Waimea Bay Beach Park

City & County Beach Parks - Oahu - North Shore (11 of 21)

Beach 31, Waimea Bay, is the single most famous beach in Hawaii and the site of the world-renown Waimea Bay surf break. This beach is also the home to the infamous shore break, and the lesser-known Pinballs break during periods of moderate wave height. The bay occupies the drowned mouth of the Waimea River, with the prominent basalt rocks and headland forming its boundaries. The highway runs from headland to headland, providing access to the beach park as well as to the church and tower located at the eastern headland. The beach is part of a sandy barrier that has formed across the mouth of the river, with the river and floodplain extending over 0.5 m inland into the narrow V-shaped valley. The beach is composed of medium to coarse carbonate sand, which helps maintain a steep, high beach face. The bay has deep water, with reefs only at the headlands, allowing larger waves to reach the shore, contributing to the steep, wide beach profile. Throughout the winter, Waimea Bay experiences periods of increased wave magnitude, causing seasonal erosion on the upper beach and the formation of a bar at the base of the beach. Together with submerged beachrock, this bar forms the bar-ledge upon which the heavy shorebreak pounds.

Under most conditions wave height is largest at the shore against the western 'jump rock', and decreases towards the river mouth. During periods of smaller waves (< 3 ft), the wave surge is at the shoreline. As waves height increases the break becomes heavier and further offshore, generating a rip that runs east along the beach. A second, larger rip forms during periods of high wave magnitude when the main break is working. This water flows offshore as a strong rip that begins in the eastern corner off the river mouth, and continues out the center of the bay during west to northwest swells or shifts westward during northerly swells. This rip is used by surfers to paddle out through the bay. Under extreme conditions the bay closes out across this rip.

Waimea Bay beach is an attractive, easily accessible beach backed by a large grassy beach park and parking area. However, it is potentially a very hazardous beach, even under relatively small conditions, due to the intense shorebreak, and can rapidly become deadly during periods of increased wave height. A strong inshore easterly rip forms under moderate wave conditions, feeding into the large strong central bay rip. The Waimea surf break is one of the most challenging and dangerous breaks on the North Shore, and should only be surfed by experienced big wave surfers.