Capturing the Moment

  Whenever there is a big swell at Honolua I get a bit nervous. There can be some very big waves there, and some very good surfers. This time was no different. The surf forecast was calling for 5-7ft waves, which could be well overhead at a place like Honolua Bay. The nerves usually give way to excitement, or stoke, as us surfers like to say. This is especially true after I catch my first wave.   It has been a while since I have had the chance to surf 'the bay'. I wrote about one of my last surf sessions here on this blog which you can check out thru this link: Surfing Honolua with Ben . This time the waves were bigger, but it was still early swell and long periods...which meant long waits. Add about a hundred or so people there to surf and I wasn't sure if I would get any waves. Luckily I snagged a few fun ones before having to leave. Honolua perfection   I wasn't sure how the crowd would be since there are almost no tourist on the island now thanks to a mand...

  Whenever I am in Maui I have to check and see if my favorite wave is breaking. Way up on the Northwest side of the island, about twenty minutes past Lahaina, an idyllic bay sits in the perfect position to wrap big northwest swells around its point, creating a perfect peeling right known as Honolua Bay. Always better with friends     A 'right' as surfers know it means that because of the direction the waves breaks over the reef, when you pop up on your board you travel to your right down the wave. I prefer 'lefts' since I surf goofy-footed, or right foot forward, and going left leaves me facing the wave. But I can't pass up a right as perfect as Honolua. I will often pig dog the wave, which means to reach down and grab the rail of the surfboard like I'm doing in the picture above.    It can be a mission just getting up to Honolua, so it's always better to do it with friends. This time my good friend Ben was also surfing. He is a goofy-foot as wel...

Searching for the green room   Welcome back to Maui! Honolua style.  Back in Maui for Heidi's spring break we snuck in a quick trip with friends up the west coast to the fabled wave at Honolua Bay. We weren't sure what the waves were going to look like but we took long boards just in case it was small. It wasn't. Brian with the laid back bottom turn    After a few small waves out at the point, we paddled over to the cave where the waves looked a bit bigger. Turns out we could have used boards about half this size but we charged nontheless. We put those boards to the test and came out smiling. Barrels in Maui Ben grabbing the rail   All three of us did our best to keep Heidi busy on the camera. She was perched high above the cave about sixty feet over all the surfers. Some of the longer waves took us right under her giving the shots an almost aerial feel. Steep takeoffs at Honolua   This provided a great opportunity to show ...

Me grabbing the rail at Honolua Some surfer getting shacked   What a way to ring in the new year! A week on Maui with old friends, borrowed camping gear, and a good winter swell brought out many smiles. We made sure to get in a couple of whale watches complete with muggings and breaches, and even managed a few dives at some of our favorite spots. Nate breaking the mystique Cutting hard at Honolua   There are a few spots on the island with big firework shows for new years eve but the real scene is in the local neighborhoods. Fireworks sell like crazy leading up to new years and it shows with explosions heard from noon onwards. I even heard a few the next morning. I checked a few times to see if Nate's car was on fire because of all the smoke. And despite her best efforts to fall asleep I still kissed Heidi at midnight thanks to some unbelievable explosions from the neighbors. Whale tails everywhere! Adult breaching Baby attempt   It was a n...

  A day off usually means adventuring here on Maui but since Heidi has a flight scheduled in a few hours we could not go scuba diving. So we thought about possible snorkel locations to go and shoot at. There are spots where you can definitely see turtles, others where dolphins sometimes frequent. I could point you towards black tip reef sharks and white tip reef shark spots. But today we decided to make the long haul to beautiful Honolua Bay up on the Northwest corner of the island to look for the huge school of big-eye scad living in the shallows. We found them...and much more.    The walk down to Honolua Bay is through a towering rainforest. It is an easy, level path bordered by huge trees covered in thick vines. The beach itself is all rocks. While not the most comfortable laying down surface the rocks do soak up the heat from the sun which provides an easy way to warm up after your snorkel. As we headed out the water cleared up after a few yards and we kicked ou...

Avoiding obstacles at Honolua Digging in the rail   Fresh off a month long adventure in Indonesia it was time to get back to work in Maui. The Humpback whales are migrating down from Alaska and big winter storms are pushing down pulses of great surf along Maui's north shore. Juvenile Kangaroo Nudibranch White Margin Nudibranch   Also during the winter we get periods of calm from our usual trade winds. All of this adds up to some great surfing, some great diving, and lots of good photo opportunities!   A good friend Ryan Shamburger was out for a visit which prompted a visit to the fabled surf break of Honolua Bay. Located way up on the northwest shore of Maui I seldom get here just because of the long drive. But when I do it can be world class. These top two photos were taken there by Heidi Miller. The first pretty far off at the middle break and the second just below at the cave. Slender Tail Moray Then came the diving. Heidi and I were able to ...