Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell Audiobook By Chas Smith, Joan Jett - foreword cover art

Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell

A True Story of Violence, Corruption, and the Soul of Surfing

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options

Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell

By: Chas Smith, Joan Jett - foreword
Narrated by: Chas Smith
Try for $0.00

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.33

Buy for $17.33

Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell is surfer and former war reporter Chas Smith's wild and unflinching look at the high-stakes world of surfing on Oahu's North Shore - a riveting, often humorous, account of beauty, greed, danger, and crime. 

For two months every winter, when Pacific storms make landfall, swarms of mainlanders, Brazilians, Australians, and Europeans flock to Oahu's paradisiacal North Shore in pursuit of some of the greatest waves on earth for surfing's Triple Crown competition. Chas Smith reveals how this influx transforms a sleepy, laid-back strip of coast into a lawless, violent, drug-addled, and adrenaline-soaked mecca. 

Smith captures this exciting and dangerous place where locals, outsiders, the surf industry, and criminal elements clash in a fascinating look at class, race, power, money, and crime, set within one of the most beautiful places on earth. The result is a breathtaking blend of crime and adventure that captures the allure and wickedness of this idyllic golden world.

©2013 Chas Smith (P)2020 Tantor Water Sports Crime Surfing Sports True Crime Exciting Organized Crime Biographies & Memoirs State & Local Witty Americas United States

Featured Article: The Best Audiobooks About Surfing

Massive waves, breathtaking beauty, precious wildlife, extreme athleticism, spiritual allure— these are just a few of the things that draw people from all over the world to the ocean. For some, surfing is about adrenaline and adventure; for others, it can be a way to heal and connect with nature. Surfing audiobooks, both fiction and nonfiction, reflect this variety of perspectives, experiences, and philosophies. Find a list of the best surfing audiobooks, perfect for surfers, diehard surfing fans, ocean lovers, and even avid audiobook listeners looking for an exciting beach listen or an engaging nonfiction title.

Featured Article The Best Audiobooks About Surfing
Fascinating Storytelling • Excellent Documentation • Interesting Content • Social Intelligence • Adventure Nonfiction

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant
Good listen
I lived Chaz's North Shore experience in the 80's for about 17 years.
It was the Balls I have so many crazy intense soul filling memories !
Thanks Chaz but beat u to it I just wasn't keen enough to write a book.
I actually took on Heavier than you.
Hawaiian Mana is Real !!!
Thank you Hawaii Nea!

Real

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fucking guy is the only one who could really tell the truth about the North Shore and Hawaii. It’s funny because everybody knows what it’s like and he had the balls to tell it. good on ya Chas!

Chas is the shit.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is an excellent book, which documents the intricacies of the violent realities that exist for any surfer who feel they have the mettle, thevbravery and enough mental screws loose in their mindset to endure the alpha male dominated, day to night 24 hour chose and drama. I liken this book to Jon Krakauer’s, “In to Thin Air,” an adventure nonfiction book about similar in chaos and drama that unfolds while climbing mount Everest. That's a tall order to claim, I know! However, being a surfer and mountainer myself, I can relate to the this amazing piece of journalism. Plus the narration is done by author, Chas Smith. He is remarkable in telling his story.

If you are a true Surfer you must surf on the North Shore, Once

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
having no background to surfing, and never even seeing the Pacific, this book kept me.
as much as it follows one man, this book truly is the voice of hundreds. engaging from the point of several cultures and where they meet. time to visit Hawaii with a new found respect, and hesitancy.

a truly entrancing novel.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Chaz is a good writer with a sense of social intelligence of a complex local North Shote hierarchy. Worth a read.

Another view of the the surf industry and the north shore

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews