Because of the crowded summer conditions, the team is helping the Hawaiian lifeguards at Ala Moana beach. Jason takes his position in the lifeguard tower on the beach; Dawn is out in the water on a surf board; and Kekoa is patrolling the beach. Sean comes by to observe the team working together under “normal” lifeguard conditions. Kekoa notices a mother looking around for her son. Kekoa points out that she sees a little boy that fits his discription at the concession stand.
Two young women come up to Jason, seeing him wearing his cowboy hat, and call him “Paniola,” the Hawaiian word for cowboy. They flirt with him. Out in the water, KIMO, a surfer, hits on Dawn. She reminds him that he is working, but perhaps they can talk later. LESLIE, a tourist who is trying to surf for the first time, comes up to Dawn next. She gets Kimo to give Leslie some lessons. Meanwhile, Leslie’s girlfriend is floating on an air mattress. She is unsteady on it. Suddenly, she falls off. Dawn, Kekoa, and Jason all notice. Because she is the fastest swimmer, Kekoa should be the one to make the rescue, but she hesitates for a split second. Dawn, not hesitating, jumps in and begins the rescue. Jason and Kekoa provide excellent back up. The girl friend is okay, but Sean is worried: why did Kekoa hesitate? Pulling her aside, he tells her to think about it and talk with him later.
At HQ, Mitch receives a message. He reads it and becomes immediately concerned. It’s a wedding invitation: Hobie’s getting married! Mitch thinks he’s way too young. Dawn announces that she was married at nineteen, but doesn’t say anything further. Without wasting a second, Mitch heads over to the Hilton Hawaiian Village to stop the wedding. Mitch arrives at the hotel to find the place abustle with plans for a big luau which will follow the wedding rehearsal. Mitch meets his future in-laws, LYLE and BETTY FORSAM, a boisterous, controlling but amusing couple. Hobie is there, standing off to the side. Mitch confronts him. Hobie says that he had no idea what was happening: he and Sarah had originally come to the islands just for a vacation and were going to call Mitch to sur-prise him. Hobie shows Mitch the engagement ring he has bought for Sarah. It cost him two months salary.
Mitch reminds his son that marriage is very different from a vacation. The bottom line is that Mitch thinks they are moving along too fast, no matter how in love they think they are. What’s wrong with waiting? Just then, Betty and Lyle come rushing by, telling them it’s time to head for the rehearsal. Don’t want to be late for that. The wedding rehearsal is being held at the lagoon of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Eve-ryone is there, including a Hawaiian priest who will make sure that the ceremony will be blessed (no need taking any chances, says Betty). Mitch wants to know what the rush is. Betty reminds him that the wedding is tomorrow! Mitch decides he needs to talk to Ho-bie-pronto. Kekoa comes up to Sean. She explains to him that her father, of Japanese heritage, had wanted a son. She has therefore always tried to be perfect, and neither he nor she can ac-cept anything less. Because she is afraid not to miss, she hesitates. Now, she is afraid her need for perfection is going to get someone killed, and feels she must leave the team. Sean understands.
The team is in the water preparing for the next trial. Sean points to some jetskis located not too far from the shore. Everyone thinks this trial will be easy-until Sean tells them he wants them to walk underwater all the way to the jetskis before they can ride them back. Mitch catches up with Hobie. Hobie tries to be calm, but knows that Mitch does not ap-prove. He insists that he is doing this because he loves the Forsam’s daughter, SARAH. Mitch suddenly has a horrible thought: is the rush because Sarah is pregnant? Hobie as-sures him that she is not. Lyle is nonplussed: he doesn’t think there’s much of a differ-ence if they get married or live together, whatever makes them happy. Mitch is in for another piece of bad news: apparently, Hobie has told everyone that Mitch is a renowned psychiatrist! The team walks along the bottom of the ocean in teams of two. Jason and Allie, JD and Kekoa. They pass spare air in a bottle between them. Arriving at the jetskis, Kekoa and Allie get on one, Jason and JD on the other. Jason reminds Allie that since the two of them have shared the same air, they have shared the Hawaiians’ most intimate act. He tells her she tastes like strawberries. As he and JD roar off, Allie wishes that he were older. The team is now practicing jetski water rescues. They take turns jumping off and being pulled back on the sled dragged behind the jetskis.
Suddenly, they hear screams from tourists on the edge of the cliff, near the “blow hole” site. A girl, TIFFANY, has fallen into the water and has been swept into the volcano tunnels. Without hesitation, and disobey-ing Sean’s orders, Jason dives into the water and is carried inside the blow hole tube. Jason finds Tiffany, scared and running out of air. He shows her how to time the surges and take a breath between them. Then, he leaves, promising to get help. Jason fights his way out of blow hole. He explains the situation.
The Coast Guard is arriving, but they will not be there in time. Jason is all ready to go back in to try to save Tiffany. Sean says they must come up with a plan first. He decides they should use the “leap frog” method to bring her out. They will go back into the tube, get flat against the wall and out of surge, and hold hands. Then, they will pass Tiffany between them to safety. Unfortunately, since she hasn’t had lifeguard training, she could die during this maneuver. But, if they don’t do something desperate, she will definitely die when the air space in the blow hole goes away with the rising tide. Allie will remain outside as backup, just in case this goes horribly wrong. This will be a particularly difficult test for Kekoa, since failure is almost assured, but she tells Sean she is up to it. With little time to spare, everyone gets back in the water. They ventilate, get psyched, and start the maneuver.
Sure enough, Tiffany loses oxygen and drowns on the way out. The team tries to resuscitate her, along with the help of the paramedics who have just arrived. But their efforts seem to be in vain. Kekoa, with her warrior spirit, doesn’t give up. She keeps pounding on Tiffany’s chest. Even after eve-ryone thinks it’s too late, Kekoa keeps trying. Finally, Tiffany sputters a faint amount. Then, a little more. She regains consciousness. Her persistance has saved Tiffany’s life. Unfortunately, Jason knows that he has cost himself a place on the team by not heeding Sean’s warning and being only for himself. Allie can’t believe it, but when she sees Sean’s stern face, she knows that Jason is probably correct. The team is elated by Ke-koa’s victory over her fears.
A photographer has arrived to take pictures. Betty has made sure everything is set. However, the rehearsal quickly turns into a comedy of errors when the ring bearer, who is sailing in an outrigger, collides with the float carrying the wedding party. The photogra-pher plunges into the water. Mitch and Hobie both revert to lifeguard mode and dive in. Betty, trying to make sure nothing happens to the ring, falls in as well. Then, Lyle falls in. Mitch and Hobie, as usual, save the day. Lyle is happy that Mitch apparently has had some lifeguard training. Betty begins crying: it wasn’t supposed to be this way! Later, after Mitch and Lyle have dried off and changed their clothes, the fathers go out to the Hilton Hawaiian golf course to talk. Lyle says that he agrees that the kids are awfully young to be married. He pretends like he doesn’t care, but he really does.
He would rather have them wait, but they seem determined so he and Betty decided to push it, to make them really understand what a commitment they are making. Mitch understands him better, but also sees that Betty and Lyle are taking a big risk. He also confesses to Lyle that he is a lifeguard. Lyle is not upset at this revelation at all. On Waikiki beach, Mitch talks to Hobie and Sarah. He tells them that now is the time to experience life, not get tied down. Hobie and Sarah say they love each other and they’ve discussed it. And, they’ve decided to hold off the wedding-for now. They have plenty of time. Because everything is set up for the wedding, Lyle and Betty decide to renew their own vows.
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