PROTECT

See the Deeper Calling: Kimi Werner

In honor of World Ocean Day, Costa is looking beyond the surface. Through the stories of Kimi Werner and Kai Lenny, See the Deeper Calling explores how
life on the water can evolve into something far greater: a source of purpose, responsibility and deep respect for the oceans that give so much.

Kimi Werner has spent her entire life shaped by Hawaii’s waters.

Born and raised on Maui and now living on Oahu’s North Shore, the freediver and United States National Spearfishing Champion learned from an early age that the ocean could feed her family, slow her mind and help her feel most connected to herself. What began as childhood dives with her father eventually became a way of life rooted in gratitude, presence and respect for the natural world.

As a young girl, Kimi would follow her dad into the underwater world as he spearfished to feed their family.

Those experiences became some of her deepest memories of connection and belonging. That tradition has come full circle as she now prepares fish for her own son’s lunches and shares with him the same wonder she felt as a child exploring Hawaii’s waters alongside her father.

For Kimi, entering the ocean still feels like returning home.

The noise of everyday life quiets. Gravity disappears. Her body relaxes and she reconnects with a calmer, more grounded version of herself. It’s a feeling she describes as both freeing and deeply familiar, a reminder that humans are part of nature, not separate from it.

That closeness has also deepened Kimi’s
sense of responsibility toward the ocean.

She understands how fragile and interconnected these ecosystems truly are. Around her table, fish from the ocean is traded for eggs from a neighbor’s chickens or avocados from nearby trees, creating the kind of community she believes the natural world was always meant to inspire.

At Costa, we believe that seeing the ocean more clearly also means seeing our calling to protect it.

It’s why we partner with people like Kimi who understand it’s more than a place for adventure or recreation. It is a living force that sustains every part of life on Earth. Her story reminds us that the deeper our connection to the water becomes, the stronger our desire is to protect it for future generations.