Honolua Bay is one of the most famous waves on Earth. When it’s good, it’s mind-bogglingly good. And when it gets that way, you can bet that Kai Lenny is going to be there, and he’s going to surf until the sun sets.
It doesn’t, however, get mind-boggling good all that often.
“The outside section, Coconut Grove, quickly gains shape and size as it heads towards the Cove, which is generally considered the best place to take off,” The Inertia’s Alex Haro wrote in 2020. “From there, the bathymetry of Honolua sculpts a wave with numerous bowl sections, foiled to perfection as it spins its way into the Cave section at the end. Depending on the day, there are a handful of bowl sections that offer up a hide-and-seek barrel. When the winds are blowing from the northeast, the mist blows off the back of the wave, an offshore breeze that only serves to shape the wave into something even more perfect. It’s not a frequent thing, though — waveless in the summer months, it begins to wipe the sleep from its eyes as winter approaches. The swell direction is a finicky one, too, as it needs to be just right to find its way through the islands of Molokai and Lanai. Those perfect Honolua days are few and far between, but when they happen, it’s a thing of wonder.”
