Aloha and Welcome to this installment in the LEGENDARY SURFERS series on Traditional Hawaiian Surf Spots and Breaks.
Village-wide surfing was a frequent sight, especially when a swell hit. Due to climate, means of livelihood and a general dependence on the ocean, nearly all Hawaiian villages were near warm, palm-laden coasts. Thus, ancient and pre-European contact Hawaiian surf spots were mostly near coastal villages and well populated areas.
The best and most popular surfing locations on each island were known by name. Dozens of surf spots and individual breaks are remembered in Old Hawaiian stories and songs and on every island in the chain. Early sources revealed 50 individual breaks off the big island of Hawai‘i alone.16 For the other six inhabited islands, 57 more locations once used in ancient Hawai‘i have been identified, making a total of 107 surfing areas. Specifically, in addition to the 57 on Hawai‘i, there were 17 on O‘ahu; 19 on Maui; 16 on Kaua‘i; 3 on Ni‘ihau; 1 on Molokai; and 1 on Lanai.17
The writings of Nineteenth Century Hawaiian historians John Papa I‘i and Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau are our major sources for identifying these ancient Hawaiian surf breaks.18 A modern tabulation was made by Ben R. Finney, who credits the Twentieth Century author and translator Mary Kawena Pukui with significant help. At one point, she gave Finney and his co-author James Houston “a stack of file cards on which she had written the names of surfing places that she had run across during her decades of translating and interpreting Hawaiian oral traditions and newspaper articles from the nineteenth century.”19
The tabulation of pre-European Hawaiian surf spots, listed here, gives the modern geographical location name, if there is one, followed by the traditional place names, followed by the spot’s literal translation. Particular areas sometimes contained more than one break and these are indicated. By noting the number of the break, one can find its approximate location on the attached maps. Last but not least, in addition to the known breaks, there are 19 more surf spots named in legends, but have not been located to date. These are listed here, but not marked on the maps:
Hawaii
1. Na‘ohaku – Ku‘moho, “to rise (as water)”
2. East of Kauhola Point – Hale-lua, “pit house”
3. Wai-manu, “bird water”
4. Wai-pi‘o, “curved water”
5. Lau-pahoehoe, “smooth lava flat”
6. Papa‘i-kou, “hut (in a) kou (grove)”
7. Kapo‘ai, “to rotate or revolve” (as in a hula)
8. Pu‘u‘eo – Pa‘ula, “red enclosure”
9. Hilo Bay20
9a. Off Mokuola (aka Coconut Island) – Ahua, “heap”
9b. Next to Kaipalaoa – Huia, “a type of high wave formed when two crests meet”
9c. Kai-palaoa, “whale sea”
9d. Near Ha‘aheo – Ka-hala-‘ia, “the sin of eating forbidden fish or meat”
9e. Near Waiakea – Ka-nuku-o-ka-manu, “the beak of the bird”
9f. Kawili, “to mix, blend, intertwine”
9g. Pi‘ihonua, “land incline”
10. Ke‘eau21 – Ka-loa-o-ka-‘oma, “the length of the ocean”
11. Kai-mu – “gathering (at the) sea (to watch surfing)”
11a. Ho-eu, mischief“
11b. Ka-poho, the depression“
12. Kala-pana
12a. A’ili, to struggle for breath, to pull“
12b. Ka-lehua, the expert“
13. Puna-lu’u – Kawa, „distance“
14 Ka-alu’alu Bay
14a. Pai-a-ha‘a, “lift and sway (of waves)”
14b. Kua‘ana, “big brother” (the outside surf for adults)
