Banzai Pipeline

The world's most famous surf break, on Oahu's North Shore

The Banzai Pipeline, at Ehukai Beach Park on Oahu's North Shore, is the most celebrated surf break in the world. In winter (November through February), northwest Pacific swells produce hollow, barrelling waves of 3 to 7 metres, and the world's best surfers compete here for the Pipeline Masters, the most prestigious event on the professional circuit.

Watching Pipeline from the beach is free and extraordinary — the power and speed of the waves, and the skill of the riders threading through the tubes, is astonishing from shore level. In summer the wave disappears and the beach is calm for swimming. The North Shore in general is worth the drive from Honolulu: the shrimp trucks at Kahuku, the coffee and açaí spots in Haleiwa town, and the string of surf breaks along Kamehameha Highway all reward a slow afternoon.

things to do sight north shore
A story
The Pipeline break forms because a shallow, flat coral reef sits just 3 to 5 metres below the surface. As a swell hits the reef, it throws forward into a hollow tube wave so perfect and so dangerous that for many years professionals refused to surf it. The wave was first ridden in 1961 by Phil Edwards, but its reputation was built by the Hawaii surfers who developed the technique of riding inside the tube — the defining image of modern surfing.