i see this Chinese tourist on the beach. i already knew it’s probably his first time by the way he was carrying his surfboard. and also by the way he was dressed. 
so as he paddled out, i followed him and watched closely. i knew this was an accident waiting to happen. he could barely paddle the board but since his wife was taking photos and watching him paddle out, there was no turning back. luckily the wind was blowing strong off shore so that’s the only reason he got out to the lineup. 
then he’s on the outside and had no clue how big the waves were. he was loosing his breath, he was breathing hard, and he could barely keep his head above the water. 
then i see a wave crush him and topple him over. he was in panic mode and the only thing that saved him from drowning was his life jacket. 
it was enough watching him suffer so i asked him “are you ok?” he looked me like he was mad and said “yes i’m ok!” omg, i knew right there that his pride was greater than the sea. as i watched him trying to paddle in, the current was taking him the opposite way. then a nice local surfer was paddling out and helped him back to the beach. in Waikiki, you get away with things like this because there are many lifeguards. but at Bowls, the surfers are the lifeguards. and this guy shouldn’t have even been out there that day. i’ve been seen a lot of Dive Surf rental boards at Bowls recently. shame on companies like that to let an experienced tourist simply rent a board and surf out places like Bowls. someday one of these tourists isn’t going to make it back to the beach. it’s an accident waiting to happen…
