Behind the Shot

Legend has it that Banzai Pipeline got its name when surfing legend Bruce Brown, traveling with Phil Edwards and Mike Diffenderfer, stopped at Banzai Beach to film the surfers at the then-unnamed break. There was a construction project on the nearby Kamehameha Highway, and underground pipelines were being placed. Diffenderfer made the suggestion to name the break “Pipeline,” and it stuck. The name was cemented in surfing history in 1962 when American surf band the Chantays, released their hit instrumental “Pipeline.” The Chantays were inspired by Bruce Brown’s film Surfing Hollow Days, which featured footage shot at Pipeline.

Corey considers the waves of the Banzai Pipeline to be the most beautiful waves in the world. “Banzai Pipeline waves are just the most perfect waves. The waves were backlit so they are glowing, illuminated and look like ice.”

“It’s impossible to get an empty wave at Pipeline, but this was during the Pipeline Masters between heats, and no one was surfing this amazing perfect wave. There were only two people in the water at this time, and I was one of them.”