really, REALLY crowded. On any given sunny day with decent waves, you're sure to find enough cameramen on the beach to convince the clueless that a major motion picture about surfing was being shot. Rocky's features an unreal left that is super shredable, uniformly hollow, and which can link up and peel a fair way on down the beach. A short right completes this peak, but if you're looking for rights, paddle a tad on down to Rocky Rights, where dreamy rights peel off like something out of the World's Most Rippable Waves textbook. Beware of the rocky beach and inside waters when floating closeout end sections, or when paddling in or walking out. Inside of the rights is a big rock sticking prominently out of the water which you should avoid at all costs. The most auspicious and safest paddle out to Rocky's is from the little sand beach just north of Rocky Lefts. When big winter swells bomb this coast, all the sand that settled here during the summer gets washed away (thus revealing the rockiness). Best ridden at under 8 feet.
Those looking for cheap thrills in life should head just across the way from Rocky Rights to the peak at Gas Chambers. Fast-breaking lefts and rights are the go, and roomy barrels can be snagged if you're patient. Making it out of them is hard, and trying not to hit the reef when eating it on the inside is just as difficult. Chambers is one of those places where wearing a condom-like helmet isn't such a bad idea. The lefts sometimes close out with Rocky Rights, so choose your waves wisely—you may just score a spitting dream.
Pupukea is another one of those rock bottom spots that fills in with shifting sand from summer. Whether it's sand or rock that you're surfing over, Pupe's still comes up with the goods, delivering thick rights and lefts that spiral up and down the beach. As perfect for high-performance waveriding as any other spot. Pupukea handles up to about 8 feet solid, and even at that size will still be manageable, though quite heavy. The beach is also a favorite place to sift and burrow for cute little puka shells, or to just hang out and get a tan. Pupukea is situated just to the right (towards Sunset) from Ehukai Beach Park.
The breaks fronting Ehukai Beach Park usually materialize over a sand bottom until a proper monster swell buffs the bottom clean and leaves only a bare butt reef below. Smaller days yield fun peaks up and down the beach at Ehukai (in front of the beach park) and at Gums (aspot just before Pipeline). The grand Pipeline itself is in full view and just to the left of this little beach park.
Pipelines
The Banzai Pipeline is without a doubt the most famous wave in the world, and it conveniently does its extraordinary thing just to the left side of Oahu's Ehukai Beach Park. You'll know it when you see it: super thick, swift-moving mountains of water that unload their strength with pounding vigor over an obscenely shallow lava reef below. All the rumors, stories, video clips and photos that you've ever seen of the place will come into focus before your eyes on any day that da pipe is in action. Some of the most colossal, fear-inducing, liquid-tripping, awe-inspiring, simply straight-up insane left-hand tubes on earth—ones that can make you poop your pants in a heartbeat—spin through this place with great regularity. (Whew, that was a mouthful). Eh, but how you figgah, brah: no other wave in the world has been as ardently documented as this one, and we ask you to watch and you will very soon learn why. This place f*#king smokes, brah!
Big Isle slasher Shane Dorian may be one of the most famous and highly-paid surfers in the world, but he didn't get there by sitting on his couch. Yes, presenting Shane, moving fast on the North Shore. Photo: Art Brewer
As the wave action rises here, you surf over different parts of the volcanic reef. Under, say, 8 feet, most of the surfing is done on the inside reef. As the swell rises, Second Reef Pipe awakens, presenting big rolling faces that lead to mental double-ups over the inside. Waves that cap over the second reef but don't quite break unload straight over the inside with an extra force that seems to have come from the depths of a watery hell. When Second Reef Pipe is happening and online, just the sight of it causes mouths to drop and remain wondrously agape. When the action gets serious, Third Reef Pipe comes into "play," peaking way outside and steamrolling in down the line. Heavy stuff.
To actually surf Pipe, you've got to have a considerable number of years of surfing heavy waves under your belt, along with an advanced level of tuberiding skills and a gung-ho, go-for-broke attitude. You also need boards that can negotiate the supersteep and sucking drop, and also be able to explore the immense magnitude of a Pipe-bomb cave. Above all, you have to really want one of these beasts. There are basically two groups of people out on the Pipe. The first group are those who are addicted to and desire Pipe-drainers like junkies looking for a fix. The others are just, well, out there, but not quite sure if they've made the right choice by stroking out to the lineup, or if they actually do want to confront these demonic waves. You can almost see it in their eyes as they paddle out—whether they've got the fire or not.
Backdoor Pipeline (or Backdoor) is a consequential right that reels off the peak, and it is just as intense, if not more intense, than the celebrated lefts. The reef is even shallower here, sometimes drying out at the end of some rides. Some say the drop is even more nuts than the Pipe proper. Gaping right-hand barrels that lunge right off the drop call for little more than a straight drop into the mouth of the beast, and then a fast drive for the exit as you pray hard for the door to stay open. Successfully making your wave frontside is a true accomplishment, while managing to emerge unscathed backside is the stuff of legends. You should also keep in mind that what makes Pipe and Backdoor barrels throw the way they do is the hellishly shallow lava ledge that sits no more than 6 feet under the takeoff spot, even during those 10-foot plus dredgers. The bottom contour is actually quite flat in most places, with the exception of lava caves that have formed the basis of countless horror stories about surfers who were caught inside one after a particularly heavy wipeout. Try diving here on a flat day and see for yourself. In fact, the bottom is so obviously dangerous that Gerry Lopez, one of the greatest Pipeline riders in history, once said: "It's not a matter of whether you're going to get hurt surfing out there, but more a matter of when."
To Pipe or not to Pipe? Gerry Lopez and Howard Farrant contemplate one of the Pipeline's many moods. Photo: Dana Edmunds
State-of-the-art beach attire observed high above a serious North Shore surf contest venue. Photo: Brett Uprichard
Before attempting to take on the Pipeline, be honest with yourself about your abilities. Are you really ready for it, and are you willing to take on the consequences? Remember that the poor souls out there getting shacked out of their minds and blown into the channel by the fire hydrant-like spray are some of the most accomplished tuberiders in the world. Many are even well-paid to specifically surf Pipe/Backdoor, and it's their job—with skills in check—to make impossible, near-death situations look like a stroll through the park.
Crowds here may be among the worst in the world. Imagine sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with Strider, Liam McNamara, Johnny-Boy, Mike Stewart, Braden Dias, Pancho, Derek and Mike Ho, and Shawn Briley, as well as an entanglement of other surfers, body-boarders and longboarders, some of whom are the best in the world. In a pack like this, the odds of snagging a decent wave fade fast. Scraps are what you'll normally end up with, but you never know. You may just catch for yourself one of those serendipitous moments when Mother Nature decides to cut you a break and flings a big green gem at you.
The paddle out is easy enough, but just be sure to time the sets (as in every surfing situation, but especially here) to make sure you don't get caught inside before scratching on out to the lineup. If you hit the water facing the break, the rip current will immediately sweep you towards the Pipeline channel. From that point onwards, it's all up to you.
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