You never know when the biggest wave you have ever encountered will loom up before you and test your resolve. This happened to Australia’s Laura Enever in January of 2023 on an outer reef along Oahu’s North Shore on the same day the Eddie Aikau contest was running at Waimea Bay.
All eyes were on Waimea Bay. It was January 22nd, 2023, and the world’s most prestigious surf contest – the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational – was called on for the first time in seven years, and waves 40-foot and above were unloading on the North Shore of Oahu.
Big wave surf contests are somewhat of a rare phenomenon. Why? Because contest organizers are working with mother nature, and it takes a lot for everything – the swell, the wind, etc.
The Eddie did not go. Eyeing a potential swell for Friday, February 16th, contest organizers of the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational at Waimea Bay put the event on yellow alert.
Last week, the surf world was giddy with anxious anticipation. The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational was tentatively called on for Friday, February 17th as a large swell made its way towards Hawaii.
Over the last couple of days, a huge swell pounded Oahu's North Shore, giving surfers hope that the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational would go. But alas, the waves were too windy, too messy, and just not right. Still, a handful of surfers paddled out at Waimea Bay and last year's Eddie winner Luke Shepardson was one of them.
Last week all the hype was about the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational running at Waimea Bay. But local winds shredded that opportunity and now all eyes
A collective sigh – mostly remorse, perhaps partly relief – is echoing through the big-wave surf world as the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational has been called off.
Following her performance at the 2022 Billabong Pro Pipeline, which she won as a wildcard, Moana Jones Wong was widely and deservedly dubbed, the Queen of Pipeline.
As reported on Friday, the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational is on yellow alert. Revered as one of the most prestigious surfing events in the world, it's a tribute to the late Hawaiian surfer and waterman Eddie Aikau—the North Shore's first lifeguard.
The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational is on yellow alert. Often considered the world's most prestigious surf contest, the Eddie (as it’s colloquially known) features big-name surf stars and underground chargers, as they surf and survive 50-foot-minimum waves at the legendary Waimea Bay on Oahu’s North Shore.
The reverence and weight behind the Eddie Aikau Invitational looms almost as large as the waves themselves when the contest is called on at Waimea Bay…almost.
Waimea Bay is sacred ground in the big-wave surfing world. And the Eddie Aikau Invitational is one of, if not the most, prestigious trophies in all of professional surfing.
One of the best parts of Mason Ho's YouTube drops are the guest appearances. Often it's his sister Coco or his dad/legend Michael; other times it's any super shredder who happens to be a resident or visitor of the North Shore.
The Eddie Aikau Big-Wave Invitational hasn’t run since 2016, when surf fans the world over dropped their collective jaws as the planet’s most fearless chargers tackled monstrously large Waimea Bay.
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