Published June 25, 2026 03:04AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Everyone loves Cliff Kapono. Todd Glaser<\/a>, preeminent photographer, describes the 38-year-old surfer and scientist as a \u201cspecial person\u201d who can affect the level of conversation, no matter the topic. Alex Kiluauno<\/a>, filmmaker, credits Kapono with helping him connect with his Hawaiian family. John Burns, PhD<\/a>, calls him \u201cone of the most freakishly talented people I\u2019ve ever met.\u201d Across a week spent on Maui and O\u2018ahu, nearly every person I meet that\u2019s local knows\u2014and loves\u2014Kapono. \u201cCliff Kapono?!\u201d exclaims my guide on a hike outside of Honolulu. \u201cOf course I know Cliff Kapono!\u201d<\/p>\n Kapono, PhD, is as known for his surfing as for his science: he\u2019s a professional free surfer, a professor at Arizona State University, and a founding partner of nonprofit MegaLab<\/a>. He is also the driving force behind Reef Week, a project supported by the sandal brand Reef,<\/a> where MegaLab, Reef, and local communities team up to map reef breaks across the world. Over a weekend in May, I joined the team to map Honolua Bay in Maui.<\/p>\n \u201cMaps are the cornerstone of every successful civilization,\u201d says Kapono. \u201cThey show us where our treasures are and they provide us direction of where we\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n Mapping reefs might seem esoteric if you\u2019re not in the ocean on a daily basis\u2014one Maui Uber driver even asked me, when I described the mapping of Honolua, \u201cWhat\u2019s the point of that?\u201d<\/p>\n Science for science\u2019s sake can be a hard sell in this day and age. But coral reefs are living beings that tell us a lot about the health of the ocean and, in turn, the health of our planet.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ocean is the lifeblood of the planet,\u201d says Burns, Kapono\u2019s MegaLab partner. \u201cIt\u2019s giving us most of our oxygen, most of our food. They go hand in hand, ocean health and reef health.\u201d<\/p>\n Kapono is fond of reminding people that we\u2019ve mapped more of the surface of Mars than our own oceans (\u201cThat\u2019s f-ed up,\u201d he says), which means we\u2019re leaving a lot of knowledge behind.<\/p>\n \u201cMaps tell us where we\u2019ve been and where to go next,\u201d says Kapono. When it comes to a warming planet, maps give us a baseline to compare to\u2014and help us know what solutions to actually deploy. \u201cBy having a map and contributing to a larger map of the coral reefs in the world, we\u2019re going to be better prepared to adapt in a changing environment.\u201d<\/p>\n Honolua Bay is the fifth surf break mapped by Reef Week, after Cloudbreak in Tahiti, Pipeline in O\u02bbahu, Jaws in Maui, and Teahupo\u02bbo in Tahiti. Honolua\u2014small, tucked into Maui\u2019s northwest shore\u2014is a marine protected area and delivers some of the world\u2019s best barrels. \u201cI could not imagine a more soul-stirring wave,\u201d writes William Finnegan in classic surf memoir Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life<\/em><\/a>. \u201cI wanted more of it. All I could get.\u201d<\/p>\n The reef itself supports some of the best snorkeling I\u2019ve done in Hawai\u2018i. Even on the overcast day we go out mapping, the clarity is exceptional. This is great for contributing images that will ultimately help make up the 3D map we\u2019re there to create.<\/p>\nWhy Maps<\/h2>\n
The Process of Mapping a Reef<\/h2>\n