North shore

[JJSinPA]

Hello!
Does anyone know the best time of day to see the surfers/waves? We will be there Nov. 16-23. I just wasn't sure the timing- we are early risers and with the time change could get there at 6am. How long did you hang around?
We are debating adding a second day to go up there as well.

 

[Looptyloo]

Definitely early in the day will be better. After noon the traffic starts to get pretty bad up there, as more tourists and such start to make it up there and want to watch the surfers, too.

 

[Elima2015]

We went up to the North Shore to watch a surfing competition at Banzai Pipeline. It was really fun! We left Aulani about 8:30am and didn't run into too much traffic on the way (some here and there). We didn't have to drive too far to find some parallel parking. However, when we left about 12:00 (we had hungry kids), parking was really bad and it seemed everyone was following people back to their cars to take their spaces. We actually had to make someone move (thankfully they were still there) to get our car out as they literally parked against our bumper. A motorcycle had parked where a car previously had been and another car decided to make their own space between the motorcyle and our car. I have no idea what we would have done if we hadn't seen them get out of their car and promptly ask them to get back in. In all, we hung out at the beach for a couple hours watching the competition and digging in the sand - it was enough for us. The kids couldn't get near the water so after a bit they were like, "uh, why are we at the beach if we can't get wet?" If we didn't have small hungry children, I would have driven more around the area and tried to check out a different beach.

 

[catmegs]

Check the surf reports while you're there. We were there 3 years ago during your exact dates and had hugely anticipated seeing some big waves and some of the surfing competitions. The whole week we were there was completely flat

 

[igomezhnl]

Check www.surfnewsnetwork.com. Scroll until you see NORTH anything that is HAW: 5+ is decent size surf. HAW: is acronym for Hawaiian in which locals base wave height using the back of the wave. So if I say I surfed a wave that's 9ft, the face of the wave is double or 18ft+. So viewing a day when it's 5+ you will see waves 10ft or more. Leave in the morning if you could, but you don't have to make a crazy extra effort to see people surfing (unless during surf contests). Their are many great surf spots along the coast.

 

[JJSinPA]

Check www.surfnewsnetwork.com. Scroll until you see NORTH anything that is HAW: 5+ is decent size surf. HAW: is acronym for Hawaiian in which locals base wave height using the back of the wave. So if I say I surfed a wave that's 9ft, the face of the wave is double or 18ft+. So viewing a day when it's 5+ you will see waves 10ft or more. Leave in the morning if you could, but you don't have to make a crazy extra effort to see people surfing (unless during surf contests). Their are many great surf spots along the coast.

This is great!!! I have to ask, what does AM sickness mean?
Also, how early are the surfers in action? My kids and husband are early risers, so we may take advantage of early departures, early returns to hotel unless we will just hit bad traffic.

 

[buffettgirl]

This is great!!! I have to ask, what does AM sickness mean?
Also, how early are the surfers in action? My kids and husband are early risers, so we may take advantage of early departures, early returns to hotel unless we will just hit bad traffic.

I'm sure there's a more detailed explanation, but it usually is that the conditions are sort of hazy early on and then clean up.

As for what time, I know my husband goes out surfing before work, and whenever it's light enough, 5 or 6ish, and he's just a total amateur. I would however, expect as soon as it's light enough you're going to see people out there. Literally , it sounds cliche, but people do surf before work. They go surf. they go home, they go to work. Just like someone goes running before work, they surf before work. It's a fricking amazing place.