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Sunset - Break Data
Surf spot travel photo of Sunset Beach
Description
Once the great proving ground for North Shore rookies, the heroic wave conquered only by the greats, Sunset has had its apparent status diminished in the part decade. There's several reasons for this. One, it's a difficult wave to photograph, so few photo sessions -- and thus, publicity for good Sunset riders -- result. Two, it's been out of the competitive limelight -- until the 2001 season's Rip Curl Cup, there hadn't been a world championship event held at the break since 1990. (More recently, it's held the almost as respectable position of finishing the 'prime' series for qualification.) And three, the break has been swamped by riders of moderate talent on huge Waimea-style surfboards 11 feet or more in length, who use their equipment to crush the lineup for surfers on shorter, carvier boards. Bizarrely, Sunset has become a metaphor for its U.S. mainland cousins, like Rincon and Malibu; just swap the longboards for immense rhino-chasers, and you'll get the idea.

Despite this, Sunset Beach is truly one of the world's great and thrilling surf zones, handling a huge variety of conditions and sizes and far from fully tapped as a waveriding resource, a fact illuminated by the occasional tow-surfing excursion to its outer reefs, particularly Backyards.

The Sunset shoreline is a long curve starting in front of Kammieland reef to the west, sweeping past a broad deepwater channel, and straightening out in a line past Sunset Point to the northeast. Minor clumps of lava rock begin to emerge from the sand toward the point; not far off the beach is Val's Reef, a quirky semi-shoredumping peak named after the late Val Valentine. Outside Val's there's a deep pit some 60 yards across, then a shallow mushroom-shaped reef which links across to the point 200 yards to the east. A couple hundreds yards further out lies the main reef area, a series of very broad long fingers of lava that slope gradually off out to sea to the west-northwest. These lava fingers, with their swell refracting ability, are responsible for the characteristic peaked shape of good Sunset, especially in a west swell. Across to the east, the reef rises and falls before flattening out and bending well out to sea, and finally around the corner toward the next bay.

THE POINT
Sunset Point breaks up to around six feet in wedgey chunks that sometimes reform into a wall across the uneven inside reef. On smaller days it's the pick of the spots among the local residents, especially the older crew and the schoolkids who live out along the point. It reflects Sunset's general nature, in that wave selection can be difficult; you'll either find yourself scratching after peaks that suddenly blunder off into deep water, or paddling further and further north trying to get hold of the mirage-like rights peeling down from Backyards.

THE MAIN REEF
Sunset proper starts to wake up around six to eight feet, and can occasionally hold 12 to 15 feet in flawless northwest swell conditions. The style of ride is highly subject to swell direction; anything north of northwest will be an unpredictable lumpy wall sectioning down toward a possible barrel through the inside, anything further west will be a powerful drawing peak with a sometimes critical takeoff and a big open pocket. Takeoff points vary. The north direction might break at a dozen different places as it folds crosswise over the reef fingers; the west is more predictably wedged up, but more likely to punish the unwary. Get caught inside on a bigger west swell day and you can say goodbye to your leash or your board, maybe both. Smart surfers don't rush their sessions at Sunset, they cruise for a half hour, getting the rhythm, then go in hard and don't hesitate in their wave choice. The entire lineup is very exposed to wind, and stronger trades blow straight up the face of west swells, which makes that takeoff just a little trickier.

Water from the vast swell bombardment gathers in the deep hole outside Val's Reef and floods out to sea to the west. This is the famed Kammieland Rip, and it's a good reason to hope the trades are blowing -- because if they're not, and a big west swell is running, that rip will turn around, flow into the break, and start dragging you past the peak and into a world of pain.

BACKYARDS
The fun choice for local boys who're sick of the main peak's crowding, Backyards is a complete reef break -- in other words, there's no beach exit from the lineup. It breaks across a series of broad ever deepening lava platforms that slowly drop away offshore, but still pull down 12-foot waves over a half mile to sea. At six feet it can produce excellent right and left peaks, but on bigger days this shifty, difficult lineup has become a favored haunt of tow surfers who can easily hunt down dozens of waves per session, while paddle surfers will pray to snag four good ones an hour.

