Big Wave Legends Gather for The 2025 Rip Curl Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational Opening Ceremony

There is perhaps no other event in surfing with greater cultural significance than The Eddie.

And while nothing matches the exhilaration of receiving the green light to run the contest, the reverence of the Opening Ceremony stands in a league of its own. 

At sunrise on December 5, Waimea Bay was already stirring as a clean 4–6-foot swell rolled toward the shoreline, hinting at what the three-month waiting period might deliver. 

By late morning, the steady trickle of people making their way down to the Bay had turned into a crowd. Hundreds had gathered, including invitees and alternates of the 2025/26 Rip Curl Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, the Aikau ʻOhana, sponsors, and the wider North Shore community. Waimea had become a place of tribute as surfers from around the world came to honour the legacy of legendary Hawaiian waterman, Eddie Aikau.  

2023 Event Winner, Luke Shepardson put it best when he said, “this event is less of contest and more of a celebration of Eddie’s legacy.”  

This year carried extra significance as the group not only remembered Eddie, but also honoured his brother Clyde Aikau, the 1986 Event Champion, who passed earlier this year and had been a pillar of the event for decades.  

The ceremony began with a pule, or Hawaiian blessing. It was followed by singing and hula from the Pūnana Leo o Waialua Keiki and Kumu Ka'ulamealani Diamond and Halau. 

Competitors were introduced and presented with their jerseys, a mix of returning veterans and eager first-timers hoping for their chance should the right swell materialise. 

The surfers then gathered their boards to form a circle to receive the blessing from the Royal Order of Kamehameha I before making their way to the shoreline for the paddle-out. Led by Clyde’s son and 2025 invitee, Ha'a Aikau, along with fellow Event Invitee Makua Rothman, the competitors received the traditional ocean blessing in the middle of Waimea Bay. 

“It was a really beautiful circle,” said last year’s runner-up, Mason Ho. “Everyone got to catch a wave, usually, it’s flat on these Opening Ceremony days, but today there was a nice wave out there. It was really moving hearing Ha'a [Aikau] speak on behalf of Uncle Clyde, because Uncle Clyde usually speaks. It felt like a passing of the torch of some sort. It was definitely a little sad this year because Uncle Clyde was all of our hero, but it was really beautiful because everyone was cheering for him out there, and there were a lot of nice stories shared.”  

This year marks the second year of Rip Curl’s partnership with the Eddie Aikau Foundation to bring this iconic event to life.  

“We are honoured to be here at Waimea Bay for our second Opening Ceremony,” said James Taylor, Rip Curl’s General Manager of Marketing. “Last year we experienced heavy rain, which we were told is a blessing from the ancestors, and seven days later the Bay erupted and The Eddie ran for the 11th time in its history. We had some light drizzle today which we hope will bless us again this year, but either way, we feel honoured to be back and to be part of the Aikau Ohana.”

With the ceremony complete, attention now shifts to the horizon. December 7 marks the start of the waiting period, running through until March 6, 2026. The Eddie only runs when Waimea produces legitimate 40-foot faces and the conditions align for a one-day event. It has been held just 11 times in its 41-year history, most recently on December 22, 2024, when Landon McNamara took the win. 

Now, the countdown begins. Waimea will decide the rest.