14c. Kaina, “little brother” (the inside surf for children)
15. East of Ka-lae (South Point) – Ka-pu‘u-one, “the sand hill”
16. Ke’ei
17. Napo’opo’o
17a. Ka-pahu-kapu, the tabu drum“
17b. Kapukapu, “regal appearance”
17c. Kukui, “candlenut tree, torch”
18. Ke-ala-ke-kua, Hiki-au, “moving current”22
19. He‘eia Bay, Kona – Ke-au-hou
19a. Ka-lapu, “the ghost”23
19b. Kaulu, ledge“
20. Kaha-lu’u
20a. Ka-lei-kini, “the many leis”
20b. Kapu‘a, “the whistle”
21. Ke-olo-na-hihi
21a. Ka-moa, “the chicken”
21b. Kawa, “distance”
21c. Pu‘u, “peak”
22. Kai-lua, Kona
22a. ‘Au-hau-kea-e
22b. Huiha24
22c. Ka-maka i‘a, “the fish eye”
22d. Ki‘i-kau, “placed image”
22e. Na‘ohule-‘elua, “the two bald heads”
23. Honokahau, “bay tossing dew”
24. Mahai‘ula – Ka-hale-‘ula, “the red house”
25. Kawaihae – Ka-pua-‘ilima, “the ‘ilima flower”
26. Honoipu – Pua-kea, “white blossom”
Not Located:
27. Kohala – Ho‘olana, “to cause to float”
28. Puna
28a. ‘Awili, “swirl”
28b. Ka-lalani, “the row”
28c. Kala-loa, “very rough”
O’ahu
1. Wai-kiki25
1a. ‘Ai-wohi, “royal ruler”
1b. Ka-lehua-wehe, “the removed lehua (lei)”26
1c. Ka-pua, “the flower”
1d. Ka-puni, “the surrounding”
1e. Mai-hiwa
2. Hono-lulu
2a. ‘Ula-kua, “back red”
2b. Ke-kai-o-Mamala, “the sea of Mamala”27
2c. Awa-lua, “double harbor”
3. Moku-le‘ia – Pekue
4. Wai-a-lua – Pua-‘ena, “issue hot”
5. Waimea River mouth – Wai-mea, “reddish water”
6. Sunset Beach, Pau-malu Bay – Pau-malu, “taken secretly”
Not Located:
7. Wai-a-lua
7a. Ka-papala, “the crest”
7b. Ka-ua-nui, “the big rain”
8. Wai-‘anae
8a. Ka-pae-kahi, “the single landing”
8b. Kuala-i-ka-po-iki, “tumbling in the small night”
9. Ka-‘ihu-wa‘a, “the nose (of the) canoe”
Maui
1. Wai-he’e
1a. Ka-haha-wai, “the broken rivulets”
1b. Pala‘ie, “inconstant”
1c. Popo‘ie, “vine cluster”
2. Wai-ehu
2a. ‘A‘awa, “wrasse fish”
2b. Niu-ku-kahi, “coconut palm standing alone”
3. Wai-luku
3a. Ka‘ahu, “the garment”
3b. Ka‘akau-pohaku, “the north (or right hand side) stone”
3c. Ka-leholeho, “the callus”
3d. Pauku-kalo, “taro piece”
4. Hana Bay
4a. Ke-‘anini, “the stunted”28
4b. Pu-hele (Pu‘u-hele), “traveling hill”29
5. Kau-po – Moku-lau, “many islets”
6. La-haina
6a. ‘A‘aka, “roiled”
6b. Hau-ola, “dew (of) life”
6c. ‘Uha-‘ilio, “dog’s hindquarters”
6d. ‘Uo30
Not Located:
7. Hana (either bay or district) Ka-pua‘i, “the flow (of water)”
8. La-haina
8a. Hale-lua, “pit house”
8b. Ka-lehua, “the expert”
Kaua’i
1. Anahola – Ka-naha-wale, “easily broken”
2. Kapa‘a
2a. Ka-maka-iwa, “the mother-of-pearl eyes”
2b. Po‘o, “head”
2c. Ko‘a-lua, “two coral heads”
3. Wai-lua
3a. Maka-iwa, “mother-of-pearl eyes”31
3b. Ka-‘o-hala, “the thrust passing”
4. Hana-pe-pe, “crushed bay” (due to land slides)
5. Wai-mea
5a. Kaua, „war“
5b. Kua-lua, “twice”
5c. Po‘o, “head”
Not Located:
6. Hana-lei District
6a. Hawai‘i-loa, “long (or distant) Hawai‘i”32
6b. Ho‘ope‘a, “to cross”
6c. Ku-a-kahi-unu, “standing like a fishing shrine”
6d. Makawa
6e. Pu‘u-lena, “yellow hill”
7. Wai-‘oli – Mana-lau, “many branches”
Moloka’i
1. Ka-laupapa – Pua‘o, “onslaught of dashing waves”
Ni’ihau
1. Ka-malino – Lana, “floating”
2. Pu‘uwai – ‘Ohi‘a, “‘ohi‘a tree”
3. Ka-unu-nui, “the large altar”
Lana’i
Not Located:
1. Hilole33
Famous Hawaiian Breaks
Of the many ancient surf spots scattered throughout the Hawaiian Islands, some were more famous than others:
Ka-lehua-wehe
