The season-opening Maui Pro, featuring the world’s best women surfers, was put on hold after a shark attack at Honolua Bay.
Semi-finals of the World Surf League competition were set to get under way, with Australians Tyler Wright and Sally Fitzgibbons to square off, when a male recreational surfer was attacked.
It reportedly happened about three hours before competition, just off-shore near a river mouth area.
The man suffered injuries to his leg and was brought to shore where he underwent CPR before being taken to hospital.
WSL chief executive Erik Logan said the event was off for the day and organisers were working with local officials to assess when it would resume.
It comes a just a week and a half after a woman suffered severe trauma injuries to her front torso in a shark attack in West Maui.
Retired Australian great Mick Fanning was attacked by a shark during a WSL competition at Jeffreys Bay in South Africa in 2015 but escaped unharmed.