Kelis Kaleopa’a

Aloha my name is Kelis Kaleopaʻa, I am a Native Hawaiian professional surfer born and raised in Waikīkī I am a lover of everything nature, a big family person and I’m super passionate about my home, heritage and the culture of the Hawaiian kingdom.

My whole family surfs haha! My grandparents to my parents and being raised in Waikīkī my whole life I was bound to be a surfer. I was first put on a board at only a few months old with my mom and ever since I’ve been a water baby. I fell in love with surfing because of the people/ place that raised me. Waikīkī is so special and you can feel that connection when you are surfing.

The ocean, sun and nature obviously haha, but I truly love it because of the history of the Hawaiian Culture and people, we are so rooted in everything our home (Hawaiʻi) has to offer and it’s so special.

Probably at home watching Seinfeld and resting. It’s very rare I’m not in the water surfing so on the rare occasion I’m not I’ll be at the māla (garden) with my grandma, or Pilates or at Costco. Everyone calls me tutu because I love just cruising when I’m not in the sun haha!

I think our surf culture is one of the uniques ones because of our past, our kings and queens would surf the same exact spots we are and when you go out to those spots you feel that mana and pilina (connection) to them. I’ve been very fortunate to travel to amazing places and getting to experience other surf cultures is a blessing and they’ve all been similar in a way where the surf
community is very strong and passionate everywhere I’ve been, I would say the only difference is their cultures in general, every place has different histories and I think that’s what makes every culture unique.

I think my most memorable experience as a surfer in Hawaiʻi would be surfing with my mom and grandma at our home spot Kapuni (queens). It was just a very full circle moment, you know being raised by an ocean family all my life, my mothers life and grandma’s life. It was just such an epic moment to share our love for each other surfing together.

It means a lot, the twin fin does so many amazing things for our community and not many hotels do that you know, so I feel very honored to be apart of this amazing group of people who love to be involved with the community, and it also gives me an opportunity to give back as well. I think it’s so important in this day and age to set healthy examples for the future of Hawaiʻi and the twin fin has done that and by them letting me be a part of this journey is amazing, and I’m beyond grateful!

It’s right in the heart of Waikīkī! It’s so close to everything in Waikīkī, and it has the most killer views so you can see the waves 24/7 and it’s just practical for surfers and even non surfers. And the vibe is very surfy… if that makes sense.

It’s heartwarming because like I said, not many franchises in Waikīkī give back to the community and that’s what’s so cool about the twin fin is they give me and other ambassadors that platform to really play our role and give back. I’ve been influenced my whole life to give back to the place that gave you everything, and having the twin fin family backing us up on that is everything. My community also feels involved and seen… which is very rare is Waikīkī. So mahalo twin fin ʻohana.

To keep doing what we’re doing 🙂 My hopes as a twin fin ambassador is to keep this amazing connection with the community and team, they are truly awesome people with great visions for the future!

I feel like I would use, grateful, wow, and yessah haha!