Four million years ago waves were breaking on the shores of Oahu.
There were hundreds of beautiful white sand beaches with swells sliding up onto the sand. Millions of years later beaches would be named Pipeline, Sunset Beach, and Waimea, but back then only crabs on the rocks heard the sound of the waves.
Time moved on as trillions of waves sailed to the shorelines and, over time, smoothed the sand under the sea making for perfect waves.
Then a thousand years ago Hawaiians arrived and started surfing on the island of Oahu. As their population grew, more Hawaiians surfed on more and more of the beaches. Surfing was the big thing for early Hawaiians.
Oahu was a center of surf riding, even back then.
One morning in 1779 a tall ship arrived in Hawaii — it was Captain Cook. Forgetting the other events of his visit, he and his crew witnessed Hawaiians surfing. He described them riding the waves, writing in this journal,“with much joy rushing rapidly to shore.”
Through the 1800s countless waves were ridden by local people. As the 1900s began, surfing developed into a recognized sport.
Ten-foot, 100-pound surfboards were lugged to the water. Waikiki was the Mecca of surfing and Duke Kahanamoku was the king of the long board. Seeing him nobly ride the waves inspired people from all over the world to learn to surf.
Multitudes come here every day to surf more swells than the world could ever ride. For every wave ridden there are a thousand more rushing to shore unridden.
There are hundreds of miles of shoreline on the island of Oahu and over 300 beaches, with 200 recognized surf spots.
Hawaii is the surfing capital of the world and Oahu is the center of this capitol.
There is a wave suited to every person with a surfboard, small waves for beginners, bigger ones for good surfers and 40-footers for experts.
There are endless combinations of waves, more than enough for every surfer who paddles out in all the years to come. But get this.
Someone wants to build a surf park in Oahu, with a swimming pool that makes fake waves surfers can ride for a few seconds. They want to put this swimming pool next to the best surf spots in Hawaii.
That is the dumbest idea in the world, and maybe in all of history.
Dennis Gregory writes a bi-monthly column for West Hawaii Today and welcomes your comments at makewavess@yahoo.com.