By the early 1900s, the location of Ka-lehue-wehe,34 off Waikiki beach, was only known “to but a few old-timers today,” wrote 20th Century surf pioneer Tom Blake.35 In his book Hawaiian Surfboard, Blake wrote that Kala means “proclaiming or announcing” and hue means “calabash.” Wehe means “loosened, opened or over-flowing.”36 Blake wrote that “the earth around the ocean was likened to a great calabash by the old Hawaiians.” His translation for Kalahuewehe was: “proclaiming the over-flowing or opening of the big calabash.” In other words, announcing that the sea is loosened and big waves are running at Waikiki.37
Hawaiian oral traditions have another interpretation of the word that is probably closer to the mark. Ka-lehua-wehe is translated as “the removed lehua.” This action, applied to this break was inspired by a certain instance when the surfer Piikoi, who was riding there, later removed his lei made from lehua blossoms and presented it to a chieftess who was also riding there.38 The reason why it was a big deal was due to the rider’s being a commoner. His act was a bold one, as it was not within his place to approach a member of the ali‘i.
Kalehuawehe – Waikiki’s biggest break and furthest from shore – later became known as Outside Castle’s in the 1920s and 1930s. This is the name that remains, today. A few times a year, more or less around summertime, big south swells roll into O‘ahu’s south shore. These swells – called “Bluebirds” by the old timers – roll in to provide rides that can sometimes be taken all the way to the beach. A ride on a twenty-to-thirty-foot wave from Kalehuawehe – or Outside Castles – was considered the ultimate experience by Waikiki-area surfers of the early Twentieth Century.39
In the 1930s, Duke Kahanamoku gave more details about Kalehuawehe’s location to Tom Blake. When Duke was still just a boy, Duke remembered his mother telling him Kalahuewehe was the big surf outside Queen’s break. “This,” Blake generalized, amounted to the surfing area that comprises “Cunha break, Papa Nui or outside Cunha, Public Baths and Castle’s break.” This outside area of larger surf was where “the ancient chiefs gathered from all the countryside to ride when the Kalahuewehe was running.” Blake added: “Without hesitation Duke’s old mother told me the same story. Dad Center, Dudie Miller and [John D.] Kaupiko substantiated the location of this surf.”40
Early 1900s surfer Lukela “John D.” Kaupiko also told Blake about how one of the kings of O‘ahu who had his men paddle him out to the bigger breaks in an outrigger canoe. Once out beyond the breakers, the king would launch his board – undoubtedly an olo make one long ride, and then quit for the day.41
Ke-kai-o-mamala
Several miles along the coast from Waikiki, going west, toward what is now Honolulu harbor, there was once a break called Ke-kai-o-Mamala, or, “the Sea of Mamala.” It broke through a narrow entrance to what in ancient times must have been low-lying marshland. It is possible that Ke-kai-o-Mamala was located in the area near what is now known as Ala Moana, Rock Pile, Inbetweens or Kaisers. These contemporary surf spots are popular breaks at the mouth of the harbor channel, just east of Magic Island.42 Because of the harbor, Ke-kai-o-Mamala must have been the first surf break to suffer at the hands of human engineering.
In Old Hawaiian days, Ke-kai-o-Mamala broke straight out from a beautiful coconut grove called Honoka‘upu. The break was one of the best in all of Kou, the old time name for the Honolulu area. Ke-kai-o-Mamala was named after Mamala, a famous surfer and a pominent O‘ahu chiefess. She was kupua, a demigod or hero with supernatural powers who could take the form of a beautiful woman, a gigantic lizard, or a great shark. According to legend, she was first married to another kupua, the shark-man Ouha; but then Honoka‘upu, who owned the coconut grove, chose her to be his wife, and so – for whatever reason – Mamala left Ouha for Honoka‘upu. Mad at Mamala for this dissertion and ridiculed by other women in his attempts to regain his former wife, Ouha cast off his human form and became the great shark god of the coast between Waikiki and Koko Head. Beautiful Mamala was remembered afterward by the surf spot named for her and in a song about her triangular love affair called the Mele (song) of Honoka‘upu.”43 This song, in part goes like this:
The surf rises at Ko‘olau,
Blowing the waves into mist,
Into little drops,
Spray falling along the hidden harbor.
There is my dear husband Ouha,
There is the shaking sea, the running sea of Kou,
The crab-like sea of Kou...
My love has gone away...
Fine is the breeze from the mountain.
I wait for you to return...
Will the lover return?
I belong to Honoka‘upu,
From the top of the tossing surf waves...44
Mamala “often played konane,” wrote Mary Kawena Pukui in her Place Names of Hawaii. “She left her shark husband, ‘Ouha, for Honoka‘upu. ‘Ouha then became the shark god of Wai-kiki and of Koko Head.”45
The ocean off O‘ahu’s south shore is still called “The Sea of Mamala.”
Paumalu
Forty miles from Ke-kai-o-Mamala, on the North Shore of O’ahu, Paumalu was known for its big waves, just as it is known, today, by the different name of “Sunset Beach.”
In the Hawai‘i of long ago, Sunset Beach was called Paumalu, which means “taken secretly.” This reference came from an incident when a local woman, who had caught more octopus than was permitted, had her legs bitten off by a shark,46 presumably as punishment.
Paumalu figures prominently in another legend, when a prince from Kaua‘i named Kahikilani crossed the hundred miles of open sea between his home and O‘ahu just to prove his prowess in the famous surf of Paumalu.47
“As soon as he arrived he started surfing,” wrote Finney and Houston in a re-telling of an ancient mele. “Day after day he perfected his skill in the jawlike waves. As he rode he was watched by a bird maiden with supernatural powers who lived in a cave on a nearby mountain. She fell in love with the prince and sent bird messengers to place an orange lehua lei around his neck and bring him to her. By flying around his head, the messengers guided Kahikilani to the bird maiden’s cave. Enchanted, he spent several months with her – until the return of the surfing season. Then the distant sizzle and boom of the waves at Paumalu were too much for Kahikilani to resist, and he left the maiden, but only after promising never to kiss another woman. However, the excitement of the rising surf must have clouded his memory because almost as soon as he was riding again, a beautiful woman came walking along the white sand. She saw him there, waited until he rode to shore, placed an ilima lei around his neck, and kissed him. His vow was broken. He thought nothing of it and paddled back out to the breaking waves, but the bird messengers were watching. They flew to tell their mistress of his infidelity. When she heard their report, the bird maiden ran to the beach with a lehua lei in her hand. Snatching the ilima lei from Kahikilani’s neck, she replaced it with the one made from lehua blossoms. As she ran back to her cave, he chased her. That was the last Kahikilani saw of the bird maiden, though, for halfway up the mountain he was turned to stone.”48
The image of Kahikilani can still be seen, today, with a petrified lehua lei around his neck on a barren ridge above Paumalu Bay, less than a mile from the Kamehameha Highway. In modern times, this rock outcropping is more commonly known as “the George Washington Stone.49
Surfers then, like surfers now, were apparently familiar with the cost of faithless love. In this legend, too, is revealed the conflict every surfer feels sooner or later and not once but many times. That is, the choice one makes between spending time riding waves vs. time spent in the company of others.
