The South Shore reefs of Oahu were bombarded by surf at the beginning of September. The same swell that slammed into Teahupoo for the Billabong Tahiti Pro made it’s way to Hawaii and detonated south shore reefs.
Surf spots were maxing. Closeout sets were rolling through the channel at Ala Moana Bowls toppling the buoy. Castles was breaking nearly a mile out, and amidst the cleanup sets, there were waves that every surfer has dreamed of. The ones that have been drawn over and over on school notebooks, waves that light up your blood and fill it with adrenaline; hold you down and shake you to the reef. Intense drops and speedy lines were the norm.
Tuesday, August 30th, I couldn’t resist the temptation of paddling out at bowls and trying for a massive mutant barrel. It’s been a long time since I saw cylinders so round and thick. Franco from www.hawaiianswell.com was there to capture the action on film. The gallery above is from Tuesday afternoon (8/30/11) around 3:00-6:00pm.
Zeke Lau, Mikey Bruneau, and Kahea Hart were a few of the locals charging the bombs and getting shacked silly. The red channel marker buoy took its share of beatings and barrels. Bowls was doing its best imitation of Teahupoo, thick lips, square barrels, and below sea level spitting pits. Franco took thousands of photos from this swell. You can find them on his website in the album labeled Da Biggest South Swell Surf Galleries Summer 2011. He is one of Oahu’s surf photographers that consistently captures the moment and gets the photos up online and ready to purchase quick. Look for more of his galleries on Alohaupdate in the future.
Tags: Hawaiian Swell, Surfing
The author threw himself over the edge on a few bombs as well!