Surf Into Summer

Getting to surf Ala Moana with just
five other finalists isn’t a bad deal
either, if there’s a swell running.

Ala Moana Bowls –
There may still be late season swell on the North Shore, but when the annual O’Neill/Local Motion Surf Into Summer event comes to town it’s clear that summer has officially arrived.

It’s a three-day competition that draws some of the hottest kids of this generation from all the islands. From heat number one in all the divisions – shortboard, longboard and bodyboard – everyone looking for a shot at local stardom, a big trophy and bragging rights back at school had a game-face attitude. Getting to surf Ala Moana with just five other finalists isn’t a bad deal either, if there’s a swell running.

The contest was lucky. A small south swell that was supposed to have dropped out, found reason and tide to stick around for an extra couple of days until all the finals were completed.

In Monday afternoon’s Menehune Finals (North Shore’s Kalani David pulled a total 19.67 on a couple of double overhead sets to take his division) the waves looked three times taller than they were and probably felt that way to the termites who went for broke on the every-now-and-then barreling sets.

For everyone else it was a case of sitting thru short lulls, not drifting too high up on the reef and not letting the other competitors get you pinched out of position. Two good ones are all you need, so the patient ones got the score and the win.

Kekoa Cazimero took the Junior Mens, his fifth year competing at Surf Into Summer and winning, while his little brother, Keanu ‘Boo Boo’, took home his first win in the Junior Bodyboard.

With the ladies it was another two-sibling win with Ashley Hunter taking the Girls trophy while older sister Lani won the Women’s. Keanu Asing won the Boys short board division with an out-of-nowhere pig-dog barrel and three snaps to dot the ‘i’.

All in all, Hawaii’s kids deserved to claim the waves, the holiday weekend, and their private Day at the Bowl.