BREAKING!: Hawaii Sees Biggest Waves in Five Years (6 photos)

Thousands of people are flocking to Hawaii's beaches to see monster waves crash ashore. Some of the world's most daring surfers took on the powerful and dangerous waves, which forecasters say could reach heights of 50 feet (15 meters) by tomorrow.

Hawaii hasn't seen such large waves since 2004 or 1998, said Robert Ballard, a forecaster for the National Weather Service. Teams of tow-in surfers - who use jet watercraft to race into waves too big to paddle - are flying to Maui from Brazil, South Africa and Australia, The Honolulu Advertiser reported.

A legendary big wave surfing contest, the Quicksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau, may be held today for the first time since 2004 if waves reach a minimum of 40 feet (12 meters), organizers said. The event is only held in perfect conditions, and the waves weren't quite big or smooth enough on Monday.

via dailymail

Tags: BREAKING, Biggest, Five, Hawaii, Waves, Years, photos

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Comment by marlamarla on December 9, 2009 at 4:30am: AMazing strength and force....great shots!

Comment by stephanie on December 9, 2009 at 2:36am: Thanks, I found his life.I thought he died while rescuing somebody on his lifeguard duty.
I still don't know where some of us can find enough courage to brave nature like this.

Comment by Conor Campbell on December 8, 2009 at 5:09pm: haha yeah thats who i meant
three cheers for being high...

Comment by James Lynch on December 8, 2009 at 3:58pm: I think Mark Foo is the guy you're thinking of Conor. He died at Mavericks in the mid 1990s and his story features in the Riding Giants Documentary (another awesome piece of work from Dogtown and Z-Boys director Stacey peralta).
In Eddie Aikau's biography; 'Eddie would Go', it explains how he was lost at sea while helping in a rescue of a group off Molokai in Hawaii. He was best known as a surf lifeguard in Waimea and he braved some heavy swells to rescue people (hence the phrase Eddie would go). Eddie could certainly surf, but he was best known as a protector and rescuer of surfers who got into difficulty.
'The Eddie' was conceived and held first a few years after Eddie disappeared/died. Quiksilver now sponsor it. The preconditions for holding it are that the ocean swell must reach 20 foot. Hence it isn't held every year.

Comment by Conor Campbell on December 8, 2009 at 3:23pm: eddie aikau was a big wave surfer from hawaii
he tragically died while surfing mavericks here in California
its actually supposed to be big there this weekend, Im making the 30 minute drive from Santa Cruz to watch should be epic

if your interested enough i would highly recommend riding giants
amazing movie and itll give you a good insight into big wave surfing

Comment by Eugene on December 8, 2009 at 1:30pm: @Kevin - Wow! Amazing video!!

Comment by Kevin on December 8, 2009 at 1:28pm: Wow, these waves are incredible! I've surfed maybe 10 to 15 foot waves and that was pretty sketchy. This is kind of a once in a lifetime deal so I'm happy for all the people that got to ride them today.

Comment by stephanie on December 8, 2009 at 11:20am: Bly me I'm hopeless : who is eddie Aikau ?
Well bnature liked him !