HERE IT COMES, I THOUGHT. I’M GOING TO CRUSH this wave. My instructor, Micah Moniz, pushed my surfboard forward and told me to paddle. “Stand up!” he shouted as the wave reached the back of my board and lifted it gently up.
I pulled my feet forward, spun sideways, shuffled my hands to hold the board near my feet, let go … and faceplanted into the water just off of Waikiki Beach. That wave wasn’t bigger or faster than any of the dozen waves I had already successfully surfed in two days of lessons, and yet I suffered by far my worst crash. I cursed as I emerged from the Pacific Ocean, salt fresh on my lips. “You rushed it and looked down at your feet,” I told myself. “Don’t do that.”
I paddled back to Moniz, who was sitting astride his board, gently bobbing up and down with the waves. “You rushed it and looked down at your feet,” he said. “Don’t do that.”
Considering all of that happened in a fraction of a second, I was surprised Moniz captured the details. I probably shouldn’t have been. Moniz is a longtime instructor and former competitive surfer. The Moniz family has owned a surf school just off of Waikiki Beach for decades. Two of his brothers are professional surfers; his dad used to be. His sister, Kelia, is a two-time world champion and popular Instagram personality.
When people say surfing is in Hawaiians’ blood,
