Episode# 9 ; Surviving the Unthinkable: What a Shark Attack Taught Kaiulani About Saying Yes to Life

Written By Chrystal Dawn

Kaiulani Cole

LISTEN NOW

 

Shark Attack Survival and the Sacred Work of Coming Home to Yourself — Kaiulani Cole’s Brave Story

🎙️ with Kaiulani Cole

What happens when life cracks you open — in the middle of the ocean?

In 2023, writer, teacher, surfer, and mother Kaiulani Cole was attacked by a shark in her home waters off Maui. But this is not just a story of survival. It’s a story of healing, intuition, and returning to the sacred work of becoming yourself again.

With the guidance of her Hawaiian mentor Zelli, Kaiulani embarked on a journey of recovery that went far beyond the physical. Together, they explored spiritual healing, energetic shifts, and the power of voice and community. We also hear about her daughter Malia, who shared her own brave perspective in a TEDx talk.

This episode is an invitation into the mystery and meaning that can follow trauma — and the courage it takes to say yes to life again.

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

BIO:
Born on a lava field in the Puna District of the Big Island of Hawai’i, Kai was raised in the 80s and 90s in punk rock, working-class Santa Cruz, California. She took up surfing at the age of 10 and has spent her life chasing waves all over the world.

She was one of three women who led her UC Santa Barbara team to the College National Championship three years in a row. A public elementary school teacher for fifteen years, Kai taught hundreds of kindergarten through 3rd graders not only to read and write, but to live with integrity and reverence. 


Kai has taken Mary Oliver’s question quite seriously: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?


She has paraglided in Argentina, skydived in New Zealand, climbed pyramids in Mexico, and danced under exploding fireworks on New Years Eve on Copacabana Beach. She’s held ceremony at Machu Picchu, backpacked through Patagonia, pioneered a surf spot in Panama, been detained in customs in the Miami airport, and had lunch barefoot in the grass with the Princess of Rapa Nui. She’s explored castles in Spain and walked the Path of the Gods in Italy, held koalas in Australia, gone riverrafting in the Costa Rican rainforest, shared bananas with monkeys on Bali, and slept many a night in a volcano. She regularly listens to whales commune 70 feet underwater and sleeps in the Haeakala crater in her home on Maui. She’s danced with a shark and she lived to tell you about it today. 


Kai is currently following her dream of becoming a writer and is working on her first memoir. She’s married to the love of her life, Christer, the father of her two amazing daughters, Malia Moon, 13, and Sydney Sun, 10. She lives on the North Shore of Maui with her family and their pup, Zioness. 

 
Chrystal Dawn
Next

Episode# 8 ; What If This Is the Right Time—Even If do it in Your Messy Kitchen?