One Year In: Mahalo, and What’s Next

A year ago today, on April 20, 2025, Hawaii.Surf went live. One quiet Sunday, with a domain we had been holding for months, a theme we had been customizing for weeks, and a conviction we had been sitting with for years: Hawaiian surf history deserves to be told well.

Not scraped. Not summarized by a machine that has never felt the push of a North Shore swell. Told well. By people who know the difference between a Bertlemann and a cutback, between Waimea Bay on a 20 foot day and a 30 foot day, between the Duke’s paipo and Ben Aipa’s Stinger.

That was the whole idea.

How We Approach the Work

Every post on this site is researched the same way. We read the archival record carefully. We cross-check mainstream surf press against Hawaiian cultural sources, oral history projects, and the primary accounts of the people who were actually there. When something is uncertain, we say so. When a story requires sitting with kupuna before we write a word, we do that first.

This matters because surf history is thick with myth. Some of that myth is beautiful and true. Some of it got flattened into something easier to read over the decades. Our job is to honor the difference. You can read more about the mission on our About page.

What Year One Looked Like

When we started, we had a rough list of stories we wanted to cover. A year later, a lot of that list is published.

Duke Kahanamoku, the father of modern surfing. Eddie Aikau, the legendary waterman. The Waikiki Beach Boys who taught the world to surf. Larry Bertlemann, the Rubberman who rewired modern surfing. The Kilauea corner of Kauai that keeps producing surf legends, including Andy Irons. The origin of the shaka and a man named Hamana Kalili. Guides to Pipeline, Pua’ena Point, Sunset Beach, Waimea Bay, and Velzyland. A first shop, full of designs drawn with the islands in mind.

We also watched Google’s algorithm tear through independent content sites this year. AI-generated surf content flooded the results pages. Real stories got buried. This site took a hit. So did every independent surf publication we know.

That is not a complaint. It is context for why the work matters more now, not less.

What Year Two Looks Like

More legends. More breaks. Shapers we have not covered yet. The deeper layers of Hawaiian surf culture, including stories that do not get told in the mainstream surf press because they require the careful work this site was built for.

We are also expanding beyond pure history. Surf reports. Gear guides that reflect how people actually surf in Hawaii. Coverage of contest season. Resources for groms and beginners. A few things we are not ready to announce yet.

The shop is growing. Every design is ours. Every piece carries a piece of the culture with it.

Mahalo

To everyone who has read a post, shared an article, nominated a legend, subscribed to the Coconut Wireless, or ordered a piece from the shop: mahalo nui loa. This project exists because of you.

As a small thank you for being part of year one, everything in the shop is 10% off sitewide through May 20 with the code ALOHA420.

Shop the collection.

To year two, and every swell in between.

Aloha,

Drew
Founder, Hawaii.Surf