Kona Coast
In contrast to today, where the Hawaiian Islands’ center of surfing mostly stretches 7 coastal miles along O‘ahu’s North Shore, in the Hawai‘i of old, surfing’s epicenter was along the Kona Coast on the big island of Hawai‘i. When the first Europeans arrived, this particular section of coast was also the major population center for the entire island chain, so that probably had more to do with it than the quality of the surf. Together with the Waikiki area of O‘ahu, the Kona Coast was the most heavily surfed of all Hawaiian surfing locations. It was while at Kona that William Ellis wrote his numerous observations of Hawaiian surfing. It was also at Kona where King Kamehameha I learned to ride a surfboard. Last but not least, it was surfing at Kealahehua Bay on the Kona Coast that so impressed Cook’s Lieutenant James King in 1779:
“If by mistake they should place themselves on one of the smaller waves, which breaks before they reach the land, or should not be able to keep their plank in a proper direction on the top of the swell, they are left exposed to the fury of the next, and, to avoid it, are obliged again to dive and regain their place, from which they set out. Those who succeed in their object of reaching shore, have still the greatest danger to encounter. The coast being guarded by a chain of rocks, with, here and there, a small opening between them, they are obliged to steer their boards through one of these, or, in case of failure, to quit it, before they reach the rocks, and, plunging under the wave, make the best of their way back again. This is reckoned very disgraceful, and is also attended with the loss of the board, which I have often seen, with great horror, dashed to pieces, at the very moment the islander quitted it.”50
“Remember, now,” wrote 1960s surfing legend Phil Edwards in his own inimitable style, “Surfers of ancient Hawaii were tall, godlike creatures, each one looking like he had been hand-dipped in gold plate; they wore loincloths if the mood struck them – or they surfed buff more often than not. (And to think that, years later, the ho-dads and gremmies of early California surfing used to drop their pants. It was an older custom than they knew.)
“While Cook and crew were still mapping Hawaii,” continued Edwards, “the natives knew where the good spots were. On Oahu, the surf came with the north swells, from October to January, and the south swells from June through October.”51
Footnotes
1 Muirhead, Desmond. Surfing In Hawaii, A Personal Memoir, “With Notes on California, Australia, Peru and Other Surfing Countries,” Northland Press, Flagstaff, Arizona, ©1962, p. 2.
2 Muirhead, 1962, p. 2.
3 Muirhead, 1962, p. 2.
4 Duck Diving v. Where the surfer pushes down on the front of the nose of the board to dive under a breaking or broken wave (JP); a method of diving with the board under an oncoming wave on the way out through the break (NAT, 1985).
5 Young, Nat. History of Surfing, Palm Beach Press, 40 Ocean Road, Palm Beach, N.S.W. 2108, Australia, ©1983, p. 31. See also Finney and Houston, 1966, pp. 36-37 and Finney and Houston, 1996, p. 32.
6 Finney, Ben R. and Houston, James D. Surfing, The Sport of Hawaiian Kings, C. E. Tuttle Company, Rutland, Vermont, ©1966, p. 35. See also Finney and Houston, 1996, p. 27.
7 Lueras, Leonard. Surfing, The Ultimate Pleasure, Workman Publishing, New York, NY, ©1984, p. 31.
8 Keauokalani, Kepelino (1830-1878). Traditions of Hawaii. Quoted in Lueras, 1984, p. 31.
9 Finney, Ben and Houston, James D. Surfing: A History of the Ancient Hawaiian Sport, Pomegranate Artbooks, Rohnert Park, California, ©1996, p. 27.
10 Byron, Captain, the Rt. Hon. Lord. Voyage of HMS Blonde to The Sandwich Islands, 1824-25, London, published in 1826, p. 97. See also Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 35. In the Britain of the 1800s, a cabriolet was a light, two-wheeled, hooded, one-horse carriage. The term was later adopted for use in describing early automobiles resembling convertible coupes.
11 Stewart, C. S. A Residence in the Sandwich Islands, Boston, published 1839, p. 196. See also Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 35.
12 Emory, Kenneth P. “Sports, Games, and Amusements,” Ancient Hawaiian Civilization, “A Series of Lectures Delivered at the Kamehameha Schools,” C.E. Tuttle Company, Inc., Rutland, Vermont, ©1965. Ninth printing, 1981, p. 149.
13 Finney and Houston, 1966, pp. 35-36.
14 Finney and Houston, 1966, pp. 35-36.
15 Edwards, Phil and Ottum, Bob. You Should Have Been Here An Hour Ago: The Stoked Side of Surfing; Or, How to Hang Ten Through Life and Stay Happy, Harper and Row, ©1967, p. 165.
