The SURFER Interview with Mark Cunningham, by Chris Mauro, ran in the November 2005 issue of SURFER, when Cunningham was 50 and newly retired as a North Shore lifeguard. This version has been slightly shortened and edited.

With the renaissance we’re in right now in terms of design and experimentation, is interest in bodysurfing going up?

I think so. I can see where people are going, "Well, let’s check out bodysurfing too.” It's just another way for people to experience waves and the ocean. And I think it will give them a new appreciation for their boardsurfing. They may not take it so much for granted, or it’ll give them another way to get in the water, and maybe find a new lineup, find a different way to ride.

I guess the best part, too, is you don’t need that great of a wave.

Sometimes I don’t need waves at all. I just go swimming in the ocean. And I wish that was something more people would get hip to. You don’t need fins, you don’t even need a board, just strip down to your trunks or wetsuit and dive into a shorebreak or go swim in the ocean, look at the whole thing from a different vantage point, as opposed to jockeying for a prime spot in the lineup and putting out the vibe like, “Next one is mine.”

The ride itself is only a fraction of it all.

Exactly. The actual act of riding a wave is like 5% of our experience. Getting to the beach park or the bluff and checking it out, going down the trail, walking across the beach, you know, sort of posting up, doing your stretches, putting on your sunscreen, paddling out. Without all that we’d be missing something very special. I dig just diving under waves and talking to friends or looking back at the beach at your lineups and landmarks. It’s just the whole dance.

So is it true you actually surf really well?

Ah, that’s a stretch. But I do enjoy surfing. I have what my friend Jackson Browne calls a “gentleman’s thruster.” But you’ll rarely see me on the North Shore because I don't want to make an ass of myself. I don't want to blow my cover. I’ll go to less crowded spots when I go and do what I call my “standup comic routine.”

Where did the decision to be primarily a bodysurfer originate?

I started surfing a reef off Niu Valley where I grew up, but it was pre-leash. So to be a surfer back then you had to be a strong swimmer and you sort of had to know how to bodysurf so you could ride waves on your board. And sort of an older neighborhood guy, wonderful guy, Herbie Kaninson, he was a local out at Sandy Beach, and he saw me swimming and bodysurfing after waves. And he goes, “Hey, you're doing that more than you're standing on the board. Why don't you try out these fins and come to Sandy's with me?" So I did and I just took a real liking to it. I was tall and gangly and uncoordinated as an adolescent so was falling off my board all the time, and this was shortboard revolution era—when designs were just really crude, and there was a lot of crap out there that just did not work. So maybe that’s my excuse for not being such a good surfer. But my long, skinny, gangly body fit at Sandy Beach and Makapuu real easy. I just really enjoyed it.

I first started going out there when I was on break from school at UC Santa Barbara, where I was playing water polo and on the swim team. I was in the best shape of my life. There I was, 20 years old and just fit as a fiddle, and stoked out of my mind. Mind you, this was before Boogie boards were invented. So imagine the Pipeline lineup without any sponges out there. It was just a bigger deal, too, in terms of how people thought about the place. I mean, back in the day, early on, it was just like, “Wow! You can surf Pipeline?” And now everyone and his brother is out there.

One thing that is so impressive about your work out there is that you’ve shattered the average career arc of a Pipeline surfer.

That’s because the surfers are taking off at the peak and getting the crap beat out of ’em, while I’m on the shoulder picking and choosing [laughs].

Well, when I was younger and stronger and more flexible and would heal faster, yeah, I took a handful of crazy drops. But bodysurfing is just such a different animal than surfing.

Where did that dedication to Pipeline come from, do you think?

There’s an old saying, I think by Woody Allen, that 90% of success is just showing up. And that’s all I did. I didn’t set out to be a Pipeline guy, it just was a natural development. It felt good. And because I knew how cool it was, and how beautiful it was, and because I just wanted to see Pipeline morning, noon and night, I made it a point to live there. So for many years I had little beach houses on either side of Ehukai Beach Park.

Do you still see people dedicating themselves to it like that?

Sure. A few. One classic example is Tamayo Perry. Local boy living there and he’s said, “This is my course, and I’m gonna be one of the guys at Pipeline.” He's doing what I did all those years ago, checking on it morning, noon and night. Another guy whose dedication I’ll never forget is Joey Buran. For years leading up to 1984, when he won the Masters, he was truly devoted to the place.

Was there ever a time when you were over it?

Yeah, towards the end of my career in the Pipeline guard tower I was getting a little I jaded, a little cynical, a little over it. But as soon as I took my new job at the headquarters in Honolulu I was more of a dawn patrol weekend warrior and I just got fully stoked on it again because it was more of a treat.

What’s it like to have the North Shore backyard invaded by visitors year after year?

Honestly, I have nothing but admiration for surfers from around the world who save up and make the pilgrimage. I always kind of dug it that, you know, the North Shore being the Mecca that it is, that people from around the world come by and inevitably they stop by the Pipeline tower and go, “Is this Pipeline?”

No, because there are no signs—not a damn sign on the entire North Shore to tell you where you are—so they’d come to the lifeguard tower and we’d end up talking story. People from around the world. I just really admire them for saving the money and putting it aside and doing a little splurge there for a couple of weeks or a couple of months. That’s admirable.

How will you stay in shape now that you’re officially retiring as a lifeguard?

Just continue playing, you know—paddleboarding, snorkeling, bodysurfing, boardsurfing. I love paddleboarding, that's really what has kept me in the game for a lot of years. I just did the race to Molokai with a partner, so I went halfway. But what’s funny is I’m not a real disciplined person.

I'm positive, believe me. I need events, whether it's a rough water swim or a paddleboard race, to train for and keep me motivated. The kids and chicks are starting to beat me more and more, and I don’t want to make a total ass of myself. If I didn’t a competition to prepare for, I’m afraid of what kind of shape I’d let myself get into.

As a Hawaiian lifeguard, do you get the sense that you’re part of a pretty heavy fraternity of legends?

It’s something I’m proud of, yes. Absolutely. To think that when I first came into the department Butch Van Artsdalen was still up in the tower. Tiger Espere, who recently passed away, was a lifeguard at one time. Eddie Aikau of course was a lifeguard with us on the North Shore. Brian and Buffalo Keaulana were lifeguards; former world champ Jimmy Blears was a lifeguard, Darrick Doerner, Rell Sunn, the list goes on. I’m so stoked to be part of that crew.

Do you consider yourself a “waterman?”

Funny you should ask. I’ll tell you this, after being on a boat during that Molokai paddle race I just mentioned, I know I’m not a seaman. I'm not a sailor. That’s not a real good thing for a macho lifeguard to 'fess up to. But I get seasick just looking at boats. The classic saying about that is, “First you’re afraid you’re gonna die, and then you’re afraid you won’t.” Seasickness, motion sickness, is just the worst thing ever.

You’re not used to being above the water I guess.

That’s right. I’m rarely high and dry.

Now that you're 50, looking back on your time as a surfer, is there one thing or idea that jumps out?

I guess just how blessed and lucky we all are to be surfers. It's almost ridiculous. I mean, you look at the world news and so many people are struggling, yet we have the luxury and vanity to go dabble in the ocean. I can’t describe the sense of gratitude I have at this point in my life for that. It feels like we're all getting away with something.

With that in mind, is it a little easier at this point in your life to let a wave go by? Y’know, give it away?

For sure, yeah. I’ve had more than my share of waves. So it’s real easy for me to pass on a session or let someone else have a wave, because I always know there’s gonna be more.

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

Interviews

Features

The Sunday Joint

Videos