KAHALU'U — What started as a happy summer day in Waikiki for the Leuta family Monday ended in tragedy.

Leialoha and Fatu took their grandson to the Honolulu Zoo and their son, Kristopher, and daughter, Jynee, went to the Kapahulu groin to play swimming games with friends.

Kristopher, 18, leaped from the pier once and never surfaced, said his mother, Leialoha. Kristopher broke his neck and drowned.

"Everyone tried to rescue him," said Leialoha Leuta said. "But he sank to the bottom."

Evidently the water wasn't deep enough for Leuta's dive. Low tide had come just after noon, and he made his dive at about 4:30 p.m. Leuta was unconscious when his friends pulled him ashore. His sister, who was with the group, called Leuta's mother to come quickly.

"It's so sad," Leialoha Leuta said. "We won't see our boy no more. My boy always smiled. In every picture, he is smiling."

Seated at their kitchen table of their Kahalu'u home, the Leuta family sorted through a pile of pictures from Leuta's graduation from Pearl City High School last month.

There's a picture of Kristopher with his father, smiling a giant grin. A picture of a smiling Kristopher up to his chin in lei. And a picture of Kristopher smiling and standing arm-in-arm with his school friends.

The area where he died Monday is a popular spot for kids, said Ralph Goto, Honolulu water safety administrator. At the end of Waikiki, near the zoo, the concrete pier is popular with sunset walkers, fisherman and kids who jump into the ocean.

Eight signs posted along the area warn of the dangers of diving off the pier, Goto said.

Leialoha Leuta said she had told her son many times not to jump into the ocean from that area. Most days the 285-pound, 6-foot-1 Kristopher listened to her warnings.

"No one listens to their parents all the time," she said. "I told them all not to do that stuff. But you can't be with them all the time.

"Kids don't read warning signs."

Kristopher, who was an offensive tackle for the Pearl City football team, had just started working at the same tour company as his dad the day after his graduation, said Fatu Leuta.

"We are very protective of our children," Fatu Leuta said. "We're very strict."

Kristopher's aunt Carla Auyoung said Kristopher, the third son in a family with five children, played the peacemaker. He would be the one to always greet aunties and uncles at family gatherings with hugs and kisses.

"Everybody that knew him loved him," Auyoung said.

The family has not completed funeral arrangements, but wanted to let people know that all of Kristopher's friends are invited.

"I just hope no other parents go through what we're going through," Leialoha said. "To bury your child ... it is so hard."