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If you are not on Oahu’s North Shore or Maui, then you should jump on the next flight to Honolulu or Kahului! Make sure  you are ready to sit in traffic once you get there. Traffic jams have backed up the local highways for miles. This is all due to the largest waves in a decade and the Quicksilver Eddie Aikau surfing contest taking place at famous Waimea Bay.

The biggest waves in a decade are predicted for today and Wednesday. There is also another Pacific storm brewing this week that will definitely bring some more big waves to Hawaii, the West Coast and Central and South America.

Video from the first day of the big swell taken December 7, 2009.

Hurricane Ida produced some awesome waves all over the Texas Coast and the East Coast, but waves in Alabama? See it to believe it!

Alabama point from centaur spencer on Vimeo.

WCT Event #6 stops by Lower Trestles and kicks off September 13 – 19, 2009. The 2009 Hurley Pro will see some top surfers, including Joel Parkinson looking for his first ASP world surfing title. The waves are predicted to be in the 3-4 foot range.

Come out in person or watch the worlds best surfers online compete for the grand prize of $100,000. There are 3 different swells expected to produce some fun waves. Hurricane Linda, in the Eastern Pacific, has weakened, but the swell predictors say there is a chance of some residual swell.

Full line up of Hurley Pro surfers

Complete Hurley Pro results

Who knows where Liberia is located? Did you guess Costa Rica? Indonesia? No, Liberia is located on Africa.  Go look it up and find out where this spot is located.

Liberia is located on Africa’s west coast and nestled in between Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire.  There are 579 km (360 miles) of semi-explored beaches.  Find out more with this BBC surfing Liberia article.

Liberia history and facts

Where will you surf next??

1/18/09 swell at Osprey (Sunset Cliffs/San Diego, CA)

Osprey 1/18/09

These surf photos were taken right before I paddled out.  The tide was rising and the waves got bigger and better with more tide.

Wow!  The California Coastal Commission, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association), and the MBNMS (Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary)  finally made their decision this past week.  They made a decision that will likely disappoint a lot of surfers and a lot of people involved in the surfing industry.  Personal Water Craft (or PWC) use is now restricted in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.  This means PWC surfing for Ghost Tree and Moss Landing are off limits.  The ban will take place in early 2009 in all areas of the sanctuary, with the exception of 4 pre-existing zones near boat harbors, as well as a seasonal fifth zone designated specifically for tow-in surfing at Mavericks.  Read more…

I think this ban will only keep out the honest weekend warriors, but will not keep out the pro tow-in surfer teams.  I found the current punishment for violating the ban pretty interesting.  The current penalty for PWCs breaking the MBNMS law is only $500 for first-time offenders and a higher amount for repeat offenders.  This is just pocket change for any pro-surfer or any other surfer making the cover of SURFER Mag or Surfing Mag.  Think about it……$500 fine vs. +$50,000 for making the SURFER mag cover, XXL biggest wave competition check, potential sponsorship.  I think the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages of paying a fine for your shot at an epic Ghost Tree swell.

Ghost Tree is located off of Pescadero Point along the famous Pebble Beach 17-mile drive.  Pebble Beach is located on the western side of the Monterey Bay Peninsula.

Ghost Tree Monterey Bay Peninsula

More information:

http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/jointplan/

http://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2007/8/F4c-8-2007.pdf

I was searching around the net for surf forecasts and found some interesting swell predictions.  The experts are predicting a strong North Pacific storm for the end of next week.  Northern California, the Central Coast, and Southern California will all see increased wave heights and stronger waves.  NorCal and the Central Coast should look for the swell to peak on Friday.  The swell will continue down the coast and light up all the surf spots from Point Conception to Baja California.  Looks like late Friday and Saturday will be the best bet for Southern California.

Check the California surf forecasts

There is a big storm in the South Pacific generating some really nice SSW-SW swell for Southern California, Baja Mexico, Mainland Mexico, and Central America.

The swell predictors are forecasting great swell for October 22-25, depending on your location. Southern California surfers should look for the new swell to peak during October 24-25. Shoulder-head high+ surf should be the story for Southern California, while Southern Baja and Central America receiving solid, overhead surf.

Check out the long range surf forecast for Southern California

Go to wavewatch.com for your local surf forecasts

Research the globe, Reserve your surf spot, and Submit your favorite surf spot.  Simple enough, right?  Start up your Internet and go searching.

It really is that simple.  Go research a “secret surf spot” somewhere on Google Earth and mark it as the next “Teahupoo”.  I highly suggest participating in this awesome contest.  Take some time this week or next month, or even in December to cast your vote.

Official Google Earth Challenge 3

How to enter: Get your entries in by December 31, 2008

Official Rules

I think this surfer should be sponsored since he sounds just like a pro surfer and lives in The OC.

