You Jump Too, Big Shark Come By (Thanksgiving 1993)

In 1993 just a few days before our flight to Hawaii the News on the TV showed four or five huge sharks in the surf area at Waikiki beach. I’ll admit that seeing that on TV made me a little nervous, but I was so stoked that I was going to Hawaii that I thought the sharks would surely be gone before I got there. The whole family was going to Hawaii for Thanksgiving, except for my older sister and my older brother. Actually there wasn’t much of my real family there, it was more like an adopted family and I adopted them. We planned to stay eight days and would leave on the eighth night.

The first night was horrible. We got the crappiest hotel I have ever stayed at. The elevator didn't even stop on our floor, because our room was on the thirteenth Floor, yes it’s true. We had to take the elevator to the fourteenth floor then walk down a set of stairs to get to our floor. I took a quick shower that seemed to get more of the bathroom floor wet than me and then tried to sleep. I watch some TV for a while and couldn’t over look the fact that the TV remote was glued to the small table next to the couch. It seemed like a rough start to the tropical vacation that I had imagined. We didn’t bother unpacking and checked out in the morning. I’m not exactly sure how we ended up at our next hotel, but it was amazing and right on the beach. The Dude got us some deal were we ending up getting the roof top corner suite, above the penthouses, with a huge balcony for only $40 dollars more a night than where we had stayed the night before.

Eric Cedeno November 1993
Waikiki from my Hotel room

That day we cruised into town and I rented a longboard for the week. It was a heavily ridden nine footer, but it was definitely better than the rentals on the beach. I was stoked to finally get a chance to ride a longboard for a while. Before this point I had never had one for enough time to really get the hang of it. This was the real start to my adventures in longboarding (that still continues even to this day).

I didn’t understand why parents are real lazy when it comes to any sort of vacation. They just wanted to sit outside and read books. I figured people could do that almost anywhere. At least I was in Hawaii and couldn’t wait to go surf. 
Even though it was November I was already tan from spending all my time at the beach in California. I put on my orange Hawaiian trunks and headed for the lobby were my longboard was kept for me. My hair was long enough to pull back in a small ponytail, but I wore it down. I looked as Hawaiian as they come. I grabbed up my board and stepped out of they lobby into the sand and looked at the clearest water I have seen. I live in Southern California and once in a while the water will clear up, but it never compared to Hawaii. I had heard that the ocean water in Hawaii was warm and I wanted to find out if that rumor was true. The water that afternoon was about eighty degrees.  It felt like a huge bathtub with good surf. 
It was a long paddle out, even longer than O’fre (San Onofre) in San Clemente and that’s a long paddle.

Eric Cedeno November 1993
Waikiki from my Hotel room

Every morning when I woke up, I'd walk over to the balcony and check out the surf. Looks good, only a few people out. Put on my trunks, go down to the lobby and get my board and go surfing. I'd come in after a few hours to snack on some food and maybe sleep for a while. Then I'd go back out surfing again for a few more hours. Then I'd come in, take a shower, get dressed and go out to dinner with the family. I did this for a week straight, every day. 
My surfing improved rapidly. For the first time in my life, I was walking the nose, doing some switch stance and getting some epiclly long rides. With Diamond Head off to the left the view out in the surf was unbelievable. Rainbows in Hawaii have an added purple stripe on them. 
The local Hawaiians out surfing call all the sea turtles 'George' and the mainlanders 'Barneys'.

One day while waiting for then next set to roll up, a school of fish going by started jumping out of the water. One of the biggest Hawaiian dudes I’d ever seen said to his friend, " What kind of fish are those?" 


His friend answered akalini's or something and someone else said, "Those fish don't jump."

Then the big Hawaiian dude said, "You jump too, big shark come by." I knew there weren't any sharks out that day. Well al least that’s what I kept telling myself while trying not to look like it bothered me.  The Barneys out surfing did know any better though and it was funny to watch them looking around nervously. A few of them even started paddling in, which meant more waves for me. 


The next day I managed to talk my mom into giving surfing a try. I was really surprised when she put her book down and said yes. We rented a longboard from the hotel beach rental guy and then I gave her the run down on how to surf: When you see a wave, turn your board towards shore, paddle hard, bring your knees up to your chest, stand up and cover your head when you eat it. My mom was nervous to say the least, but she was a good sport about it and even brought our disposable water camera with her. I told her to hold on to my least and I’d tow her out to the inside area where the waves were smallest. She sat on the inside and watched me catch a few first.

Eric Cedeno November 1993
Surfing Waikiki with Mom

She eventually tried to catch a wave, but she just could quite get the hang of it. She later told me that I made it look easy and that surfing is actually a lot harder than she thought it would be. I was really happy she gave it a try and eventually I gave her a tow back to the beach. I think that was the last time, the only time that my mom ever sat on a surfboard and surfed with me. That was one of my favorite trips, mostly because I got to learn how to ride a longboard in Hawaii, but also because my mom tried surfing with me.

Eric Cedeno November 1993
Surfing Waikiki with Mom