Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WAVES IN HAWAIIAN SCALE
Hawaiians are weird when it comes to their waves.
No, this doesn't have to do with the fact that a high surf advisory is a completely
legitimate excuse for missing work, school, or even jury duty, but rather, with the
fact that Hawaiians measure the size of waves differently than much of the world.
Unlike places on the mainland that measure the
face
of the waves, Hawaiian
surfers instead measure the
back
of the wave. The result is a wave height which is
about half what you'd find if it were measured elsewhere. A six-foot wave in Cali-
fornia will only be a three-foot wave in Hawai'i.
The history of all this is foggy at best. One leading theory suggests that Hawaiian
surfers underestimated the wave size in the 1950s as a humble response to the
bravado of California surfers who boasted about the size of the waves they caught.
Another theory is that since Hawaiian lifeguards would be forced to work instead of
surf when the waves reached a certain height, they invented a separate scale so that
it would require larger waves before they had to go to work.
Whatever the reason, the practical implication is that when you're looking at a
surf forecast you need to know if it's being measured on the Hawaiian scale or by
face height. On a website such as omaui.com, the forecast is given in face heights,
whereas on a website like
hawaiiweathertoday.com
,
the forecast will be in Hawaiian
scale.
If you ask a local surfer what the conditions are like, you'll get a reply of either
“3 feet Hawaiian,” or simply “3 feet,” when the head-high waves are obviously lar-
ger. Australians have also adopted the Hawaiian scale system of measurement. So
while confusion continues to reign, all that matters is assessing your own ability
when paddling out to the lineup.
Even though
Windmills
is a surf break beyond the ability level of most visitors, it's an
epic spot for watching the island's best surfers. The massive left tube barrels with such fe-
rocity it's been called Maui's Pipeline. Many professional surf films have been shot here.
The best vantage point is on the side of the road at the edge of a dramatic cliff. If you see
cars parked on the side of the road a mile past Honolua Bay, large surf is breaking.
