MAKIKI — Boredom turned into delight yesterday as dozens of hospitalized children were visited by some of Hawai'i's best surfers.

Top contemporary competitors such as Makua Rothman, Kala Alexander and Myles Padaca plus past competitors like Tom Pohaku Stone, Mel Pu'u and Bryan Amona were among the dozen surf industry people from Da Hui and Quiksilver to spread cheer and good wishes at Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children.

Quiksilver and Da Hui brought surf poster, caps, T-shirts and goody bags filled with candy, stickers, key chains and gifts for each child. The surfer autographed posters, took photographs with the children and gave them words of encouragement.

The occasion was a match up of the strong and healthy with the frail and sickly but in the end it was the strong that broke down and cried, taking away with them lessons of bravery and endurance from the children.

"These children have a lot of heart and a lot of spirit and they deal with their illness better than how we deal with our lives," said Stone, 57.

The surfers came not to give joy but to get it, Stone said. "They're going to cheer us up."

The surfers visited about a half-dozen youths in the playroom, and the awe and joy on their faces washed away any thoughts of illness as they treasured the moment.

Taylor Tagatac, 6, grinned from ear to ear as surfers posed to take photographs with her and signed posters. After five rounds of cancer treatment she was waiting for a final test to clear her of cancer so she could get back to surfing tandem with her father, Frank Tagatac.

Taylor said she was especially happy to get the autographs of Rothman and Padaca. "They said they would take me surfing," she said.

Julian Rimm, 14, said it was awesome to be in the same room with the surfers. A beginner surfer, Rimm, from Maui, had to stay out of the water for fear of infection but he said he would go back once he got better.

Rothman said he wished the boy Merry Christmas. "I told him never give up, anything is possible, just believe," he said.

From the playroom to the individual rooms, the surfers brought excitement to the patients — some who would be leaving soon and at least to one terminally ill 17-year-old boy, whose condition brought tears to Amona.

Lynne Wooddell, director of philanthropy at the hospital, said the visits from surfers, celebrities and musicians break the monotony of the children's stay.

"Kids more generally thrive and do better when they have some stimulation and visits from people they respect like the surfers," Wooddell said. "It helps elevate their mood, helps healing."