Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
The waves were pumping off Magic Island at Ala Moana
Bowls yesterday, giving surfers and bodyboarders
great rides -- and some spills.

South swell
busies Oahu’s
lifeguards

In two days, 65 are rescued
and 400 helped back in

By Wilma Jandoc
and Steve Murray
Star-Bulletin

A large summer swell began hitting the south shore during the weekend, increasing the number of surfers and bodyboarders and keeping lifeguards busy.

Lifeguards and surfers estimated the waves to be between 4 and 6 feet high in places that normally have 1- to 3-foot waves. Occasionally bigger ones come in, said Ala Moana Beach lifeguard Bill Goding.

Lifeguards reported more than 200 assists yesterday, and 25 rescues. On Sunday, 200 assists and 40 rescues were made in Waikiki alone.

The difference between an assist and a rescue is the severity of the person's condition. Capt. Edmund Pestana of the city Ocean Safety Division said an assist usually involves someone too tired to swim to shore. A rescue may involve an injury.

Todd Robertson, a surfer at Magic Island, said the larger waves tend to keep the less-experienced surfers on the shore. "Usually, if it's about 3 feet, it's more crowded," he said. "They're (the waves) more manageable. When they're bigger, it's usually more of the pros."

Winston Ireberia of Kakaako, who has been surfing at Magic Island for about 15 years, said the waves were great but issued his own warning: "I recommend that if you come here, you gotta know what you're doing."

Pestana said the current swells are expected to last about two more days. He said they originated from winter storms in Antarctica, which caused 20-foot waves in Tahiti and Samoa before reaching Hawaii.

Havin' A Swell Time

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
A bodyboarder jumps off the Kuhio Wall into the surf in Waikiki
yesterday. Surf on the south shores of Oahu reached six feet yesterday,
bringing surfers and bodyboarders out by the hundreds. The south
swell is expected to continue at least through tomorrow.

In high surf, the reef at Magic Island is dangerous to both surfers and equipment. "Counting yesterday and today, I've seen at least five or six broken surfboards come in," Goding said. "So it's pounding pretty well." Surfers aren't the only ones at risk. A person fishing off the Ala Moana reef got pulled out to sea, but was rescued by a surfer, he said.

To increase safety, an additional lifeguard and jet ski were brought in to patrol the south shore, Pestana said.

He said it is difficult to compare the assists and rescues made over the last two days to other times in the year because of varying conditions. "In the summer, we have a lot of tourists who are pulled out of the water. In the winter, the waves get bigger, so it becomes more dangerous."

Even with the increased risk that big waves bring, people have flocked to the beaches. One Waimanalo man admitted skipping work yesterday to bodyboard at Point Panic. "I've been waiting for something like this for a long time," he said.

Brandon Victor of Honolulu, who was bodyboarding at Point Panic, didn't let his scraping the coral ruin his day. "This is the best ride in town," he said.