Laupahoehoe, Hawaii – VIDEO by David Corrigan
Laupahoehoe Point was awash in white water, but the waves were far from monstrous along the Hamakua Coast state park around 2:00 p.m. on Monday.
The National Weather Service predicted large waves for northeast facing shores of the Big Island in its high surf advisory, first issued over the weekend.
The high surf warning is still in effect, as the focus shifts more to the Kona side, where the NWS warns of possible 15 to 20 feet waves along shores exposed to the northwest. Combined with a two foot Tuesday morning high tide, there could be an increased “chance of waves washing onto roads and property along the immediate coast”, according to the weather service.
The NWS is still predicting 30 to 40 foot waves for the north shores of Oahu, where a select group of respected big wave surfers wait for the possible start of the Eddie Aikau Invitational in Waimea Bay. On Monday, the gigantic waves of Maui’s Peahi, also known as “Jaws”, stole the show with incredible 50 foot sets, even as the monsters never quite arrived on Oahu’s north shore.
A set of powerful Pacific storms north of the chain are responsible for the large winter swell, at one point predicted to rival the legendary waves that battered the coasts on December 1969, known as the biggest to hit the North Shore in the past half-century.
