When Waimea gets big, it’s not a wave to take lightly. Aside from the lore surrounding the sacred place, the wave itself is one of the best/heaviest the North Shore has to offer. It takes a lot of skill and courage to surf successfully out there, and Koa Rothman knows that from personal experience.
During that last giant swell, a host of big wave surfers hopped over to Maui to surf Jaws. It was a day to remember at Pe’ahi, that’s for certain, but Koa and a handful of others decided to stick around Oahu and surf Eddie’s wave. Two days before Koa filmed the episode you see above, The Eddie was called on. Then, because of a bit of wind issues, it was called off, it was called on because a very large swell was on the way… and that swell sure did show up. There’s still a chance that it’ll run soon, however, since there’s more swell on the way.
In Koa’s most recent vlog, he explains what goes into a session at big Waimea, from equipment and preparation to mindset.