Surfers mixed
on new wave
measurement

The National Weather Service
says safety is a reason
for the change

---

By Leila Fujimori
Star-Bulletin

WHEN SURF'S UP, how high may be a tougher question to answer next week, and that has some local surfers upset.

The National Weather Service announced last week that it will no longer measure wave height from the back of the wave, but will report the full face height from trough to peak starting April 9.

The switch was getting mixed reviews yesterday.

"I don't like it," said Darin Yap, 23, who was showering off after surfing yesterday afternoon at Ala Moana Beach Park. "It'll be kind of misleading. Why you gotta standardize it for?"

Others, like Anson Ikehara, 15, of Pauoa, said going by the face of the wave is better because "when people look at the waves, they look at the front.

"I guess people got used to the way it is now, so it might confuse them," he said.

Safety is part of the reason behind the weather service's switch. The face height may be double that of the traditional measurement of waves.

Kalani, a lifeguard at Ala Moana Beach Park who asked his full name not be used, said the change is good if it keeps novices unable to handle larger waves out of the water.

But Kalani noted that most surfers are aware of the height by merely looking at the waves.

Firefighter Kahekili Kealoha, 36, said he has been surfing for 32 years and has grown up with the Hawaii method of measuring waves.

"For tourists and novice surfers, it'd be better to have it that way, but for the majority who surf, it's easier to measure from the back." Kealoha said among friends they will continue to use the old method.

Kealoha, a Niu Valley resident, either drives down to the beaches in town or calls friends on the North Shore to check on the surf. He said he never calls the National Weather Service, which he says traditionally overestimates wave height.

Instead, he relies on surf hotlines such as 596-SURF, 922-BONG or Web sites such as surfline.com or chunreef.com.

A few wave riders were all for the new method.

"Score," said Bruce McMoran, a University of Hawaii student from New Jersey, when he heard about the change. "I'm from the East Coast, and that's the way we do it there."

Surf News Network President Gary Kewley said his company, which has been reporting surf for 25 years, finds the new method reasonable. "That's what surfers ride, and that's what's going to hit you on the head, and that's what's most conducive to safety," Kewley said.

Kewley said Surf News Network, which provides the surf reports for the Star-Bulletin's weather page, will probably be following the weather service's lead, and also will begin to describe waves with terms like "knee-high" for 1 to 2 feet, "shoulder-high" for 4 to 5 feet and "head-high" for 6 feet.