📍Wainiha, Kauai, HI 96714, USA
1964 – 1982“Laird John Zerfas was born in San Francisco in March 1964, and his father, a Greek immigrant, left before his first birthday. While he was still a baby, his mother, Joann, moved with him to Hawaii. In 1967, when he was about three, playing on the beach at Pūpūkea on Oahu's North Shore, he met a young surfer named Bill Hamilton, and introduced him to his mother; Bill married Joann and became Laird's stepfather, and Laird took his name. Laird grew up on the North Shore and later on Kauai's north shore, surrounded by big waves, and he was in the ocean constantly, learning to surf under Bill's influence and quickly becoming one of the best young surfers on the island. He was a wild, disobedient boy, and as one of the few white children at a Hawaiian school in the 1970s, he was often picked on and got into fights. He found refuge and honesty in the ocean, surfing, swimming and diving, and he grew into a powerful, fearless young man. He was not interested in competition; he wanted to ride the biggest waves possible. In the 1990s, with friends on Maui, he pioneered tow-in surfing, using jet skis to pull surfers into giant waves too big and fast to paddle into, opening up waves like Jaws on Maui. In 2000 he rode a massive wave at Teahupo'o in Tahiti that changed what people thought was possible. He also helped develop stand-up paddleboarding and foil surfing. He divides his time between Hawaii and California with his wife, the volleyball player Gabrielle Reece.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today