Gerry Lopez recounting his first trip to Banzai Pipeline …
“On a clear and still Saturday morning in 1963, we drove by fun-looking waves at Hale‘iwa, Laniakea and Chun’s Reef. We stopped and checked each spot, but kept heading north. Tommy had Pipeline on his mind. I was 15 years old. Tommy was older and had his driver’s license and the car, so I went where he went.
There was not another soul on the beach when we got to the Pipeline. Glistening white sand spilled into the blue-green water. The wind was blowing gently offshore, and the surf was a perfect four feet breaking close to the beach. We couldn’t have asked for anything better for our first time surfing here.”