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THE ROYAL SWELL
Oahu's South Shore lights up for King Kamehameha Weekend
I loathe summertime in Hawaii. Kids are out of school, it's hot, my lawn dries up, and the North Shore have gone beddy-bye for five months. It's a time to find creative ways to occupy yourself and keep the kids entertained. So, in April, I booked a three-night stay with the wife and kids at the Moana Surfrider Hotel for the King Kamehameha celebration weekend June 9-12 (Throngs of tourists and locals gather in Waikiki each year at this time to celebrate the great King's life and achievements).
As a consolation, the Moana hotel is right on the beach in Waikiki and there is some some surf out front. But it's usually tiny, packed with folks from Idaho and Tennessee, and a thick, greasy sunscreen slick permeates the water. I've never been an exceedingly lucky person, but this time I hit the lottery as the first sizeable groundswell of summer synced up perfectly with our little vacation gig!
This season, Oahu's south shore had gotten off to a blazing start in the spring and hasn't let up since with consistent shoulder to head high peelers keeping boards and bodies in constant motion. Unusually active storm engines in the south pacific have kept surfers busy. These same engines, located off the New Zealand basin, spawn the same fetches that create the massive swells at Teahupoo in Tahiti.
The King Kamehameha swell of 2005 started Thursday the 9th with long period forerunners in the slightly overhead range. The inbound swell trains were stacked, even, and groomed by the prevailing tradewinds. By Friday morning, things began to get serious, as double overhead rogue sets topped ten feet Hawaiian scale at certain blue water mysto reefs off of Waikiki and Diamond Head.
My 4th floor observation post afforded me and my surf-stoked 10 yr. old Matt, a sweeping panoramic view of lineups from Ala Moana to Diamond Head. Looking much like a reverse Sunset Beach, even the infamous Castles surf break began to cap over in immense, looping hooks. Veteran canoe teams were all over this rare opportunity. Castles is renowned as the launching pad for Duke Kahanamoku's legendary mile long "Bluebird" ride on a 30' wave over half a century ago. It requires massive swell to awaken, and has rarely broken at size since.
The collection of small wave surf spots in the Ala Moana Park area were reduced to a seething cauldron of whitewater. Normal channel areas were boiling and shut down by closeout sets every few minutes. Since it handles large southerly swell best, most of the survivable action was at Ala Moana Bowls, were the boys were throwing down; snaking each other, getting lip launched, scratching for the horizon, pulling into barrels, and otherwise having a blast in the spitting jade green barrels. Waikiki and Diamond Head were lines to the horizon and pumping. Canoes, right in front of the Moana, was firing.
I generally avoid Waikiki like it's the plague, but I had the most fun and novel sessions I've had in months, just steps away from my air-conditioned executive suite. I'll see you all in Waikiki next year on June 11th. Just remember that room 496 at the Moana Surfrider Hotel is already booked!
RELATED LINKS:
Hawaiianwatershots.com (Special thanks to Jamie for the killer photos.)
Surfline Hawaii Surf Forecast
LOLA for the South Shore
Oahu Surf Map
--
Dean Luke
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