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Keoni Watson comes full circle
By Alyssa S. Navares
Finding that perfect wave became part of the job description for Makaha native Keoni Watson, who traveled to foreign lands as a professional surfer more than a decade ago and rode untouched waves hidden throughout pockets of the world.
While his travels to places like the Philippines, Japan and Peru exposed 34-year-old Watson to a variety of cultures, he feels his journey has “come full circle” – back to the west side of O‘ahu – where he's retired from the professional scene to enjoy the natural beauties of Makaha.
“I just feel so lucky to live in a place like Hawai‘i,” said Watson, who moved over to the business aspect of the surfing industry and serves as Billabong's Hawai‘i sales representative.
Today Watson still spends his every free moment in the ocean, but in addition to surfing with his 16-month-old son Koa at “secret west side spots,” he is gliding across the water's surface in his one-man canoe or pulling the sea while on his paddle board.
Double wins in paddle races
Watson championed the sport of paddle boarding with two consecutive wins – one for the Quiksilver Edition Paddle Race and a second for the Catalina Classic. In July, he placed first in the Quiksilver contest while racing 32 miles from Moloka‘i to O‘ahu. He came in at 5 hours and 39 minutes for the Stockboard Solo Elite division, with Maui's Kiva Rivers trailing closely behind. Stock paddleboards are 12 feet in length, while other divisions – like the unlimited category – allow participants to use boards of any size.
A month later, Watson went on to win the 32 nd Annual Catalina Classic's stock paddleboard division with a time of 6 hours and 30 minutes. The race, which stretches from the Isthmus on Catalina Island to the Manhattan Beach Pier, started in the mid-1950s by Los Angeles lifeguard Bob Hogan and has become the most historical paddle race in the world.
“I really feel that paddle boarding has taught me all I have to know about the ocean and ocean currents,” Watson said.
Traveling on the Indies Trader
While surfing competitively right out of high school, Watson joined a Quiksilver travel team – in which he, a few other professional surfers, a cinematographer and a photographer voyaged over seas to find new waves. The photos and videos would be used in surfing magazines and videos, but the location would always remain a secret.
“It was just part of the surfing exploration,” said Watson, who said a trip would last for a few months. “We'd come back and leave (the surf spots) up to the imagination of other surfers across the world.”
Former professional surfer Evan Slater, who is currently an editor at Surfing Magazine , traveled with Watson on several occasions to Indonesia and the Philippines. Both recalled a trip to the Philippines when they encountered a military group called the New People's Army, which the U.S. declared to be a terrorist organization.
While their camera equipment and surfboards made them stand out from the other residents, the crew was left unharmed and safely ventured to a nearby surf break, which they named Capels – after one of the Filipino seamen who paddled them around the island.
“No matter how bad the situation, Keoni is able to make them good,” Evan Slater said. “He saved us a couple of times (when dealing with the NPA) because he can go anywhere and put people at ease.”
Others in the Philippines, such as some members of a small coastal village, celebrated the crew's arrival with a disco party and karaoke singing.
Surfers travel on Quiksilver's 75-feet-long Indies Trader, which has become well-known not only for its bright orange and blue hull but also its reputation of circling the world about three times. Featured in numerous surf videos and magazines, the Indies Trader has also been home to many professional surfers, such as Kelly Slater and Tom Carroll, and helped find more than 98 surf breaks throughout the world.
A marine biologist on board will study and monitor global reefs through a program called Reef Check. Such studies help to spread awareness on how to prevent further damage from over fishing.
Back at home
While representing Billabong in areas such as Hawai‘i, Guam and Tahiti, Watson gets the chance to help the younger generations of surfers. He often assists with Rell Sunn's Menehune Surfing Event at Makaha, in which he has watched now professional surfers – like Jason Shibata – develop in the sport.
His experiences being exposed to the sun for long periods of time recently led him to co-create a sunscreen called Vertra. He and partner Bobby Higa – also Billabong's regional marketing director for Hawai‘i – started an affordable but high-end cosmetic quality sunscreen two years ago which can last up to six hours in the water.
From traveling the world to taking on entrepreneurial endeavors, Watson has become seasoned in all forms of the surfing lifestyle. His appreciation for Hawai‘i will continue to flourish as he begins a new chapter of pure island living.