He moved to Oʻahu with his family in 1959, and at the age of 16 left school and started working at the Dole pineapple cannery; the paycheck allowed Aikau to buy his first surfboard.

The City & County of Honolulu gave Aikau the task of covering all of the beaches between Sunset and Haleiwa.

Not one life was lost while he served as lifeguard of Waimea Bay, as he braved waves that often reached 30 feet (9.1 m) high or more, and saved the lives of more than 500 swimmers.

[10] On February 28, 1978, TV producer John Orland was the last person Aikau rescued at Waimea Bay.

It developed a leak in one of its hulls and later capsized about twelve miles (19 km) south of the island of Molokaʻi.

[11] Although the rest of the crew were later rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Cape Corwin, Aikau's body was never found.

According to maritime historian Mac Simpson, "Aikau was a legend on the North Shore, pulling people out of waves that no one else would dare to.

It is also partially in response to the controversy over the "unnaturalness" of tow-in surfing; many surfers feel that being towed in to a wave, as opposed to paddling, is against the spirit of the sport.

Austin, Texas, band Full Service recorded a song about Eddie Aikau called "In A Rescue," found on their 2006 album "Recess."

Eddie's story was told by Karen Kilgariff on episode 160 of the podcast My Favorite Murder, which aired February 14, 2019.

[23] In 2022, Aikau was featured in Naomi Hirahara's anthology We Are Here: 30 Inspiring Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Have Shaped the United States that was published by the Smithsonian Institution and Running Press Kids.