Category: Maui Surf
The Aloha Classic Professional Windsurfing contest is slated to begin today at Ho’okipa Beach Park just outside of Paia. The event is not only one of the longest running wave sailing events in the world, it is also considered to be one of the best. Competitors from Hawaii and all over the world are on Maui to give it a go at arguably the premier wave sailing spot on the planet. Divisions range from juniors to grand masters to the mens and womens pro events. The professional field is jam packed with the best names in womens and mens windsurfing.
Check out the Aloha Classic website for a complete schedule of events. Not only do Billy and I look forward to checking out the competition, we are proud that MauiRealEstate.com is one of the event sponsors. Good luck to all of the competitors this week!
The National Weather Service has issued a High Surf Advisory for the North Shore of all Hawaiian Islands except for Lanai. The surf is being generated by a storm over 1,000 miles to the north of the state. The storm is expected to track to East switching the swell direction more towards the North East. This could lead to a High Surf Warning for the Eastern Shores. The swell is expected to build over the next few days peaking on Monday or Tuesday. For Surfers, the swell is likely to start a little rough with frequent sets, large numbers of waves between sets, short periods between the swells and stronger than usual rip currents. The swell is supposed to clean up as it gets larger. There is a fair possibility that we might see surf with up to 20 foot faces or more at the swell’s peak. This is about the threshold at which Jaws begins to break. However, the North East Swell direction may not be favorable for Maui’s most famous big wave break. Regardless, there will be some big waves breaking on Maui’s East and North Shores over the next 3-4 days.
The surf has been big and clean over the islands over the last couple of weeks. The national weather service just ended the high surf advisory that occurred over the last couple of days on the North Shores of the Hawaiian Islands. The South Shores also had a run of advisory level surf with another on the way. It is worth noting that the criteria for a high surf advisory varies by shoreline in Hawaii. While on the North Shores, it takes wave heights of fifteen feet on the face to generate an advisory. On South, East and West Shores the advisory level is much lower.
Here is a photo of some “smaller” fun surf on the North Shore of Maui from sometime in the last couple of weeks. Photo Courtesy of Daniel Sullivan.
Another interesting note on wave heights. When it comes to looking at waves and surf forecasting, I have always relied upon The National Weather Service Forecast as a primary source. They do not provide a daily discussion, but they do a good good job reviewing both short and long term forecasts. Yesterday’s discussion brought a new aspect to the surf forecast. I have always assumed that forecasted wave heights covered the range of swell size on the sets. For example, on this last swell they forecasted heights between 14 and 18 feet. This is pretty large surf by any standard. However, when I was driving by the surf I noticed a few particularly large sets of waves that seemed to be bigger than what they predicted. I dismissed my observations as the byproduct of the doldrums between summer and winter surf. It had been a while since I had seen big surf and I thought my mind was over exaggerating the height of some of the set waves along our coast. Yesterday’s discussion and forecast indicated that I may not have been seeing things. The discussion revealed that the forecast of 14-18 foot swell heights was on the low end of observed heights. These were the wave sets that were coming in with a frequency of once every seven minutes or so. There were larger sets coming through every 20 minutes or so + or – every 10 minutes. There were still even larger “clean up sets” coming through every hour + or – 30 minutes. The result was that there were sets that were in the extra large range coming through every so often. This means faces of 20 feet or more. These are conditions that demand superior fitness and tremendous skill. Novices should steer clear of the water.
The North and West facing shores of the Hawaiian Islands have slowly been coming to life over the last month. A series of small to moderate swells have been gracing the shores of the islands at intervals of about 5 days. This week the storm track was set to provide us with a small to moderate swell today with the potential for high surf starting Thursday. Billy and I went out at one of the local spots last night and the ocean looked more like a lake than a surf break. Despite the meager size of the waves, we managed to have some fun and catch a few good little rides before dark. All of the above factors made this morning’s High Surf Advisory such a surprise. When the first swells started to hit the buoys late last night, it was much larger than anticipated. This morning’s small and glassy conditions should build thoughout the day to reach advisory heights of 15 feet on the face by this evening. The large swell and almost no wind will make for ideal conditions for surf riders along Maui’s North Shore.
