On a typical Saturday afternoon at Waimea Bay Beach Park, the water was not the domain of big-wave surfers.

The waves were just 1 to 2 feet. Not a surfboard in sight.

But everybody seems to know of Eddie Aikau. Five beachgoers interviewed by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser who come from as close as Haleiwa and as far as Brazil all were aware of Aikau’s legacy of self-sacrifice and the big-wave surfing contest named after him.

All expressed dismay that the contest was canceled for the 2017-18 season. All said they hope it is revived in future years.

“I became aware of Eddie’s story about 20 years ago. We know about it, even being from the Big Island,” said Clayton Bramel, 41, now of Haleiwa, who has lived on Oahu off and on for the past five years. “So it’s sad now. I don’t really know the facts about why there’s no contest. On social media you see a lot of people blaming others. You hear all the negativity. Some say the family is money-hungry. Others say it’s the sponsor’s fault. I don’t know what to believe.”

Kylie Wheeler and Eleny Merrill, both 18, are friends from Waialua High School who live in Haleiwa.

“(The Eddie) brings everybody together,” said Wheeler, who moved to Hawaii from Maryland three years ago. “I’d heard about it, and (in 2016) I got to experience it.”

Merrill said she and her brother got up in the middle of the night to see the contest in 2016.

“It was already straight traffic at 3 a.m., and we had to park (a mile away) and walk,” she said. “But it was worth it.”

Henrique Schmeil, 22, is a fashion photographer originally from Brazil who lived in Kahuku for a year before moving back to New York this month. He spent one of his last days at Waimea Bay, a place he grew to love.

“I learned about Eddie here, at this beach, on the Fourth of July. Some people near me were talking about him, how he was a lifeguard here, and I learned about him through them. And I saw some of the documentary (‘Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau’),” Schmeil said. “He (sacrificed his life) for everyone. That goes along with how people treat each other here. They’re not just for themselves.

“I feel like, here, this beach, is a place anyone can come,” Schmeil continued. “There are others where tourists aren’t as welcome. Here, everyone is fine with everyone. Even people who don’t know each other treat each other like friends, family.”

Patrick Lorenzo, 61, of Wahiawa, has been coming to Waimea to bodysurf since Aikau was the first lifeguard on the North Shore.

“I’m kind of at a loss for any answers,” he said of the cancellation of the contest. “It’s just too bad. I guess you need money to run anything. People, if they know him, or know of him, his name rings in their ears.”