“It was a dark and stormy night. A shot rang out. Then I remembered. Over a thousand years ago ancestors of Polynesian travelers created a new water sport called, “hee nalu.” Surfing. A ring shot me in the ear. I woke up.”

A 50 foot wave? Surfing? In your dreams, beach boy wannabe. Surfers in Hawaii and elsewhere sometimes catch 40 foot waves. It’s not really surfing in the traditional sense, though.

To even surf those monster waves, surfers often need to be towed by jet skis farther out in the ocean. The monster waves don’t break the same as waves, say, on Pipeline or Sunset Beach in Hawaii. There’s not a barrel or tube. It’s more of a giant tumble.

Some modern day surfers, while riding a monster wave, have been known to say, “hooooooooly shoooooooooots…” and require a change of board shorts later.

Hawaii has a history of surfing like no other place on earth. Ancient Hawaiians surfed on real hardwood boards, none of that fiberglass and foam core. Real men use wood. But not anymore.

Surfers of yesteryear were not under the influence of video cameras which tend to record each ride for posterity. Ancient Hawaiians have their long, tall stories, too.

For example, there’s the surfing love story (Surfer Girl- Beach Boys) of a handsome Kauai chief who fell in love with a goddess who was surfing near Hana, Maui. How he got from Kauai to Maui is a mystery. That’d be one long wave, dude.

In another story, the Chief of Oahu kidnapped Kelea, a beautiful Maui chiefess while she was surfing.

Maui is a romantic place for surfer kidnappings among royalty.

The call of the wild isn’t limited to lonely men, sled dogs, and freezing your fanny off in the wilderness. Jack London actually wrote a short story of surfer love in 1908. It was called, “The Kanaka Surf” and describes young Jack riding a surf board through a barrel. He was tubing, man.

James Michener, something of a Hawaii fan, what with his giant book on Hawaii, and all—also wrote of surfing. Ahhhh, but old James knew what to look for.

Muscled Hawaiian beach boys? Nope. Michener had the surfer girl itch back then. From his book, Hawaii. “As she stood naked on the board her handsome breasts and long firm legs seemed carved of brown marble…”

Whew. Is it just me, or is it hot in here? I don’t remember that scene in the movie.

Professional surfing actually started in California.  However, it took off like a rocket in the mid 60s when Kimo McVay (Hawaii business man and surfer) created the Duke Kahanamoku Surfing Classic which featured the top 24 surfers in the world. The CBS TV network carried the competition live from Sunset Beach.

Since then, surfing has grown to become a worldwide sport. As in the beginning, Hawaiians have taken the lead with numerous world championships. Many surfers consider the world’s best surf to be in Hawaii.

The best surfer girls are here in Hawaii. Where else?

Want to know the best places to eat in Hawaii? Click over to Ono Dining for totally biased reviews on Hawai's best (and not so best) restaurants.