CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Basketball player Tanner Runia of Timpview High School in Provo, Utah, braved the surf at Sunset Beach yesterday afternoon. Runia and his teammates are visiting for the Merv Lopes Holiday Classic tournament. A high-surf advisory warning has been issued for the north and west shores through today. CLICK FOR LARGE

Big waves inspire gawking, not riding

"Junk" surf still makes conditions rough for local commuters

With waves that were expected to be as tall as three-story buildings, it was supposed to be congested along the North Shore's best surfing spots.

Instead, the only congestion yesterday was seen along the roads -- and some area restaurants.

The waves were tall, some in the 20- to 25-foot range, but pretty much junk in the eyes of surfers.

"The surf was big and stormy and kind of unridable. With the winds coming up, it wasn't visually what they expected," surfer Chris Pirrone said.

Nonetheless, the promise of big waves was more than enough to bring plenty of people to the North Shore yesterday, and not everyone was happy about it.

"This is crazy," said Sunset Beach resident Irene Carpenter, who was headed out to Ewa Beach last night. "The traffic is really heavy. I mean it's nighttime.

"The big problem is they don't get out of their cars," she said. "They just go 1 mile an hour by the beaches instead of stopping. If you want to look at the ocean, stop and look at it, but don't just stop right in front of people. Some of us have things to do out here."

Police Sgt. Byron Martin said, "The surf is not that big, but from Sunset Beach all the way to Joseph P. Leong Highway it was pretty much a parking lot" due to rubbernecking.

Martin said the Wahiawa police station was getting lots of calls even past 7 p.m. from motorists wondering whether there was an accident.

"Anytime the surf is up, or the perception of the surf is up, the traffic goes up," he said.

The National Weather Service predicted Wednesday that waves would be 30 to 35 feet on Oahu.

But by yesterday afternoon they were in the 20- to 25-foot range, with slight increases expected into the evening.

More waves were expected through today, and authorities said residents should remain cautious.

Oahu and Kauai civil defense agencies warned residents and visitors to avoid affected beach areas and to stay out of the water.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM A woman walked along the shore of Sunset Beach yesterday afternoon. Authorities were warning visitors and residents to stay out of the water, stick to beaches with lifeguards and watch for debris washing across the highway. CLICK FOR LARGE

The city's Ocean Safety Division spokesman Bryan Cheplic said, "If you are going to come out and watch, it'd be better if it's at a beach where there are lifeguards."

Three people walking on rocks at Shark's Cove received minor cuts and scrapes when a wave washed across the rocks at about 4:30 p.m., Cheplic said, but the injuries did not require hospitalization.

Michael Vatovec, who lives in Waialua, wanted to show his mom visiting from New Jersey the waves in Sunset Beach.

"I gave up as soon as we saw the gridlock from Haleiwa," he said. "It took about 45 minutes from Waialua to Haleiwa town, in back of my house."

Meghin Chappelle's drive home from work, normally an hour, took her nearly three hours.

"When you hit the bypass road, it's terrible," she said. What normally takes 15 minutes from the Haleiwa bypass road to Sunset Beach took two hours.

But North Shore businesses benefited from the extra traffic.

"It must have been a record day of all time," said Pizza Bob's manager Sandy Lee. "The line wrapped around the building from the time we opened the doors. I've almost run out of pizza crust, so it's been busy and good."

Haleiwa Joe's Seafood Grill owner Joe Lazar said, "Anytime it gets big, it's going to draw a lot of people just because there's so many more people on the island, and they're all coming out here to this seven-mile stretch.

"It's good because a lot of our livelihoods depends on that," he said. "I guess you got to take the good with the bad."