Periodically, I will post something about Stand Up Paddle Surfing on the Maui Real Estate Blog. This new old sport is a great escape in to the beauty of Maui’s ocean environment. Just in the last week Billy and I have had the opportunity to ride waves by ourselves at secluded breaks, seen spectacular sunsets from the water, watched a giant harvest moon rise over Maui and seen a Manta Ray swim up close and personal. While stand up paddling is both an escape and good exercise, a couple of local watermen are using their considerable stand up paddle skills for a good cause. Today’s Maui News has an article on surf legends Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama’s paddle and peddle through the Hawaiian islands to raise money and awareness for autism. Kalama and Hamilton’s friend and Don King has a son with autism. King and his wife are making a film on the subject entitled “Beautiful Son.” The paddle and peddle expedition which runs from South Point on the Big Island to Hanalei Bay on Kauai will help raise funds to promote the film. This is Hamilton’s second big paddle to promote “Beautiful Son”. This summer he rode his bike from London to Dover and then paddled across the English Channel. He then rode from the French coastline in to Paris.
The expedition from the Big Island to Kauai is a considerable feat. There is a ton of open ocean paddling. Laird and Dave can expect periods on the water between 5 and 10 hours per crossing with favorable conditions. Unfortunately, island weather has been less than ideal for the expedition. Usually channel crossings are aided by tradewinds. The combination of tradewinds and their resulting wind swell allow a stand up paddle surfer to glide and catch waves. A still and sultry atmosphere has robbed Hamilton and Kalama of their tail wind and made them more dependent upon muscle and will to make it across the channels. The warmer than usual temperatures also make the overland bike part of their journey that much harder. As of Saturday, Laird and Dave had made it to Molokai. They were headed to Oahu today. It is uncertain if they will do the Oahu/Kauai crossing unless conditions improve. Regardless, I wish Laird and Dave the best of luck on the rest of their expedition. I hope it continues to draw attention to Don King’s forthcoming film.
Yesterday was one of the more sultry summer days we have had on Maui this year. The cooling tradewinds died off and there was no better place to be than at the beach. Billy, his kids, some newly arrived friends from the mainland and I went to one of our favorite summer beaches on the North Shore later in the afternoon. The crowds were starting to thin and it was quiet and tranquil. There were about a dozen or so people catching the small and gentle waves that were just offshore. I was not exactly inspired by the surf and was more than content to play with the kids and watch them frolick in the tide pools. As the lineup of surfers dwindled to a few last souls, the small but empty and glassy waves were too hard to resist. I ran and grabbed my paddle board from the car as the sky began what was just the beginning of a spectacular sunset.
During the summer, this surf spot is frequently populated by sea turtles. As I paddled out, I noticed quite a few turtles popping their head above the water. As I got closer to the lineup, I realized the number of turtles was pretty high even by the standards of this surf spot. One of the great thing about paddle boarding is that it provides you with a birds eye view of the water and the reef. I have seen turtles, schools of fish, rays and even a small shark before. These are all things that I would have missed laying prone on a regular surf board. I had yet to see or experience something like I observed last night. While there were numerous turtles bobbing on the surface, my vantage point revealed dozens more swimming below the surface. A number of times, I looked down only to see a turtle directly below my board. Usually skitish when I paddle over or nearby, these turtles were completely indifferent to my presence. The turtles were thick enough that I had to be aware of them when I took off on waves. While they are quick swimmers, I had to put on the brakes a few times as I was ready to take off. I didn’t want to risk running over one of these beautiful animals. Before long, the last two surfers paddled in to shore. It was just me, a horde of turtles and an increasingly magnificent sunset. I didn’t know whether to watch the turtles, watch the changing colors in the sky or catch a wave. I managed to do all three. It was one of those truly special experiences that makes me feel so fortunate to live on this amazing island.