Big Surf for Thanksgiving Holiday

This week has seen our first legitimate high surf advisories of the year. Waves along the North Shore of Maui have been pushing 15 foot plus face sizes over the last couple of days due to a couple of different swells. Today a new swell arrived from a bigger storm closing out most surf breaks. The waves are expected to continue over Thanksgiving and may reach High Surf Warning Status by Friday. High Surf Warnings mean wave faces of 25 feet or more can be expected at selected reefs. Depending on wind conditions, you may this may mean the first real Jaws swell of the season. Jaws is the world renowned surf break located off the cliffs of Haiku. It is widely acknowledged as one of the biggest waves on the planet with wave faces in excess of 80 feet reported. While we won’t see wave heights on that scale over the next few days, the conditions are experts only. These waves generally are not attempted by traditional means. Instead, wave riders have to be towed in behind jet skis to reach the speeds necessary to catch the fast moving walls of water. These conditions are way over the head of Billy and myself literally and figuratively. That being said, we both enjoy the spectacle of these waves and the excitement that they bring to our side of the island.