HISTORY

1874 observation of Ancient Paipo riders at Waikiki

 The surf here is fine and as the water is deliciously warm, bathing becomes here a luxury indeed. 
I saw at this place for the first time, that famous sport of the natives, ” surf bathing.” 
As the Pacific Ocean has here an uninterrupted sweep from the south of several thousand miles, the swells roll in with prodigious force, dashing the water into immense snowy fleeces. 
The native takes a small plank a foot wide and a few feet long, and by adroitly diving under the approaching waves, at length works his way far out to sea. 
Watching his opportunity on the approach of an unusually heavy surf, he dextrously flings himself into it a little forward of the crest, slightly inclines the board to receive the forward impulse of the water,and with the speed of the wind rushes toward the shore, enveloped in a fleecy foam and spray.