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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.