Photo Essay : “Maui’s Surfing Is Like Canada’s Hockey”

July 21, 2022  Lahaina, HI (ISN) – After last weekend’s “historic” winds battered Maui, closing down some beaches with dangerous surf, there was no delay for advid surfers and those just picking up a board for the first time to head back out for some fun-in-the-sun action.

In perspective to life in Canada, one local parent I spoke with overlooking his son’s performance with a video camera surfing Lahaina Harbour, would comment when asked about the culture of grassroots surf scene, “Maui’s surfing is like canada’s hockey”. Surprisingly perhaps to those not exposed to the endless opportunity to take to the water, surfing in Maui does not have organized community or school surf clubs to raise “Groms” to the next level, relying on parents to search out individual or group coaching  for those that wish to surf competitively according to the parent I spoke with. ” Coaching can be very expensive so unless a child shows potential, most parents, like myself, would just let the kids follow their own path”.

Here is a look at some of recreational surfing at Lahaina during some poor-fair surf conditions as seen through the lens of ISN photographer Erich Eichhorn.