CROWDS
Sure, it's packed. Yet unlike most North Shore spots, Sunset can handle a large crowd with relative ease. The pecking order is not so brutally obvious as at more compact breaks like Pipe, and plenty of waves are breaking all over the lineup, providing a wide choice from not-too-gnarly to thick and intense. This breaks the crowd up and scatters it up and down the reef. Bigger days in the 12-foot range can be a real blast, with only the knowledgeable regulars and visitors charging, not dropping in, etc. Worst crowd days are during inconsistent eight-foot west swells, when the Rhino Brigade comes out and crushes all opposition.

AMENITIES
Parking is ad hoc straight off the highway and facing down to the beach, or in a small parking lot recently built across the street by the city. This lot boasts a bathroom block, but there's very little else in the way of showers, rinse-off taps, etc. Port-a-loos are erected during contest time on a roughly paved area behind the first Point houses.
-- Nick Carroll 		Best Tide:
medium
Best Swell Direction:
northwest
Best Size:
10-12 feet
Best Wind:
Light/medium trades
Perfect-O-Meter:
6.5 (1=Lake Erie; 10=Jeffreys Bay)
Bottom:
reef
Ability Level:
medium to high
Bring Your:
7'6" - 8'6" pintail
Best Season:
mid winter
Access:
easy
Crowd Factor:
semi-heavy
Local Vibe:
confused; spread out
Bicep Burn:
8.5 (1=1ft Waikiki; 10=15ft Ocean Beach)
Poo Patrol:
2 (1=clean; 10=turds in the lineup)
Shark Danger:
2 (1=none; 10=bring an iron cage)
SPOT CHECK: SUNSET BEACH
Checking in at the North Shore's original big-wave reefbreak
 
Places To Eat
Right on the North Shore, you're limited to Foodland, the delicious and fairly cheap lunch cart in front of Foodland; and the restaurant in the Turtle Bay. As you head into Haleiwa, there are all kinds of restaurants. Surfer's favorites include: Haleiwa Joes (good, but expensive seafood), right by the bridge; Cholos Mexican Food, in the North Shore Market Place; Kua Aina (sandwiches and burgers), right in the middle of main st; and Jameson's By the Sea, overlooking Haleiwa Harbor. You can save money by shopping in the Mililani Costco.
Places To Stay
There's almost always something to ride in winter, but if you're out of the water for whatever reason, you should check out the Bishop Museum in Honolulu (808-847-3511); rent a huge tandem, board at Waikiki and tap into the roots of surfing; take a drive up the mellow, beautiful east side; go for a bodysurf at Makapu'u (near Sandy Beach); check out the Waimea Valley Adventure Park (808-638-8511); have a look at one of the largest Heiau (volcanic stone altar) on the island above Waimea; you could go over to Mokuleia and do the crazy parachute jump; and you can always shop like a maniac in the ultrahuge Ala Moana Shopping Center (808-955-9517). Last but not least, remember the movie The North Shore? Walking the beach and snorkeling will only help your understanding of this incredibly diverse and powerful stretch of coast.

Or try
Things To Do
It should come as no surprise that there is no shortage of surf shops and shapers on the North Shore. Some will rent boards, even -- call in advance. Here's a partial alphabetical list: BK Ocean Sports (808-637-4966); Brewer Surfboards (808-826-9033); Country Surfboards (808-293-4883); Groundswell Hawaii (808-247-9184); Hawaii Surf and Sail (808-637-5373); Hawaiian Island Creations (808-637-0991); Hawaiian Surf (808-637-8316); JC Hawaiian Surfboards (808-637-3238); North Shore Ohana Surf (808-638-5934); North Shore Boardriders Club (808-637-5026); Strong Current Surf Design (808-637-3406); Tropical Rush Surf Co. (808-638-8886)

Other numbers: Hawaii Amateur Surfing Association (808-262-2488); NSSA Hawaii (808-456-7873); Surfrider Foundation Oahu Chapter (808-531-7873); Oahu Surf Report (808-596-7873)
Surf Schools
Listings for surf schools in Hawaii

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