Tapuarii “Tapu” Laughlin

Age: 27 | From: North Shore, Kauai

Tapu has been surfing all his life and loves passing that passion on to others. His favorite part of teaching surf lessons is watching the “surf stoke” smile appear on people’s faces when they catch their first wave.

When he’s not teaching, you’ll usually find Tapu at the beach with his family—he’s a proud dad of three boys under three! He draws inspiration for his surf style from his mom and carries that family-first attitude into everything he does.

For visitors to Kauai, Tapu’s advice is simple: surf at least once and try poke. To him, Kauai is “the Garden Isle” and truly “God’s country.” His spirit animal in the water? The killer whale—powerful, playful, and always at home in the ocean.