Editor’s Note: This feature is presented by our partners at White Claw.
Oahu’s North Shore may be the most well documented place in all of surfing. There’s Pipeline, of course, quite possibly the single most important wave in the sport, but there are world-class breaks all along the Seven Mile Miracle, and a rich community centered around them.
So that’s what made filmmaker Connor Trimble’s job so tough when documenting this hallowed ground. Unlike most of the other director’s in our Hometown Hype series, Connor had to tell the story of a place that had been told time and time again. How could he make it new? He turned his lens to the real people that live there and call the place home.
“The North Shore of Oahu is the Mecca of the surf world, but it expands far beyond the waves,” says Trimble. “It’s actually the community that makes the place so special. I think that’s the overlying theme of the entire thing: If there’s no waves there, the community would still be really special.”
Still, the North Shore is surfing’s proving ground and Haleiwa is the town center. So Connor needed to balance that fact. Just like any surfer, as an image maker, he’s had to put his time in there with over a decade of experience documenting the North Shore. He’s gained the trust of the community. And he pretty much nailed the tight balance in his film between emphasizing the importance of the place to the sport, and highlighting the community and other aspects that people don’t often see.
But we’ll let you be the judge. Enjoy our final installment of the 2025 Hometown Hype film series.
Directed by Connor Trimble
Featuring
Mason Ho
Jamie O’Brian
Brian Bielmann
Jon Pyzel
Moona Whyte
Rosie Jauffers
Jon Shirley
Kyle Useldinger
Noah Montes
Joey (Kahana) Cadiz
Christa Funk
Jake DiPaloa
Music
Fair Warning – Twin Fin
Down For the Ride – 808 Imposters
Executive Producers
Joe Carberry
Luke House
Special thanks to our friends at White Claw for making this celebration of surf communities happen.
