Duke Kahanamoku Statue

Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

A bronze, larger-than-life statue of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, "Ambassador of Aloha," stands in front of a bronze surfboard along the beach in Waikiki. Hawaii's most famous athlete went to the Olympics four times, and is called the Father of Modern Surfing. Tourists come here to pose at the statue, which is always piled high with leis in various states of mulching decay (Visitors are warned not to toss the flowers, which corrode bronze, but they do anyway).

The accompanying plaque says he is known as the "Father of International Surfing." In addition to his swimming and surfing prowess, he saved eight people from a capsized boat using his surfboard, was a movie actor from 1925-1933, and served as the Sheriff of Honolulu from 1934-1960. Duke died in 1968.

We saw other Duke statues in Hawaii, but this 1990 one probably has the best beach backdrop. And his ashes were scattered at sea off Waikiki beach.