What's the secret?

I promise not to use your advice and get hurt... I%26#39;m just curious. When there are big waves at Waimea or Pipeline, what%26#39;s the timing secret for getting in and out? The waves at Waimanalo Bay are about the right size for me. I know there must be a certain trick to being out with bigger waves. Anyone care to explain it? Do you just dive to the bottom and wait for a certain feeling? Then what?

What's the secret?

Yeah, that%26#39;s it. You dive to the bottom and wait ...!!

What's the secret?

You know, dear ... I don%26#39;t think we are the right people to ask.

at Pipeline there is a riptide channel to the north of the big break where they paddle out, waves do not break there and there is a current to pull you out. At Waimea the waves usually do not break across the entire bay so they paddle to the side. When they get the really big waves like 25 to 30 feet they get what they call a close out set that fills the entire bay. At that point it gets very dangereous, they will go under an upcoming wave but about the time they surface another one is on top of them. That is when they bring out the jetskis and helicopters to pull people out.

Not all big waves are surfable, sometimes they just have to sit it out. Sunset is a beach that handles very large waves but is also one that has routes to paddle out.

If you ever go in the winter check it out, really an incredible thing to watch. Pipeline breaks very close to the beach so it is a great viewing place, plus they will have a bunch of professional photographers. It is not marked from the road, it is the beach parking across from the school a few minutes past waimea bay.

Thanks, longboard. That%26#39;s exactly what I was looking for. Makes sense now.

One of these years, I%26#39;m going to have to make it in the winter to see it hitting hard. We usually go in October or April. Pipeline has been interesting, but nothing like what I%26#39;ve seen on youtube (surf comp). I%26#39;ve never even seen someone surf at Waimea. When I%26#39;ve been it%26#39;s been swimmably calm or nasty shore break. I know it depends on the offshore storms, but generally, are the best waves between December and February?

Thanks again.

The bigger sets can start arriving as early as mid-November. That%26#39;s when the holding pattern for the Triple Crown events usually starts.

Blender...

Be ye careful. Every so often a few visitors are washed away by a rogue wave which suddenly makes a seemingly safe viewing location untenable; or, folks don%26#39;t realize how significant the undertow is from so much water running back into the ocean that they get sucked out in ankle deep wash.

On a big day, be cognizant of where the locals are viewing from and don%26#39;t play on the fringes unconcerned.

Big waves always make the traffic worse along the North Shore, and if it is a weekend it can become near gridlock. No parking within a mile of Waimea of Ehukai, three and four deep at Sunset, and places where the road can be closed form time to time due to wave action and associated flooding.

A lot of the traffic snarl can be avoided on a high surf day if you go out from Waikiki up the Windward side of the island, instead of through Central Oahu like most everyone else, and go along the North Shore from east to west (Turtle Bay towards Haleiwa). Plus the views are awesome.

Paddling out to a break on big days takes skill, experience and a watchful eye studying the set pattern and currents before heading out; and it can be just as difficult to get back in. But the hardest part for newbies is learning to fight the urge to inhale when breaking the surface after diving under a wave or wiping out, because there may be a foot of foam you end up sucking in.

I get a bad feeling from your post. As a Hawaii travel author and Big Island resident, I have been to every island multiple times, and I am always astonished to see people venture down to the shore when mammoth waves are washing over the rocks, or allow toddlers to wander down to the shorebreak unattended, as waves thunder in.

People mistake nature for Disneyland, and pay the ultimate price. Champion surfers have died at Waimea and Pipeline, after surfing hundreds of waves there. Hundreds of local fishermen who grew up in Hawaii have been swept to their deaths.

I write this knowing you probably think you%26#39;re the exception...they all do.

richardsullivan - don%26#39;t get a bad feeling from my post. I stated that I was just curious. I don%26#39;t think I%26#39;m the exception. I can take a look at the way surfers are built and the way I%26#39;m built and realize there is a difference. I%26#39;ve been to the surf spots on the north shore multiple times and never gotten wet. I love to swim, scuba, bodysurf and boogie board... but you%26#39;ll never see me near the water at Pipeline or Sandy%26#39;s. No worries. I%26#39;m just fascinated that people can manage it, so thought I would ask what they%26#39;re doing. Thanks for your concern. I promise to be a good girl.