South Swell Firing for Surfers

By Carlos Rock

Ma’alaea Firing. Photo: Carlos Rock.

The south swell has finally arrived and is showing signs of possibly being one of the best swells of the whole summer.

The new south swell that migrated up from Tahiti has landed in Hawaii. The swell is supposed to build all day today in the Hawaiian islands with a possible late afternoon bump into the 4-foot range.

Webcams and word of mouth are showing otherwise. Most spots on the south and west sides are already experiencing a decent sized swell which looks promising for the rest of the swell forecast.

And just in time for the weekend. The swell has been upgraded in size from 6 to 10-feet to 7 to 12-feet by Saturday.

The swell is also expected to stay in the 6 to 10-foot range until Monday and possibly some leftovers for Tuesday.

With swells like this lighting up an entire half of the island, the only dilemma is deciding where to surf given the direction, the tides, and of course the crowds.

But also taking into account the type of waves on offer at these spots, and if they are worth the trek all the way out there (La Perouse or Lahaina?). At least there was no down time in between the winter and spring/summer swells.

It seems as though the southern hemisphere started right where winter left off. There are more swells on the way according to forecasters from Surfline who monitor swell activity way down south near Tasmania and New Zealand. There are big purple blobs developing one after another and that spells good news for surfers further up north.

Since this swell is expected to linger around for a bit, it would be wise to pace yourself during your sessions so that by the time day three comes along and it’s still pumping, you won’t be surfed out and you might just find yourself enjoying perfect waves with just a few people. Stretching and hydration work wonders as well.

So for now, get out there its firing.