Surfing Page 3

Christmas has long been known to have good waves. Because of it's isolation, no local surfers, and past spotty plane service, only a limited amount of surfers have come down to surf in my time on the Island. I have been surfing here since 1984 and have lived for extended periods on the island. Among some who have surfed here are Rell Sun, Dave Parmenter, Yvonne Chouinard, and Bernie Baker.

Surfing on Christmas can be limited to a few spots if you don't have access to a boat. In the old days, I used to take a beat up moped for a 3 hour drive around the unpaved road that goes around the island. And if it didn't break down I was able to get to some of the waves. Once I began exploring more with a boat, I soon found there were over 20 spots in all. You can find reef passes like Cochrane's reef that offer classic, fast, hollow waves breaking into the lagoon. There are long walls that hold over 3x overhead like London Rights, and fast walls like Bridges Point. There are hot dog waves, rights and lefts. You can find grinding, hollow tubes, critical, juicy, bust out the winter gun waves, even a few tow in spots on those epic Eddie Aikau winter swells. There are really too many spots to name them all here and they are located within a five mile stretch. Kind of like a five mile miracle.

Christmas breaks during the northern hemisphere winter from November to March. It receives the same winter swells as the north shore of Oahu, but smaller and a longer period. So it is pretty consistent during that time of year. The wind is offshore all winter long. There are breaks for all skill levels here, from beginner to expert, and a wave for any style.

If you don't have the time for a Fanning excursion, this is the ticket. And you won't be disappointed to surf perfect waves with not a soul in sight except for your buddies.