Hawaii’s North Shore is the world’s most dangerous 7-mile stretch of beach. Massive swells, life-and-death rescues, and "the best job in the world" -- yet often the most hazardous one -- is the compelling drama of Hawaii's big wave guardians. As surfers push the limits and crowds increase, a small group of heroes have reinvented water safety on a parallel track to the rising dangers.

Big Wave Guardians is the story of Hawaiian lifeguarding and how it is intricately intertwined with surfing and the contemporary culture of Hawaii. These big wave guardians risk their lives to save others in the world’s most dangerous waves while inventing innovative water safety techniques.

Big Wave Guardians tells the dramatic stories of Hawaii's big wave guardians - the lifeguards who risk their lives in the world's most dangerous waves. It traces the history of lifeguarding in Hawaii from Duke Kahanamoku and the Waikiki Beach Boys in the 1920s to Eddie Aikau on Oahu's North Shore in the 1970s, to Brian Kealana and Terry Ahue pioneering the use of personal watercraft (jet skis) with the Hawaiian lifeguards in the 1990s, to the death of big-wave surfer Sion Milosky and the formation of the Big Wave Risk Assessment Group in the 2011.

Intertwined with the history of lifeguards is the growth of surfing, from the early days of Waikiki to the big-wave discoveries on Oahu's North Shore. Throughout the documentary, a cast of some of the world's best watermen and women, such as 11-time world champion Kelly Slater, big-wave chargers Mark Healy, Greg Long and Keala Kennelly, and Hawaii's most notable lifeguards including Clyde Aikau, Terry Ahue, Mark Cunningham, Dave Wassel, and Johnny Angel discuss the risks of surfing these life-threatening waves and the role of these lifeguards. Along the way, hear the true life-saving stories from top surfers who wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for these selfless big wave guardians.

Big Wave Guardians is the first in a series of feature-length films called This Surfing Life.