Maui Concierge
Maui Vacations & Activities
$50 Off Mini-Lease

Jaws in Maui, Hawaii - Ho'okipa Beach, giant break

"JAWS"

JAWS, the legendary big wave break on the North Shore of Maui, Hawaii is so awesome that new sports have been developed just to allow ocean enthusiasts to challenge what many now believe is the world's biggest wave. First attempted by board surfers in the 1970's, Jaws went virtually unridden until windsurfing's elite began riding it in the 80's. Its incredible power and radical, bone crushing form kept the crowds light and the action intense as the world's most accomplished windsurfers challenged its gigantic tubes.

Maui, Hawaii is home to the world's biggest wave, unofficially named Jaws. This legendary wave can be 70 feet high and comes to the North Shore of Maui a dozen times a year. Jaws also has a hawaiian name - locals call it Peahi.

The phenomenon of Jaws can be explained by the unique shape of an underwater ridge here. The height and the form of a wave depend on the sea depth and the shape of the sea bottom. Near the north shore of Maui there is a large underwater ridge, located about 30 feet beneath the ocean's surface. As part of a storm swell passes over the ridge, it slows down - water travels slower in shallow depths, scientists explain. Other parts of the swell travel fast in deep water, causing the wave to focus on the ridge - a process known as refraction. The reef squeezes the wave in and up to form a cresting wave. So the monster wave Jaws arises and breaks at Maui's Ho'okipa beach. First attempted by board surfers in the 1970's, Jaws remained virtually unridden until windsurfing's elite began riding it in the 1980's.




When you go down... and you will... it will be the most devastating experience of your life. Or, if you're in the channel having second thoughts, witnessing someone else go down, this will be the second most hair raising experience you will ever see in your lifetime..."

Now in the 90's, a new breed of surfer has emerged, adept at board surfing and windsurfing as well. This new breed has created a new sport - JAWS tow-in surfing - which incorporates the excitement of both, and then some. This new sport is a combination of windsurfing and surfing technologies, plus a new factor: raw horsepower, courtesy of the jet-ski. Only those with the courage and imagination to tackle Jaws on boards powered by wind, wave or jetski propulsion will ever know this feeling.

Natural conditions at Ho'okipa are perfect for today's outrageous high-performance surf sailing. Offshore coral reefs catch winter swells, and Maui's northeast tradewinds are funneled through the low-lying neck of the island to create sideshore winds. Like a magnet for boardsailors and their brightly colored gear, the beach at Ho'okipa is a panorama of the state of the art in surfsailing.

Jaws, where even being a spectator on the cliff above takes nerve! Featuring windsurfing and tow-in wave riders having the time of their life on Maui. Feel the excitement as 30' waves unfolds on speeding riders. Catch the vibration as the thundering waves of Maui come to life. Jaws has become synonymous with Pe'ahi on Maui, a distant reef that each winter causes gargantuan waves to break.

Pe'ahi means "beckon," and that's what the waves off this Hana Highway valley did, until Maui residents Laird Hamilton, Buzzy Kerbox, David Kalama, Mike Waltze and a select group of others finally heeded the call. Four years ago they launched themselves into the fearsome waves on sailboards. Later, they had jet skis tow them into the waves on surfboards, overcoming the impossibility of paddling over the ledge against a river of saltwater rushing up the face of such massive moving mountains when the swells steepen and break.

That bold stroke of inspired insanity took surfing into the unridden realm of nightmarish waves. They dubbed the spot Jaws in homage to its implacable ferocity, and the best sailboarders and surfers from around the world have taken up the challenge to ride Jaws without being devoured. Maui photographer Patrick McFeeley has stalked Jaws since it was first ridden. Shooting from nearby cliffs for a lofty vantage, or in a helicopter to put him nearly in the lap of the riders and yet above the image-clouding wave spray, McFeeley has gathered an impressive collection of shots.

"When you look through the lens, it's like being right in it. You have a tremendous fear of what can happen to the riders, even from land," McFeeley says. "We all respect this as the most dangerous wave we have ever been around. The biggest fear is someone will go out there and get killed. Ironically, as a photographer, the wipeouts add to the drama."

For four splendid years the Maui boys have guarded Jaws like jealous lovers, sharing their magic place only with those wave riders they are certain can survive the wave's immense power. It was a tough decision to let the book "Jaws Maui" reveal to the world the intimate details of their love affair with the spot, but they felt a greater good could be served. "I have traveled all my life, and everywhere I have been back to hasn't been as nice as the last day I left," says McFeeley. "No place is getting better. We have made a piece of history of Maui's beauty with this book, so that people can feel how things are, and realize how things have changed. "I hope that people look at this years from now and realize that we are losing it here, and are inspired to save it. Because once the land and ocean are gone, we have nothing."

In words both mystical and common-sensical, that strive to explain the allure of such a seemingly suicidal undertaking, and photos that immediately startle and intrigue viewers, the book is pure celebration. It honors the rugged pioneers who have taken surfing to the next level, to ride waves that others previously were content to watch in awe. Each rider is drawn to these waves for different reasons, but the ride itself makes them feel alive in a way that most people never experience. The local riders are well respected sailboarders, surfers, jet-ski pilots, lifeguards, water men one and all, who spend countless hours honing their skill to a level necessary to challenge Jaws with reasonable expectations of surviving.

Eye-popping photos are contrasted by the riders' insightful quotes that show they aren't supermen, despite the fact that what they are doing would drown 99.9 percent of the planet's population. Their simple eloquence reveals that they are just talented individuals doing something they love. The book is opulent in its use of stunning, double spread images of iron men riding waves both beautiful and brutish in their capacity to maim. Each photo is worth meditating over to glean the details of wind-carved wave texture and the physics of massive amounts of moving water, and the drama of man and machine in motion on the verge of annihilation.

The size of the waves borders on cartoonish at times, such as when the white scar of Laird Hamilton's wake stretches vertically above his head, leaving us to wonder how big the wave must be. The most astounding action photos can become numbing and lose their emotional impact, even when the action is varied by including jet skis, sailboards, bodyboards and surfboards in various combinations in the water. In a poetic offering, layout artist Charlie Lyon heightened the effect of the ocean action by contrasting it with panoramic shots of Maui. Readers are invited to pause and reflect on the interaction of ocean and land that shapes topography both physical and emotional. To provide a further refreshing visual rest, Lyon has inset tiny photos of exotic island flowers to gently remind readers that they miss life's lovely little details by focusing only on the grand dramatic scenes.

Using the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hawai'iloa as a metaphor for our fragile, self-contained planet, and pointing out that riding the waves at Jaws takes total commitment and aloha from all participants, the authors and surfers assert that the most important thing in life is our family and friendships, and how we treat each other.



ONLINE PRIVACY STATEMENT:

Maui Vacation Planner, Maui Concierge & CheapHawaiiTrip.com collectively respect your privacy and are committed to protecting you. None of your personal information is ever collected or distributed at any time. All vendor endorsements certify that a standard of privacy protection, equal to or exceeding that of the aforementioned companies, exists within each referral.