There are plenty of times in life when the world sneaks up on you. Sometimes it can be bad. Like that night out you didn’t plan for. Or good, like that night out you didn’t plan for. A swell hit Oahu this week that, from reading social media, no one saw coming. And for all intents and purposes, it seemed like a good thing. Things got big – and stayed relatively clean. Have a look at this edit from Oahu Surf Films, shot at the most legendary of big waves Friday after Thanksgiving, as an example. Big, ridable, relatively clean Waimea (if you’re into oversized surf).
“Friday Morning turned out to be a lot bigger than originally forecasted with waves estimated to be at least 40 feet cresting the North Shore by 2 a.m. at the height of this swell,” OSF on its YouTube post from the day. “Fast forward to 7 a.m. and thousands laid eyes on what turned out to be the biggest swell the Hawaiian Islands has seen since the last Eddie Aikau Big Wave Competition in January, 2023.”
So, from witnesses, definitely not small. A pretty amazing swell that, yeah no one saw coming.
