There's some gender inequity going on in the waves off Kuhio Beach in Waikiki this week.

In a twist of fate, the women are getting to surf for pay while the men are being left on the beach.

The Roxy Jam Honolulu women's longboard surfing contest got under way yesterday at Kuhio Beach. It is the first time in Hawai'i that a professional longboard surfing contest for females has been sanctioned by the Association of Surfing Professionals.

"I didn't realize it was such a big thing," said Lauren Taylor, a former Kaua'i surfer who now resides in Huntington Beach, Calif. "But that's cool. I think women definitely deserve to have their own contests like this."

It is part of a series of contests sponsored by Roxy — a women's surf-apparel company — for female longboard surfers. There are also Roxy-sponsored contests in California, France and Australia.

"We wanted to come to Waikiki for obvious reasons — it's beautiful here," said Danielle Beck, the director of sports marketing for Roxy. "But we also wanted to give the surfers here a chance to compete, and at the same time, give some other surfers a chance to travel and surf in Hawai'i."

The contest was intriguing enough to lure the current world champion — Jennifer Smith from San Diego.

Smith, who won the 2007 world championship last month at Biarritz, France, advanced to the quarterfinals yesterday.

"The biggest pressure I feel right now is that I'm in Hawai'i and there are a ton of girls who can kill it who I didn't even see in France," said Smith, 21.

Indeed, the Hawai'i contingent showed yesterday that they have long been ready for a professional event.

Jennifer Koki of Honolulu had the best heat of the day, posting a two-wave score of 17.75 (out of 20) in her third-round victory.

Five years ago, Koki's name was Jennifer Lee and she never envisioned getting prize money for surfing in a contest. Now married, Koki said she came out of a break from surfing to enter the Roxy Jam Honolulu.

"I decided to take a break five years ago for my family and stuff, but now I'm back into it," said Koki, 24. "I'm shellshocked at the level of competition now and the money they're offering. I think it's great."

Koki actually beat world champion Smith in the third round, but both advanced to the quarterfinals (the top two surfers from each four-woman heat advance).

"It's awesome to have the world champ here, but honestly, I felt like I had nothing to lose," Koki said. "I think I had the advantage over her out there today because I know this spot."

Kelia Moniz of Honolulu also proved her worth yesterday as the poster girl for the contest.

At 14, she is still an amateur and the youngest competitor in the field. Still, Roxy selected her photo for the poster promoting the contest.

"I was really stoked because I felt like I was a part of the first ASP-sanctioned event in Hawai'i" Moniz said. "But there's so many good surfers here, I was fearing them a little bit."

Her fear didn't show as Moniz won her third-round heat and received a near-perfect score of 9.0 (out of 10) for her best wave.

Of the 16 females advancing to the quarterfinals, eight are from Hawai'i: Koki, Moniz, Maikalani Martinez, Miku Uemura, Megan Godinez, Geodee Clark, Crystal Dzigas and Livia Nahinu.

Godinez, 16, said she trained for the contest for several weeks.

"As soon as I found out they were coming to Hawai'i, I started training," she said. "This is such a good experience for us and I hope we get more contests like this."

Also yesterday at Kuhio Beach, the opening round of the World Title of Tandem Surfing was completed.

Makaha's Brian Keaulana and Kathy Terada — the defending world champions — won their heat yesterday.

"I think we had the best position in the lineup, which allowed us to get the bigger waves that ran for a long time across the reef," Keaulana said. "When you can get that, the rest is easy."

Other Hawai'i tandems to advance were Duane DeSoto/Brianna Holguin, Bear Woznick /Krystl Apeles, Chuck Inman/ Tiffany Rabacal, and Kalani Vierra/Blanche Yoshida.

The Roxy Jam Honolulu and World Title of Tandem Surfing are scheduled to continue today, with the finals set for tomorrow.

Both events are part of the Duke's OceanFest. For information on other events in the OceanFest, visit www.dukefoundation.org.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.