Photo: Youtube/Jamie O’Brien
It wasn’t too long ago that Jamie O’Brien dubbed China Walls “the most dangerous spot on the South Shore.” The wave itself isn’t exactly as intense and fierce as notable locations on the North Shore but the novelty aspect of China Walls — a wave that refracts off of a long cliff, pushing through a takeoff section and out to a left-hander — has contributed to plenty of bad accidents among tourists and surfers through the years. News broke on Tuesday of a surfer who’s “in serious condition” after an injury at the Hawaii Kai spot.
Honolulu Emergency Medical Services said bystanders, most likely other surfers, were in the water helping a 19-year-old surfer when first responders arrived on the scene at China Walls just before 5 p.m. Monday. Details are still scarce but Hawaii News Now has reported the injured surfer was brought onto a HFD rescue boat and then transported to a hospital by ambulance. The injured surfer was ” in serious condition” as of Tuesday morning.
As mentioned, the spot is no stranger to accidents that require emergency response. The popular, scenic location is popular among tourists looking to dive into the water. And it’s because of that last fact that local surfers are used to helping and even saving tourists in distress often.
“I’ve seen bodies dragged all the way to the finger before and it was a big enough wave. I was able to spot him in the water and he was face down right off the point of the finger. Right near where there were some surfers, but he was face down and unconscious in the water,” Brian Lauro, a man who helped with saving a visitor’s life, told Island News in 2023. The site referenced another regular in the China Walls lineup who claimed to “help save people about once or twice a week.”
One particular incident made headlines last October when a 24-year-old visitor from New York hit his head while jumping into the water. Nearby surfers were able to help him right away until Honolulu Ocean Safety arrived on the scene.
