Jaws (Hawaii)

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Surfer in Jaws

Jaws (Hawaiian name Peʻahi ) is the name of a world-famous surf spot on the island of Maui , in the US state of Hawaii, and is known for the practice and development of so-called tow-in surfing . The beach is in the north of the island at the foot of the sugar cane hills between miles 13 and 14 of the Hana Highway . The name Jaws (English for "jaw, throat") indicates the size and violence of the surf. The waves can reach heights of over 20 m (70 ft) at the front and speeds of up to 48 km / h (big waves).

In order for such large waves to form in Jaws, different weather and sea conditions have to interact. The winter storms in the North Pacific play a key role in this . The sea swell created by the storms hits the north coast of Maui unhindered after thousands of kilometers. The waves are reinforced by the reef and rock formations below the water surface. Jaws is known for the quality of these large, hollow breaking waves that only occur on a few days of the year between December and February.

Obstacles on the road to Jaws

For the movie Die Another Day , Laird Hamilton , Dave Kalama, and Darrick Doerner surfed Jaws 20- foot waves as stunt doubles in 2001 . When this became known and National Geographic Adventure magazine published an article on Jaws in July 2002, more and more people were trying to get to the surf spot.

After the beach was overcrowded by inexperienced surfers, tourists and other observers on December 15, 2004 and some surfers were injured, Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama complained about the large rush on the waves, which made it very difficult to surf. In 2006 the access route to Jaws was blocked by strangers with old car wrecks and anti-tank ditches . Until the blockade was cleared in 2009, the bay could only be reached by off-road vehicles or from the waterfront.

Some documentaries about surfing deal with Jaws on Maui, like Stacy Peralta's Riding Giants or Step into Liquid by Dana Brown .

Other spots with comparable wave heights are Mavericks or Todos Santos .

Web links

Commons : Surfing at Peahi  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Maui's monster surf break getting bigger by the day , honoluluadvertiser.com, November 18, 2002, English
  2. ↑ Crowd control needed at Peahi cliffs ( March 5, 2005 memento in the Internet Archive ), Maui News, December 18, 2004, English

Coordinates: 20 ° 56 ′ 19 ″  N , 156 ° 15 ′ 39 ″  W.