Kahanu Cuban

KAHANU CUBAN

Insta: @kahanucuban

From: Honolulu, Hawai’i

Fins: 10.25” Cruise Control, 10.5” Pivotal

Stance: Natural

Favorite Wave: Straight Outs, Kewalos

Favorite Saying: Ola ka ‘ōlelo (the Hawaiian language shall live)

Favorite Food: Ramen

Dream Surf Trip: Compete in the Noosa Festival in Australia

Results: 2016 Ala Moana Bowls HSA State Longboard Champion

              2019 Salt Creek NSSA National Longboard Champion

Following its inception Makai Fins were being surfed around the world in places like Indonesia, Holland, Japan, Costa Rica and beyond. But one place was missing, the birthplace of surfing, where the sport and a real way of surf life came from, Hawai’i. Through family we found the perfect surfer in Hawai’i for our fins, 2016 State Champion Kahanu Cuban.

Kahanu exudes Hawaiian style in every post he uploads. As local as that Tori Richards Aloha shirt, as island as that ahi poke and lau lau plate lunch. His evident island upbringing has bestowed a style highlighted with heavy-footed carves yet light as a butterfly when hanging ten.

Right after sending him our 10.5” Pivotal fin, our biggest fin, Kahanu sent back clips of him styling on the North Shore. Initally he felt the fin might have been too big but after feeling it out was amazed how easily it turned and loved the hold during noserides.

“The Pivotal Fin works so well. It holds really well so I can stay on the nose for a long time. At first I thought I was gonna have a hard time turning because the fin is so big (10.5”) but I could smoothly get in my turns,” said Kahanu. 

Besides surfing Kahanu is one of the few people on planet earth that can speak the Hawaiian language fluently. This is almost as rare as spotting a white rhino, a disappearing language seriously in need of revival. He attended and graduated from Kamehameha Schools a high school for Hawaiians that focuses on native culture, traditions and academics. This year he graduated from UH Manoa with a degree in Hawaiian Language, further direction towards upholding the island tradition.

Coming from a surfing family it was a given he would be riding waves. Soon he was mixing it up with the best of the best on the North Shore to Waikiki and all points in between. The hard work paid off when he was crowned the 2016 HSA Hawai’i state longboard champion. A little later he won the National Longboard Championship on the NSSA tour in California, further cementing his competitive career.

Competition is not everything and being blessed calling Hawai’i home Kahanu has the best surf in his backyard. Whether nearby at Kewalos, Ala Moana, Waikiki when it’s on, or out to Makaha secret East Side, North Shore, the options are endless. And when adventure calls there are several other neighboring islands with world-class surf on them too.

Hawaii is regarded as having the most challenging and ultimate waves in the world. Performing in classic Hawaiian surf then surely must be the ultimate pleasure, a feeling Kahanu is definitely familiar with. We are honored to have Kahanu putting our fins to the test in the most sacred of surfing grounds.