U.S. Sen. Barack Obama showed off pretty good local-boy form slicing through the waves at Sandy Beach yesterday as his motorcade toured the Ka Iwi shoreline of O'ahu.

Obama's tan line clearly revealed that he hadn't taken off his shirt in the sun in a while. But he confidently dived into the waves shortly after 11 a.m. and ripped through what can sometimes be treacherous waves at Sandy's.

A Secret Service agent asked Honolulu lifeguards about the 2- to 3-foot surf conditions and requested that a lifeguard accompany the Democratic senator into the water, "which we obliged," said Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the city's emergency services department.

Obama caught five waves in 30 minutes, Cheplic said.

Cheplic quoted Obama's escort — Honolulu lifeguard Peter Erwin — as saying Obama "obviously knew what he was doing. He was experienced. Senator Obama was getting some very nice waves. He was handling himself well."

Sandy's has crippled and killed experienced surfers and body-surfers. But on small surf days like yesterday, anyone can enjoy the waves, said John Clark, a former Honolulu Fire Department deputy chief and author of the "Beaches of Hawai'i" series of books.

"If it's a really big south swell and we have overhead surf, that's when you get into the expert-only range," Clark said. "But on small days, it's like every other surf spot. When the conditions are good, pretty much anyone who can swim can ride waves there."

Obama's body-surfing session yesterday followed a stop at Halona Blowhole, the same spot where he had scattered his mother's ashes.

At the blowhole, he wore slippers, a Chicago White Sox ball cap, a gray T-shirt and black shorts as he picked apart what appeared to be a tuberose and lantern 'ilima lei and tossed the petals into the ocean.

He had left his children at Hanauma Bay with friends and was joined at the blowhole by his Punahou School friends Greg Orme and Bobby Titcomb, as well as Secret Service protection.

After rejoining the group at Hanuama Bay, Obama's motorcade returned to his Kailua rental home. Obama later emerged in a white polo shirt and jeans shortly before 2 p.m. and his motorcade headed to the USS Arizona Memorial.

Once aboard the memorial that straddles the remains of the sunken battleship, Obama shook hands with sailors and compared tans with reporters.

He held hands with his eldest daughter, 10-year-old Malia, as they approached the memorial's wall bearing the names of the sailors and Marines who died aboard the Arizona during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Like others who have been following Obama's Hawai'i visit, Clark has enjoyed seeing images of Obama doing ordinary Island activities, like sharing a shave ice with his daughters.

"It's pretty neat that he's still in touch with all of the local activities that we do here in Hawai'i," Clark said.