Born and raised in Hawaii Darren Tatsuno started surfing at a very young age, the instant his body was upon a board it was love at first touch. As time progressed his level of surfing expanded and he began to compete. At the age of 20 years old, Darren began competing professionally. He admits it was an honor to be part of Ben Aipa's first coached surf team. "I was very fortunate to be coached and guided by an amazing surfer and legendary shaper. He also expresses gratitude for his past sponsors O'Neill and T&C. With them he had the accessibility to travel on the ASP tour. He had the opportunity to surf in California, Japan, Australia, England, France, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, and Hawaii.



The tour ended in 1990 and Darren moved to Japan in 1991 where he then surfed on the Japan Pro surfing tour. While on tour a close friend insisted on Darren opening a surf shop. The suggestion was intimidating because even though Darren was of Japanese ancestry the country viewed him as a foreigner. With tremendous help great friendships and motivation Darren became the first foreigner to open a surf shop in Japan. He coined it Nalu Surf Riders. "I wanted to educate Japanese surfers on Hawaiian culture so I carried Hawaii surf clothing brands and played Hawaiian music. I wanted people to feel like they were in Hawaii the moment they stepped in. I really enjoyed being part of Nalu." Darren experienced many great times in Japan and held many surf contests, which led him to be good friends with other professional surfers.



Following the seven years of surfing and operating Nalu, Darren felt it was time to return home to Hawaii. When he returned, he was given a chance to shape a board. He was provided with all of the necessities and resources it would require. Darren was excited because he's never shaped a board before. To his surprise the first board was exceptionally good. He rode it, corrected and perfected it, and by the sixth board his shaping skills were proficient. People identified Darren as unique because he was a professional surfer who became a shaper with natural raw shaping talent. Within two weeks of shaping Darren had over 20 orders and DTatsuno Surfboards was created. With the overwhelming demand he eventually built a custom shape room and since then his cycle has not stopped. With over 5,000 boards shaped, Darren has become a perfectionist who still prefers to shape by hand. Over the years Darren has created a wide variety of surfboard models ranging form competition boards, to intense Waimea guns. In the end Darren just admits surfing and shaping are what he loves to do.