North Shore.
Now
· updated 14 hours agoENE swell at 8 seconds peaks Thursday dawn under moderate wind, dropping to 1m by Friday as light wind holds. Weekend eases to flat-to-1m with light ENE wind, before a fresh SSW pulse at 16-19 seconds arrives Monday under moderate wind, building to strong by evening. Mid-week sees NW/ENE swell at 10-11 seconds with heavy wind sea, then ENE swell at 5-8 seconds builds Sunday under strengthening wind. Looks like Thursday dawn under moderate ENE wind will be the best window.
Spots
Swell height
Wave systems
- primary —
- secondary —
- tertiary —
- wind sea —
Power
Wind speed
Tide
Weather
About North Shore
The North Shore is 11 km of Oahu’s north coast from Haleiwa to Sunset, the most concentrated stretch of high-consequence reef breaks on earth. The headline is Banzai Pipeline, a left tube over a flat lava reef at Ehukai Beach. Backdoor breaks right off the same peak. Sunset Beach, Waimea Bay, Off the Wall, and Rocky Point line up within walking distance. The Pipe Masters has run since 1971 and is the centrepiece of the Triple Crown of Surfing every December.
Pipeline season runs November through February, when North Pacific storms send long-period north to north-west swell straight at the reef. A typical winter day is 1.5 to 3 m; the outer reefs and Waimea switch on past 5 m. Trade winds blow east to north-east, offshore at most breaks through the morning. Glass-off is dawn. The trades fill in by mid-morning and turn the lineup sideshore. Summer is flat. The trades blow hard. The whole coast goes swimming beach.
Water sits at 23 to 25 °C in February, 26 to 28 °C in September. Boardies and a rashie cover the year. The reef is the hazard, not the water. Pipeline breaks over a tabletop of lava with caverns inside; a wipeout drops you onto live coral. Sunset is a deep-water peak with currents that pull west. Crowds are the second hazard. Locals run every peak; hierarchy is strict. If you haven’t surfed Pipe before, sit at Rocky Point or Haleiwa and earn your way over.