Published on June 25, 2026 03:04 am
Everyone loves Cliff Kapono. Todd GlaserThe renowned photographer describes the 38-year-old surfer and scientist as a “special person” who can influence the level of conversation, no matter what the subject. Alex KiluanoThe filmmaker credits Kapono with helping him connect with his Hawaiian family. John Burns, PhDCalling him “one of the most prodigiously talented people I have ever met.” During a week I spent in Maui and Oahu, every local I met knows and loves Kapono. “Cliff Kapono?” said my guide on a hike outside Honolulu. “Of course I know Cliff Capono!”
Kapono, PhD, is known for his surfing as well as his science: He is a professional free surfer, professor at Arizona State University, and founding partner of the nonprofit. megalab. She is also the driving force behind Reef Week, a project supported by the Sandals brand rock, Where MegaLab, reefs and local communities team up to map reef breakdown around the world. One weekend in May, I joined a team mapping Honolua Bay in Maui.
why map
“Maps are the cornerstone of every successful civilization,” says Kapono. “They show us where our treasures are and they provide us with directions as to where we are going.”
Mapping reefs can seem esoteric if you’re not in the ocean on a daily basis – when I described mapping Honolua a Maui Uber driver asked me, “What does this even mean?”
In today’s era, it can be difficult to sell science for science’s sake. But coral reefs are living creatures that tell us a lot about the health of the ocean and, in turn, the health of our planet.
“The ocean is the lifeblood of the planet,” says Burns, Kapono’s MegaLab partner. “It’s giving us most of our oxygen, most of our food. They go together, the health of the ocean and the health of the reef.”
Kapono is fond of reminding people that we’ve mapped more of Mars’ surface than its oceans (“That’s nonsense,” he says), which means we’re leaving a lot of knowledge behind.
“Maps tell us where we have been and where to go next,” says Kapono. When it comes to a warming planet, maps give us a baseline to compare – and help us know exactly what solutions to implement. “By creating a map and contributing to a larger map of coral reefs in the world, we will be better prepared to adapt to a changing environment.”
The process of mapping a rock
Honolua Bay is the fifth surf break mapped by Reef Week, following Cloudbreak in Tahiti, Pipeline in Oahu, Jaws in Maui and Teahupo’o in Tahiti. Honolua – tiny, nestled on the northwest coast of Maui – is a marine protected area and offers some of the world’s best barrels. “I couldn’t imagine a more soul-shattering wave,” writes William Finnegan in the classic surf memoir. Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life. “I wanted it more. I could have had it all.”
The reef itself supports some of the best snorkeling I’ve had in Hawaii. Even on an overcast day when we head out for mapping, the clarity is exceptional. It’s great to contribute images that will ultimately help build the 3D map we are there to create.
The map itself was created using a combination of sonar data blue boatA small red robotic boat that tracks up and down in the bay, and underwater photos and videos shot by Megalab scientists and everyday citizens – including world-class surfers billy kemper And katie mcconnellAlso, local people from Maui came to help us map the reef.
While I self-deprecatingly express that my personal contribution to the map probably wasn’t much – equipped with a GoPro, I snapped a few 15-second videos, the longest I could hold my breath – I’ve been enthusiastically reassured by Kapono and several other scientists that all the images of the rock are valuable.
“Our initiative is to map one million rocks by 2030. And to do that, we have to train 10,000 people to map,” says Megalab researcher Riley Sokol. “So we’re training people to use tools like an iPad or a GoPro, where you just take video, or pictures, of the reef, and then upload it to our website, Map2Adapt“Where we’re now able to store the rocks that people map all over the world.”
And our mapping of Honolua resulted in real learning about the reef and how it manifests in world-class surf.
Kapono presented over the weekend, “These types of cracks and crevasses in Honolua are why we believe the wave is dynamic. It’s not uniform – it’s always changing, but in a predictable way.” “And the more features we can identify and the relationships between different features, the better we’ll be able to understand why these things, these creatures, bring us out as humans. They fascinate us.”
Science and surf combined
Kapono, as a surfer, is sponsored by Reef, and uses that relationship to fund Reef Week.
“Cliff is more selfless than people think,” Burns says. “He can take this route of, ‘Yes, they support me to surf. I’m going to pull out those budgets to go on surf trips and make this all about surfing.’ But Cliff has decided, ‘No, I want to put this financial support into science for these trips.’
In contrast, Kapono often uses the word “selfish” to describe his work, because ultimately, mapping reefs combines two things that are equally enjoyable to him.
“Understanding the complexities of our natural world brings me joy, and Experience Those complexities give me just as much pleasure,” he says. “I want to continue this as long as I can so that I can make an honest living doing both at the same time. I don’t see any difference between what I do and a surfer who plays music, or does art, or writes poetry. Science is my art.”
“Cliff is really a genius, and people have a hard time understanding that, because we humans are designed to categorize,” Burns says. “So, you look at him and you want to think like, ‘Oh, tall Hawaiian surfer, beach guy.’ But wait, like a mad chemist too? And a writer too? And a musician?”
Embracing all parts of herself was a process for Kapono, who, growing up, didn’t see anyone combining surf and science the way she had dreamed of. “Almost every single person”, including teachers and other scientists, told him it would never work.
“It’s no good being a surfer-scientist. None of my friends who were growing up to be pro surfers thought, ‘Yeah, cool, go get some data,'” he says. “No one was like, ‘This is growing up’. And I had to kind of move through all of it.”
The inspiration to combine his passions into a harmonious career came, in part, from Bo Jackson, the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-Star in two major American sports (baseball and football).
“I have eight different jobs. I’m a professor, I’m a professional surfer, I’m a (published) PhD scientist,” he says. “People will ask, ‘How do you do it all?’ Because Bo did it. But he is even more strange than me. “I’m the stupid version.”
It would be easy to call Kapono the keeper of the rock (others have). But he has no interest in it.
He says, “I don’t want to be seen doing ‘good’ work. I’m doing the work I want to do.” “I’m about science, I’m about increasing scientific literacy. I’m about data. I’m about stupid bullshit.”
