Surviving Peahi, Jaws Maui

Living on Maui and enjoying big wave riding takes one to the end of the road in Haiku to the famous Peahi Jaws Surf Break. It starts to break around 15 feet, but does not really get good till it is in the 20 plus range. The best of the best, such as Kai Lenny, will tow in on 50 foot plus faces of heavy water. Wednesday, seemed like a good day to check it out with Nick @honusurf and Cristina @cristinaonmaui. The condition on the ground was mud - the ocean was calm with 14 - 22 footers rolling in. Below is Cristina's video of the start of the day.

The one surfer out was Maui waterman Kai Lenny. At 25 years old, this guy is one of the best in all watersports. I was able to get some of his rides from the hillside.

Jaws is not about just riding the wave, you have to get in and out off the rocky shore. The bay is small, and with the energy of the waves make for a very strong current. You have to find a calm period then go.

I was not able to catch a wave, most the time I was in awe and watching Kai. I had one good attempt but was not well positioned in the pit of the wave. Once Kai and his buddy left it was clearly time to head in - I was all alone. Getting in is much harder then getting out. If you miss your window, the current will beat you and send you out. The only thing to do is to head out and make a huge circle back out to ride some foam wave into the corner of the bay. Below is the action getting in. Thanks to nick @honusurf for the head cam to share the experience.

Aloha from Maui