Haleiwa

Surf Guide

This is the traditional base camp for adventurers into the North Shore's fierce surf wonderland, the first well-known spot in the chain reaching north from Haleiwa town to Sunset Beach. Hundreds of renowned locals -- from the Aikau brothers to the Hos and Fred Patacchia, Mark Healey and Jamie Sterling -- learned the ropes in Haleiwa's shorebreak. This makes the place sound soft, but in fact Haleiwa beyond its easy range (six to eight feet) is a ferocious workout capable of kicking the crap out of anyone, no matter how accomplished. The main break at Haleiwa is a rough "V" shaped reef that forms a peak 300 yards off the beach and bowls in a hard right-breaking direction in a series of thick sections, ending in a closeout, known as Toilet Bowl. The wave is intensified by a fast-moving rip that draws water from the Avalanche reef flush-out and races right across the outer edges of Haleiwa's reef. At times, especially on bigger days, it can feel like you're riding a river rapid and not any kind of normal wave. This rip changes Haleiwa from a large, innocent wall into a truly exciting performance wave, and eventually into a fearsome monstrosity that wants nothing better than to suck a surfer too deep, then unload a freak set directly on his head. Smart surfers at Haleiwa learn to use the rip, not sweating the paddle out, waiting a few yards wide of the takeoff, then letting themselves be drawn into the pit for the waves they want. Not-so-smart surfers go straight to the takeoff spot, then spend the next 15 minutes paddling against the rip just to stay in position. As the swell backs away from its logical maximum -- around the 12-foot mark -- the wave loosens up and begins breaking on the shallower areas of reef, providing some deep tubes. Six to eight feet from the west/north-west is the wave's best direction -- too much north will be shadowed by Pua'ena Point. Swells no bigger than four feet make Haleiwa look like a full, semi-closed-out beachbreak; a left will begin to show its face from the middle of the reef, peeling back toward the harbor wall. On the inside a few yards out from the sand, a foot-high reform will give beginners something to play with. Click here for Surfline's Spot Check with Haleiwa locals Sean Moody and Joel Centeio.