Another Irons brother won the 2008 Rip Curl Pro Search.  Bruce Irons pulled out a win on the 6th stop of the ASP World Tour against his Hawaiian mate, Fred Patachia.  Andy Irons won the 2006, 2007 Rip Curl Pro Search contests and now his little brother has a Rip Curl Pro Search WCT victory.  Bruce can feel complete this year since he will end his professional contest surfing after this year. 

With this win, Bruce moved into 10th place on the ASP World Tour rankings.  Kelly Slater still remains in first place with a very comfortable points lead.  Tiago Pires, Portugal, was in it to win and actually knocked out eight-time ASP World Champ and the current ratings points leader, Kelly Slater, in Round 3.  Tiago Pires would eventually surf his way into 3rd place in the Rip Curl Pro Search contest.

Rip Curl Pro Search Final Results
1 – Bruce Irons (HAW) 17.66
2 – Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 11.16

Current ASP World Tour Top 10 After Stop NO. 6
1 – Kelly Slater (USA) 5620 points
2 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 4548 points
3 – Bede Durbidge (AUS) 4382 points
4 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 4370 points
5 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 4353 points
6 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 3950 points
7 – Andy Irons (HAW) 3938 points
8 – C.J. Hobgood (USA) 3870 points
9 – Bobby Martinez (USA) 3628 points
10 – Bruce Irons (HAW) 3392 points

Last Friday night there were some exciting 2008 XXL Billabong award winners.  The winners were announced in front of more than 2,000 surfing fans.  The eight annual surfing Oscars were given out 4/11/08 by a panel of 250 surfers, surf media, and big wave riders.

Staying true to my prediction, Shane Dorian claimed The Ride Of The Year Award, making his wallet a little fatter with a $50,000 check.  Dorian’s epic barrel can be seen on the Surf Blog Spot under the XXL Billabong Ride Of The Year.  Dorian was interviewed about his ride at the awards show and here is what he had to say.  “Usually at Teahupoo, you pick your line, set your rail and you normally make it, but that wave was really unique,” said Dorian.  “I nearly fell at the start, I nearly fell in the middle and then it clipped me at the end.  It was difficult because I was almost eating it the whole time.”

The other big winner of the night was San Clemente big wave surfer, Mike Parsons, who surfed his way into the history book (for the time being) for riding the biggest wave judged to be more than 70 ft!  Parsons achieved this new record at the Cortes Bank off the California Coast on January 5, 2008.  The wave was claimed to be only 70 ft, but the wave was cut off at the bottom of photo and the true height of the wave could not be accurately calculated.  Therefore, the wave was only estimated at 70 ft, but in reality the wave was more than 70 ft.  It is the second time this big wave aficionado earned the Biggest Wave Award.  Parsons also won the inaugural title in 2001 for a 66 ft Cortes Bank wave.  Parsons walked off the stage with a little extra $15,000 in travel money.

Another San Clemente surfer, Greg Long, scored big while paddling in at Todos Santos and bringing home the 2008 XXL Monster Paddle Award.  On 12/05/07, Todos Santos pulled in four out of the five 2008 XXL Monster Paddle Award nominees.  Only one went home with the prestigious $15,000 award.  

The 2007/08 Billabong XXL Awards can be seen on ESPN2 on Friday, May 29th at 9:30pm.

Other 2008 XXL Billabong Awards:

Monster Tube Photo Award $5,000

• Manoa Drollet (Tahiti) at Teahupoo, Tahiti on November 1, 2007. 

Best Male Overall Performance Award $5,000

• Greg Long (San Clemente, California)

Billabong Girls Best Performance Award $5,000

• Maya Gabeira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

 Billabong XXL info and video: www.billabongxxl.com

Does anybody recognize this surf spot?  Hopefully somebody reading this post has surfed this spot and remembers what it looked like.  I surfed it really fun with strong offshore winds.

Take a guess.

Hint:  The water is warm all year and is south of the United States.

Post a comment with your guess.

The day before the huge swell hit Southern California, the Central Coast of California was getting lit up with hefty tow-in waves.

If you have ever surfed the Central Coast then you know all about the cold and heavy waves.  This video was shot north of Point Conception and south of Santa Cruz, CA.  Next Winter, when you are looking for some Central Coast surf, inject yourself with some courage and try to paddle out.  The Central Coast is not your local beach break.  Watch out for jagged rocks, hazardous sea lions, sharks, and locals.

R.I.P. Peter Davi

Dyeing the river green on St. Patrick’s Day

Have a great day and too bad there are not any green waves to surf.

Where were you on this sunny Southern California day?

Remember to wear your sunblock and search here for your favorite sunblock gear.