As I write this now, it’s been 3 weeks since I returned from the Hawaii North Shore, the Eddie has just been postponed until further notice and the Northern Pacific has continued to pump out amazing waves since the start of the year. It’s hard to know what to do next!
The first two weeks of January were amazing, Waimea had two incredible stand-out days, one on the 4th with clear blue skies, no wind and a declining 20ft+ swell, the other on the 15th Jan which would be the highlight swell for the bay this year with a peaking 30ft+ NW swell smashing the infamous break. String winds and heavy rain made things a little hard to handle during the morning before the heavens opened up allowing for that perfect Waimea session all the way till dark.
Unknown pipeline drainer
Unknown Pipeline drainer

In between the two massive swells, all of the North Shore was delivering perfect waves with not a cloud in the sky, prevailing side shore breezes would show up around 2pm most days giving all punters plenty of opportunity to surf all conditions with pulsing swells on tap, the morning sessions were unforgettable with crazy barrels and a really fun vibe in the lineup.
One strong pulse on the 13th January opened the door for the Dahui Backdoor shootout to begin, clearing the line up at perfect Pipe was the next step hahaha after Pipe, Backdoor and OTW were cleared, it paved the way for all the stand outs to show the crowd how the locals do it, Mason Ho pulling off some amazing tubes while dancing with the lip..
Your choice of pumping backdoor or perfect pipeline
Your choice of pumping Backdoor or perfect Pipeline

Pipeline and Backdoor have been on fire this season with all the dramas you would expect from the worlds best wave including near drownings, perfect 10’s, endless eye candy and incredible surf to ensure all the senses desires are fulfilled.
Consistent NW 12-16 sec swells hitting Pipe every morning was the menu of the month with Jamie O’Brien, Mason Ho, Nathan Florence, many other local chargers and international superstars all on hand to capitalize on this amazing El Nino season that seems to keep on giving.
I have to say that in the last ten years of traveling to and surfing in Hawaii North Shore, this is hands down the best conditions I have seen yet! Will the Eddie run before the end of the month is the next question?

Written by:
Caleb Thornton-Shaw

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