Dane Kealoha was 21 when he did this phone interview with Drew Kampion. It ran as a "Conversations" piece in the January 1980 issue of Surfing magazine.

Really good! You just get back from surfing the East Coast contests? You did okay back there?

Pretty good, I guess. I was lucky in New Jersey [Kealoha won the Grog's Seaside Pro], but I was tired by the end of the trip. Tired of traveling.

Especially Florida. It's so hot there, you know? And so humid! I'd actually rather surf in cold weather, because it kind of keeps the energy in me, you know, makes me paddle faster and everything. When it's hot and humid I just slow down.

You probably got used to cold water in South Africa, huh?

So let's see. You won the contest in New Jersey, and also won in Durban, right?

The Gunston 500. Shaun had won it six times in a row.

And then finally the guy from Hawaii . . .

How was it competing against Shaun and beating him when you both surf for the same company [O'Neill wetsuits]? Knocking him off the winner's stand after all those years must have been a little strange.

I think it brought us closer, actually. Not so much the contest, but just both of us being on Team O'Neill. It's worked out really good.

Yeah, but it wasn't as good as two years ago. Six-foot this year, maybe. But when we flew back to Durban, that's when we got really good waves, at the Bay of Plenty, for the Hang Ten contest. Ten-foot shorebreak!

And then PT (Peter Townend) won the contest, his first big win.

That's how many second-place finishes PT had. I think it was 33, something like that. It was the first time he'd ever won a contest, I think. A professional contest, I mean.


I guess the last time you were in South Africa you had some trouble when they didn't want to serve you in a restaurant. Was it different this time? [Note: two years earlier, Kealoha was refused service at a Durban diner because of his dark skin.]

Aw, that was the first time I went. This year it was fine. I got treated . . . equally, I guess I should say. No problems at all.

That's really good to hear. So how are you doing on tour? A lot of the established guys, Reno and Rabbit and Shaun, guys like that, have contracts and sponsors . . .

Yeah, I have different contracts too. Town and Country, Quiksilver and O'Neill. They cover my plane fares, renting cars, room and board and all of that. It really helps out, but I don't know how long that's gonna last. I'm kinda thinking about getting into something else in the future, you know?

Like maybe learning how to shape. Or maybe get into the clothing business or something. But for now, over these next three years, I'll just try to work hard on my surfing.

Because there's always gonna be younger kids coming up and pushing us older guys overboard, you know? I'd just expecting that. I give myself three more years, and then I'm gonna have to get into something else.

Well, you have a few more years in you still. What do you think of your chances of winning the world title this year? Looks like Rabbit's your main threat?

Aw, yeah. He's surfing good. He just won the Florida Pro, he's for sure going for another world title.


I guess he's just really consistent, because his surfing isn't as spectacular as some of the other pros.

Yeah, he's consistent, for sure. He's more a competition kind of surfer. Other guys, like say Buttons, he can go out any day, any time, any place, and just rip the waves apart. But when it comes to contests, he gets kind of nervous and can't really handle it. With Rabbit, in contests, he's really consistent. And outside of contests—I'm not saying he don't surf too good, but—he's actually better in contests then he is just surfing regular.

Have you surfed against Rabbit man-on-man?

I surfed against him in Japan, in the finals, and lost. Then we met in the Gunston, and I won.

Are your boards different this year? A lot of guys are on twin fins, what have you been using?

Twin-fins, mostly. I used them in Australia all the way through Florida. But I did take bigger single-finned boards to Africa. In the Hang Ten I used my single, but in the Gunston I used the twin. It's a 5' 10", and it works really good. It's almost like skateboarding.

Let's see. Well, everybody knows Hans [Hedemann]. He's looking really strong, he could be a contender next year for sure. From Australia, there's Tommy Carroll. He's young, but he might slip in [to the Top 16] next year and everybody's gonna know who he is then. In South Africa, there's a kid named Mark Price, he's really good. There's really hot young surfers all over the world now, I guess. You just gotta watch 'em and make sure you can handle 'em for for another couple years before they get 

Dane Kealoha (1980)

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