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PHOTOGRAPH: MATT MUNRO
Wide and golden Waikiki Beach, on the east side of Hawaii’s capital Honolulu, is the cradle of surfing. It was here in the first half of the 20th century that local ‘beachboys’ taught visitors to surf, and they took word of their new hobby home, notably spreading the craze to California and Australia. Riding waves was a traditional pastime in many Polynesian islands, but for Hawaiians ‘he’e nalu’ (‘wave-sliding’) also took on aspects of warrior training and religion. Plenty of modern surfers show a similar devotion to this day.
Waikiki m ea ns ‘sp routing waters’ in the Hawaii an language
1 In the strict class system of old Hawaii, the best surfing spots were kept for the ali’i (nobles). For kings such as Hawaii’s unifier, Kamehameha I (died 1819), surfing skill was a matter of prestige.