Everyone’s Local Zone Has A Mythical Wave

What can be said about this wave, this swell, that hasn’t already been blasted from every surf-media outlet for weeks?

It’s extremely fickle, very windy, ungodly crowded, and just generally unfriendly to everyone except the apex predators. Truly, for the layman, swells like this are nothing more than beerside entertainment. An average surfer, even a pretty good one, could hardly imagine turning and burning on one of these ocean locomotives.

That being said, it’s damn fun to watch. The narratives and social structures that can be examined in adjacency to these swells can also provide almost bottomless intrigue.

One question that kept popping up for us was: When was the last time this wave looked like this?

A lot of numbers were thrown around. 20 years. 30 years even.

It didn’t take much digging to find a video, filmed in 2005, of a similar looking Maalaea lineup.

17 years ago.

Eli Hanneman was 2 years old.

And you know what? For all you nostalgic “surfing was better before social media” cynics, note that there’s still a whole lot of fading and leash grabbing going on.

I digress.

The featured video, produced by Red Bull, explores what the local boys were feeling and saying on this memorable day.

Everyone has a wave in their local area that holds mythical status, and to score said wave might just be one of surfing’s most cherished feelings.

It’s pretty epic to see the Maui boys indulge.