A trolley painted to look like a whale is packed with Japanese tourists as they extend their arms out of the side toward the ocean holding cameras. A family wearing matching Aloha shirts jaywalks in front of the bus. The screeching sound of worn out brakes and the smell of burnt rubber, but everyone is unscathed. A few cute girls in skimpy bikinis sip on tropical drinks with umbrellas in them disinterested in the near fatal collision. Everyone’s attention is toward the ocean where there is solid double-overhead surf avalanching throughout a string of picture-perfect peaks as far as the eye can see. It’s summer on the South Shore of Oahu.
The first solid South-SSW groundswell arrived during a time of limbo where spring meets summer. Students crammed for finals with the waves on their mind, regurgitated their disposable knowledge, and flooded out of the hallways and into the ocean. Townies went from stoked to surfed out, back to stoked to surfed out, and over and over again. Workers recounted stories of deep barrels at bowls-which by the way, could’ve been better with more west in the swell- in the dawn sun over their big plate lunches. Lunch breaks were personally extended for more time in the water and the inviting scent of charcoal, salt and beer increased with the setting sun.
When it was all said and done, the South Shore received 8 straight days of 6’+ waves (peaks of 10’ at select reefs) with reinforcement from four separate pulses which hasn’t occurred in more than 40 years and favorable conditions according to Surf News Network. Sun burned, surfed out, and salty, surfers on Oahu are looking forward to the rest of summer.
