Hawaiian season officially open and XL swell is coming

Pipe and Sunset broke solid, among other waves, and the next one will make Jaws and Waimea work, among others; they gave a "high surf warning"

October 18, 2023

The Hawaiian season is officially open. A few fun days at Rocky Point where much of the North Shore could be seen enjoying themselves were followed by more serious days with Sunset and Pipe breaking.

North Shore-based Brazilian Jeronimo Vargas shared a story from filming Sunset, saying, “First time riding a board bigger than 6’10 since March. And the surf was pumping.

Surfline showed off a 4K camera with some great tubes breaking at Pipe and very few people in the water.

See this post on Instagram

A post shared by Billy Kemper (@billykemper)

But the “best”, at least for the superhumans, is yet to come: A heavyweight XL swell is travelling towards the islands from the northwest and most of the spots are expected to be missed with the exception of the usual suspects: Jaws, Waimea, the outer reefs and a few other waves.

Today, Wednesday, and tomorrow, Thursday, will be the biggest days of the swell. How big will it be? We'll see, but enough to make Billy Kemper leave the North Shore and go home to Hawaii, so that Hawaiian Airlines won't let him take his boards and he'll be stranded at the airport.

PIPE A FEW HOURS AGO: