I saw what appeared to be an unclaimed wave. But just as I approached, a stone-faced teenager got on the same wave. He put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me off the wave. I gave up and paddled inOver several weeks in Makaha I learned that what looked like mafia behavior was more complicated. “We got nice people here, but if you treat them bad, they’ll treat you bad,” said a man sitting on the beach. On the subject of Makaha and its customs, there is no higher authority that Richard “Buffalo” Keaulana. He is the most prominent of Makaha’s famous “uncles” --- the mostly Hawaiian elders who serve as guardians of the community --- and is revered throughout the islands as the perfect “waterman”. In 1977 he started a surfing contest that has a party atmosphere and multiple events. “Uncle Buff” is also pragmatic in the running of his contest. Tourists often returned to their rental cars to find windows smashed and wallets missing. So he identified the locals responsible for the break-ins --- “all the thieves and make-trouble guys” --- and hired them as security guards. The thefts mostly stopped.