In 2023, Clyde Aikau was asked, “What does the future of The Eddie look like?” He answered with characteristic honesty: “We’re getting older. It’s hard to keep going down to City Hall, from department to department, getting permits. It’s tough, you know? We’re hoping to hook up with a large company and have them run with it. But if that doesn’t happen, I’ll do it again. It’s just so important for me to keep Eddie’s legacy moving in the right direction.” In 2024, Clyde got his wish. Rip Curl stepped in as the headline sponsor of the most prestigious big wave event in the world—an event Clyde founded, directed, and famously won in 1986. By almost every metric, The Eddie blows every other surf contest out of the water—from its all-killer invite list to the sheer volume of beachgoers, from its cultural gravitas to its unmatched global reach. It is not just a surf event. It’s a spiritual reckoning. The Aikau legacy will never dim. Clyde made sure of that. Frame from Kuio Young.

“The End of an Era”

Rest in Power, Clyde Aikau.

news // May 5, 2025

Words by Stab

Reading Time: 2 minutes

This morning, the surf world woke to heartbreaking news: Clyde Aikau has died. According to his family, Clyde passed away peacefully at his home in Waimanalo on Saturday evening. He was 75.

The younger brother of Eddie Aikau and winner of the first-ever Eddie Aikau Invitational in 1986, Clyde leaves behind a profound legacy and a tremendous hole in the North Shore community he called home for more than five decades.

Born on Maui in 1949 as the youngest of six children—Clyde, Fred, Myra, Eddie, Gerald, and Solomon III—the Aikaus moved to Oʻahu in 1959. Clyde and Eddie were especially close, and in the late ’60s and early ’70s, the brothers began carving their names into North Shore lore, charging Sunset and Waimea alongside the original vanguard of big-wave surfers.

After Eddie’s tragic passing in 1978, Clyde carried the family’s torch—committing himself to ocean safety, big-wave riding, and the perpetuation of Hawaiian culture.

His 1986 win at The Eddie, held in his brother’s honor, was nothing short of poetic. And for three more decades, Clyde kept paddling out when the bay called the day, competing for the last time in 2016 at age 66.

While most surfers spend their sixties steering well clear of Waimea’s ledge, Clyde was still hurling himself over its precipice—air-dropping from the peak with the same calculated defiance that defined his youth.

Beyond the lineup, Clyde served as a North Shore lifeguard and a Waikiki Beachboy. He studied sociology at the University of Hawaiʻi and later dedicated himself to helping unhoused families—working with the Department of Education to provide school supplies, transport, and support to those in need.

While it’s been no secret that Clyde had been battling pancreatic cancer in recent years, those closest to him will remember his relentless optimism and deep-rooted strength—qualities that endured even in the face of terminal illness.

Clyde is survived by his wife, Eleni Aikau, his son Haʻa Aikau, his sister Myra Aikau, and a large extended ʻohana of nieces and nephews. The Aikau family wishes to express their deepest gratitude to the community of Hawaiʻi and to friends and family around the world for the outpouring of love and support.

Details regarding memorial services will be shared once confirmed.