Every few years, it happens. The surfs in Waimea Bay Beach Park reach higher than 20 feet. The competitors in the Quicksilver Big Wave Invitational in Memory of Eddie Aiku ready their surf boards and paddle out for a ride of those monstrous waves.
The Quicksilver Big Wave or "The Eddie" is one of its kind. Named after the legendary surfer and North Shore Oahu's first lifeguard, the tournament was only held 7 times since 184 due to the condition that the waves should be 20 feet or bigger in Waimea Bay. The last tournament was held in December 2004 during which the waves reached as high as 50 feet.
Waimea Bay Beach Park has been ranked among the top 10 big wave surf spots in the world. Undeniably so--- when the surf is up, waves here can go up from 12 feet to 30 feet and more. However, the surf breaks big only a few times a year. Yet even though Waimea Bay lost the prestige it once held as having the best surf spot in the world (as soon as other beaches in the North Shore were discovered to have far superior quality), the bay is still the home of the largest and most spectacular surf in the world. And even so, continues to hold a significant place in the world of surfing.
Like other North Shore beaches, Waimea Bay Beach Park is "bipolar." In winter, the waves are large, fast, and deadly. Summer is much calmer and relatively safe for swimming and novice wave riding. On one side of the beach, there's the "Jump Rock," a scuba diving and free diving spot in the bay. When the surf's down, you will also find rock climbers here practicing, and anyone who just want to have add extra fun by jumping off the rock into the water.
Services and amenities: lifeguards, picnic areas, restrooms, showers, phones
5 Unique Things about Waimea Bay Beach Park:
- Waimea Bay is one of the filming locations of the television series "Lost."
- Waimea Bay was where the first contact between Hawaiians and foreigners took place. It was also where the Discovery and the Resolution, Captain's James Cook's vessels, docked to get water on their way to Kauai after Cook was killed in a skirmish with the natives in 1779.
- In 1793, Captain Vancouver's Dedalus, the ship that brought second group of foreigners to visit Hawaii, docked in Waimea, too.
- Waimea means "reddish water" in Hawaiian.
- Waimea Bay Beach Park is the home of "The Eddie" or the Quicksilver Big Wave Invitational in Memory of Eddie Aikau.
Book your Hawaii hotel and come to enjoy Waimea Beach park and other Oahu beaches.
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