…By that time, the 18-year-old Nuuhiwa was universally regarded as one of the world’s best surfers, he rode in a pliable open-knee stance, deftly blended one turn to the next, and cross-stepped with cool self-possession across the deck of his board. Expert in all facets of the sport—save big-wave riding—Nuuhiwa was a preternaturally gifted noserider, able to suspend himself on the tip for seconds at time. When Surfer magazine asked Phil Edwards to pick the world’s 10 best noseriders in 1965, he placed Nuuhiwa on top.

…Nuuhiwa receded into the background somewhat in 1967 and early 1968, then returned as a psychedelic glam-surfer with a quiver full of ornately airbrushed boards. He began to compete again, arriving at events behind the wheel of a paisley-covered Porsche 911, wearing aviator shades and a mink-trimmed coat, with one or two board-carrying lackeys in tow. Nuuhiwa’s compelling presence, as Sports Illustrated noted in 1969, was in part because the darkly handsome 6’1″ surfer was “one of the most unusual-looking young men in sport, [with] the imperious look of an Aztec king.”

…Nuuhiwa appeared in more than a dozen surf movies of the ’60s and early ’70s, including The Performers (1965), Golden Breed (1968), Wave of Change (1970), and Five Summer Stories (1972). He was also featured in Rainbow Bridge (1971), a documentary on rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix. He was named World’s Best Surfer in International Surfing Magazine’s Hall of Fame Awards in 1966 and 1967.