Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
The North Shore of Oahu is a surfer's paradise. Gorgeous beaches, epic waves. But lurking underneath all that stunning, natural beauty are some very dark forces: Crime, corruption, drugs.
It's a very different side of the surf world, one that surf journalist Chas Smith writes about in his new book "Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell."
Before Chas became a surf journalist he wrote about war and conflicts around the world. He had run-ins with Hezbollah, was chased by Somali pirates and was even caught in the middle of Al Qaeda crossfire.
Yet, in his book he writes that none of those things frightened him like the North Shore of Oahu.
Chas stopped by the studios recently to talk about how the North Shore could be scarier than a war zone.