called ulu, which is traditionally used to make boards, drums and canoes.

“Ulu means, ‘to grow, or to inspire.’ So that is a perfect symbol; a perfect metaphor,” Zane explains, adding that ulu trees are given to Hawaiians on their first birthday.

“It’s an important image for us. On a surfboard, on hula costumes, on things that are very important, we want to embellish them. You want all that positiveness.”

Tatiana Howard

Claim to Fame: Social butterfly and windsurfer

Imagine a beach peppered by fit, sun-kissed ladies in matching dress: some surfing, some towed by kites and sails, all floating in unison like ocean sirens. It’s not a Sports Illustrated shoot; this is what Hawaii’s newest women’s movement looks like.

In 2007, Tatiana Howard and Juliana Shelef launched The Butterfly Effect, a series of celebratory events—part demonstration, part community-building, part beach party—created for and by water sport-loving women. It started with 15 participants on Maui’s North Shore; last year’s gathering attracted more than 100, and affiliated events have take place in Brazil, New Zealand, Europe, Dominican Republic, Tahiti, Israel and Oregon.

“It pushes the girls in a fun, challenging way, where they’re not being judged. It’s just fun and builds community,” says Howard.

“It’s backwards here; everything’s competitive. Life’s too short to be unhappy with yourself.”

Mark Marble

Claim to Fame: Surf therapist

On the first Saturday of each month for more than three years, AccesSurf has organized a Day at the Beach on a small, secluded bay owned by a military base on Oahu’s southwestern edge.

Mark Marble founded this non-profit group—and kicked off these empowering events—with Richard Julian as a sort of outdoor, in-water therapy for people with cognitive or physical disabilities, helping them to surf, kayak, snorkel or simply float in the ocean using adaptive equipment. AccesSurf has amassed more than 900 volunteers and assists hundreds of families with disabled loved ones.

Having worked as a recreational therapist for 25 years, Marble has undoubtedly found his calling.

“Just being able to provide access to the water by assembling the right people, the right equipment and all the support they need to get them into the water, it’s huge!” he says.

Betty Depolito

Claim to Fame: Women’s surfing promoter and local media mogul

“Banzai” Betty Depolito left California for Oahu in 1977 to surf, took third in a contest and never returned to the mainland.

From the 1990s on, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone, anywhere, so committed to celebrating the planet’s wave-chasing females.

“I don’t like it when people compare women’s surfing to men’s,” says Depolito. “We deserve an avenue to push our own limits.”

Back in the day, beach jocks would tell her to “go home and bake cookies,” or “you’re ruining the family structure.”

Her response? Keep charging Pipeline and organize surfing and body-boarding contests purely for women and promote their success during her 12-year career in news broadcasting.

Her annual Pipeline Tidal 9 contest even uses second-hand trophies, hand-painted banners, organic Tees and raises money for the Girl Scouts of Hawaii.

Is the Aloha State's Pacific Ocean calling your name? Find out where to go and what to see in the map below.