Kaiulani Cole

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Maui Shark Attack Survivor Shares Her Real Story-Surfing, Healing, & Saying Yes to Life!

🎙️ with Kaiulani Cole

What happens when your worst year becomes the beginning of something sacred?

In 2023, writer, mother, teacher, and surfer Kaiulani Cole was attacked by a shark while surfing near her home in Maui. But this is not just a story about survival — it’s about what comes after.

It’s a story of healing, awakening, and remembering who you truly are.

With the guidance of her Hawaiian mentor Zelli, Kaiulani began a deep process of spiritual recovery — one that brought her back to her body, her voice, her culture, and her calling. In Hawaiian tradition, the shark is considered an ‘aumākua — a guardian spirit. What at first seemed like a near-death experience soon revealed itself to be something more: a reckoning, a return, and a powerful wake-up call to step back into her sacred work.

We also hear about Kaiulani’s daughter Malia, whose own TEDx talk shares another perspective of resilience, and the bond between mother and daughter in the face of profound challenge.

This episode is an invitation into the deeper waters of healing. It’s a reminder that the hardest moments of our lives can sometimes be the most meaningful — and that saying yes to life, again and again, is one of the bravest things we can do.

If you’ve ever felt cracked open by life, this story will meet you right where you are.

🌀 You are not broken. You are becoming.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

The moment Kaiulani was struck by what felt like “a giant muscle” in the water
What it’s like to survive a shark attack—and what came after
The spiritual meaning her mentor Zelli shared: “You have big work to do”
How grief, trauma, and deep intuition wove through her recovery
Rebuilding safety in the very place she was attacked
The power of community, ceremony, and honoring your story
Why fear grew when she stopped going into the water
How her daughter Malia’s TED Talk became part of their healing
What Kaiulani wants you to know about aliveness, loss, and rising again
Why saying “yes to life” is at the heart of her brave story

⏱ Timestamps:

00:00 – Welcome + setting the scene in Maui with Kaiulani Cole
05:03 – The shark attack: “I felt myself get slammed by a giant muscle”
07:12 – Beginning the healing process: trauma, grief, and community
09:25 – Meeting Bethany Hamilton and recognizing a shared experience
13:49 – Reflections on survival, intuitive knowing, and letting go
18:39 – Lessons from Mano (the shark) and ancestral teachings
29:25 – The long journey of recovery—and choosing to rise
34:39 – Healing in ceremony, sisterhood, and storytelling
39:09 – Getting back in the ocean and reclaiming joy
52:02 – Listening to intuition and embracing the sacred work