16 Finney and Houston, 1996, pp. 28-29. The maps are excellent and the most authoritative source on ancient Hawaiian surf breaks. See also pp. 30-31 for the other major Hawaiian Islands.
17 Finney and Houston, 1966, pp. 24-30.
18 I‘i, John Papa. Fragments of Hawaiian History, translated by Mary Kawena Pukui, edited by Dorothy B. Barrer, ©1959, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai‘i.
19 Finney and Houston, 1996, p. 28.
20 Punahoa’s favorite spot. Punahoa was a chieftess during the time of Hiikaikapolo.
21 Favorite of Laieikawai and Halaaniani, Hiiakaikapoli and Hopoe.
22 Opposite the heiau of the same name, where Captain Cook was received as a personification of the god Lono.
23 Favorite of Kauikeouli (Kamehameha III) and sister, princess Nahieanena; their birthplace.
24 Favorite of many chiefs; opposite the present-day Kona Inn.
25 “Although Waikiki literally means ‘spouting water,’” wrote Finney and Houston, “it actually refers to the fresh water (wai) in the swamps behind the famous beach, not to the sea water (kai) of the surf offshore.” See notation in Finney and Houston, 1996, p. 30.
26 Ka-lehua-wehe “used to be the attraction for the congregating together for days of neighboring chiefs,” wrote Tom Blake, in Hawaiian Surfboard, 1935, p. 14.
27 Mamala was a chieftess, prominently noted in Hawaiian oral history.
28 Favorite of early chiefs. See Finney and Houston, 1966.
29 Favorite of early chiefs. See Finney and Houston, 1966.
30 Favorite of early chiefs. See Finney and Houston, 1966.
31 Blake has it at Kapa‘a. See p. 14 of Hawaiian Surfboard, 1935. See also Gault-Williams, “Mo‘ikeha at Maka‘iwa,” Kauai magazine, Spring 1995, H & S Publishing, Kapa‘a, Kaua‘i. Mo‘ikeha’s favorite spot.
32 Not refering to the Big Island, but rather Hawaiki or the birthplace of Hawai‘iloa the great navigator.
33 Most all notations are based on information in Finney & Houston, 1966 and 1996, and Blake, 1935.
34 Blake spelled it “Kalahuewehe.”
35 Blake, Thomas E. (1902-1994). Hawaiian Surfriders 1935, ©1983, Mountain and Sea, Redondo Beach, California. Reprinted by permission. Formerly, Hawaiian Surfboard, published in 1935, by Paradise of the Pacific Press, Honolulu, Hawaii, p. 15.
36 Calabash n. A large, hard-shelled gourd often used as a utensil.
37 Blake, 1935, 1983, p. 15.
38 Finney and Houston, 1996, p. 33.
39 Finney and Houston, 1996, p. 33.
40 Blake, 1935, 1983, p. 15. Kalehuawehe is the correct spelling, while Blake spelled it with triple-e’s. Also, John D. Kaupiko’s last name is spelled “Kaupiku” in the original.
41 Blake, 1935, 1983, p. 15.
42 Wright, Bank. Surfing Hawaii, ©1973, 1985 by Allan Bank Wright, jr. Mountain and Sea Publishing, Redondo Beach, California, pp. 16-17.
43 Finney and Houston, 1996, p. 33 & 35.
44 Westervelt, 1915, p. 52-54. See also Finney and Houston, 1996, p. 35.
45 Pukui, Mary Kawena, Elbert, Samuel H. and Mookini, Esther T. Place Names of Hawaii, ©1974, The University of Hawai‘i Press, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, p. 144. See also Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 39 and Westervelt, 1964b: 15, 52-54.
46 Finney and Houston, 1996, p. 35.
47 Taylor, 1953, p. 20. See also Finney and Houston, 1996, p. 35.
48 Finney and Houston, 1996, p. 35.
49 Finney and Houston, 1996, p. 35. Footnote.
50 Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 37. See also Young, 1983, p. 31.
51 Edwards and Ottum, 1967, p. 164.
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