Hookipa is a beach on the north shore of

Maui Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, United States, perhaps the most renowned

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

site in the world. A combination of large, well-shaped waves breaking across a system of

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

s that extend across the bay and consistently strong winds make it ideal for the sport. Waves there are largest during the winter, smaller in summer. In addition to windsurfing competitions surfing contests are held there as well. The name Hookipa means "hospitality" in Hawaiian. Hookipa Beach Park is located on Maui's North Shore alongside the

Hana Highway The Hana Highway (colloquially referred to as The Road to Hana) is a stretch of Hawaii Routes 36 and 360 which connects Kahului, Hawaii, Kahului to the town of Hana, Hawaii, Hana in east Maui. To the east of Kalepa Bridge, the highway continue ...

. There are picnic facilities and observation decks for visitors.

Surf breaks

There are four distinct

surf break A surf break (also break, shore break, or big wave break) is a permanent (or semi-permanent) obstruction such as a coral reef, rock (geology), rock, shoal, or headland that causes a Wind wave, wave to Wind wave#Wave breaking, break, forming a ...

s at Ho'okipa. Pavilions is the break furthest east, off the lookout parking. West from it, facing the main parking, is Middles break. Pavilions is mostly a right but also has a shorter left, and Middles is usually surfed as a left. The area between the two, which is in the channel, catches fewer breaking sets and is sometimes referred to as Girlie Bowls. Next further west is Green Trees, followed by The Point, facing the lifeguard tower and the narrow sand beach launch. It is the most popular break for windsurfing, and generally breaks as a right. With the prevailing trade wind direction being east to east-north-east, these are most frequently starboard tack down-the-line conditions (wind from right when standing on the beach). Yet further west, past the rocky point, is Lanes, which generally breaks as a left. Under relatively rare conditions, known as Kona, the prevailing winds become southwest, creating port tack down-the-line conditions at Lanes (wind from left when standing on the beach). This only occurs a few days out of every year.

Attractions

Over the years Ho'okipa has been the site for organized windsurfing competitions in the

Wave In physics, mathematics, engineering, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from List of types of equilibrium, equilibrium) of one or more quantities. ''Periodic waves'' oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium ...

discipline. A long-running annual event is the

Aloha Classic The Aloha Classic is touted as "the single most prestigious event in the windsurfing world", held at Ho'okipa Beach Park on the north shore of Maui. The event takes place each year in late October and early November for the best wind and wave con ...

, a Pro-Am competition with age categories for contestants. The Red Bull King of the Air international kitesurfing competition was held at Ho'okipa from 1999-2005. Like many locations on the Maui and Oahu North Shore, Ho'okipa Beach is occasionally a tourist attraction in the winter time because of spectacularly large surf. In the afternoon on 15 December 2004, for example, tourists visited the beach to see waves as large as pound the shore; officials warned visitors to stay away from the water, as the surf was very deadly. Despite this, Ho'okipa is not an ideal site for true big-wave riding, as the waves close out when their faces approach about . During such episodes, other deep-water breaks offer more rideable waves (an example of which is Jaws, offshore Peahi, Maui, which is a very short car ride from Hookipa.)

References

External links

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Aloha Classic Wave Championships

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho'okipa Beaches of Maui Surfing locations in Hawaii Windsurfing