At 13, Carissa Moore is poised to be the Michelle Wie of surfing.

Comparing a wave rider to a super swinger may sound like apples and oranges, but like the golf phenom, Moore shows a remarkable passion for her sport, plays with the boys, is a press darling (Surfer magazine named her Breakthrough Performer of the Year in 2004) and is getting notable contest results. Moore is also Wie's schoolmate — both attend Punahou School, where the surfer is an eighth grader and the golfer is a junior.

Moore's passport to stardom could be "NU The Movie," a new documentary by Ross Haines, which debuts Saturday at — where else? — the Pipeline Cafe in Kaka'ako. She's the youngest performer in the film, and one of the bright, fresh faces on the surfing scene.

"She's the next girl with a lot of potential," said Haines, a North Shore resident and surfer, who had been hearing the buzz about Moore for a couple of years. So he decided to include her in his project, which also features surf veterans such as Kelly Slater, Bruce Irons and Andy Irons.

"As far as female surfers go, people are talking about her being the next Kelly Slater," said Haines. "She's got all the elements, including style, to make her stand out."

All the fuss doesn't particularly impress Moore, who happens to idolize Slater. While she consistently places in amateur competitions, she still engages in mundane stuff. On Easter Sunday, for example, she took part in an egg hunt with her sisters.

"I would like to be a professional surfer," Carissa said in an interview last week before trekking to Fiji to surf. "But mostly, I just want to have fun. When I catch a good wave, I get really, really excited. I feel really good."

She likes to ride a big wave now and then but prefers the more modest ones — not just here, but in California and Australia.

"I do get scared of the really big waves," she said. She recalled the time she was dunked and found herself gasping for air.

All in a day's workout, of course.

Her mom, Carol, has a different take on the matter of water safety and monster waves.

"I'm scared for her all the time," said Carol Moore. "It's pretty scary when you're a parent — and when you're so far from the shore, it is scary. ... I support her 100 percent, but that doesn't mean I don't have fears."

Carissa has been lucky in escaping serious injuries, said mom. "Knock on wood, she's had the usual cuts and scrapes. We teach her to be safe. But traveling around the world teaches her a lot; she learns as she surfs."

Carissa maintains a journal at www.carissamoore.com.

"It's been good for her; she makes time to do this," Carol Moore said. "And she's received good feedback, particularly from friends she's met abroad."

Comparisons to Wie don't faze her.

"I don't really know Michelle Wie," Carissa said. "I've seen her a couple of times (on campus). But (like Wie), I want to try my best and do my best and see how far I get."

Carissa completed the footage for "NU The Movie" about six months ago at the surf breaks Kewalos and Kaisers, said her dad Chris, who also provided some shots.

Her surf practice routine changes, Chris Moore said.

"It's a fluid thing, not like basketball, where you can meet and work out," he said. "There are certain people she'll see a lot, but the workouts are not planned. She has some friends her age; she hooks up with them and some influence her. There's a boy, Ezekiel Lau, who's approximately the same age, and he surfs Kewalos a lot. Derek Wong, another kid, is a little older; but she watches him and tries to match his level of surfing. Watching is a big part of what Carissa does as she learns."

Carissa is racking up superlatives along with trophies.

In 2003, she was the youngest competitor in the Roxy Pro Hawai'i at Hale'iwa, where she finished fourth. Last year, she was first in the junior girls' heat in the Billabong Junior Pro at Kewalo Basin and she's garnered several other surfing honors.

Haines said he had to include Carissa in "NU The Movie" because "she's a young role model and an up-and-comer.

"Someday, she'll be at the top," Haines said. "I wanted to do a surf movie here to help expose the amateur surfers from Hawai'i. We have so much talent here, and some of them are kids."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.