About half a mile offshore from Pillar Point, an underwater rock formation funnels Pacific swells into one of the largest and most violent waves on Earth. In an average winter, faces here regularly reach 12 to 15 metres; in exceptional storms they go higher. The break only works for a few weeks each year, and the surfers who ride it are a small invitation-only fraternity that includes the world's top big-wave specialists.
You cannot see the wave well from land — it breaks too far out — but the bluff trail from Pillar Point Harbor's outer breakwater leads to a viewpoint where, on a big-swell day, you can watch the lines marching in even if individual surfers are tiny specks. The Mavericks Surf Awards (the contest format has shifted over the years) runs at 24 hours' notice when the right swell arrives, usually in December or January. Most years the contest does not run at all. If a giant swell is forecast, the harbour parking lot fills with photographers and water-safety crews well before dawn.