We had some incredible surf conditions at Pipeline last month.

The waves were enormous and barreling.

The surf was extremely treacherous though. Some sets that came in were unsurfable.

But when it was good, it was really good.

Pipeline is known as the best wave in world because of the perfect shape of it’s barrels and the danger involved in surfing here. The water is shallow and if you take a bad fall you can easily get slammed into the reef.

For spectators (like myself), it’s one of the best surf breaks because the waves break so close to the shore. You can see the action without needing binoculars and you can feel the power of the waves as they pound the coastline. Not only that, but Pipeline is easy to get to. It’s located at a Ehukai Beach Park on Oahu’s North Shore.

I drove up to the North Shore on Friday, December 28 and Sunday, December 30 to watch waves. I spent several hours watching surfers get barreled in the monster surf. This post contains the best photos I got over those two days. It was quite a show. A real “only in Hawaii” experience.

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This left takes you right into the sunset.

This is China Walls, a surf break right off the rocks around an area called Portlock.

There’s a nice view from the line up.

There was a bit of south swell last week. I drove out to China Walls to see how the waves were breaking and take some photos of the sunset. I don’t surf here. This is a big dangerous wave and only expert surfers come out here. The surf wasn’t as big as I was hoping for but I did manage to get some photos I was happy with. It’s pretty hard to take a bad photo at this place.

DISCLAIMER: Do not attempt what you see in these photos. Surfing and swimming at China Walls is very dangerous and can lead to serious injury or even death.

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If you’re looking to buy a surfboard from a local Hawaii surfboard shaper, there’s a lot of people to choose from. You got the guys that have contracts with the local surf shops, the old school shapers and maybe even your friend that does it as a hobby. All are good options.

I recently decided to purchase a custom shaped board and had to make this decision.

For me, the decision was simple, I wanted a J. Kashiwai surfboard. I see Jason in the water at my home surf break in Ala Moana every now and then so he knows the type of wave I’ll be surfing. And, my buddy Joon has a new J. Kashiwai board and recommended him. Plus, he’s a really nice guy.

You can buy a ready-made surfboard off the rack at any surf shop on the island and that’s totally cool. I’ve done that too. But, I ended up learning a lot by getting a board custom shaped. I had to do  research to figure out what type of shape I wanted and what type of wave I wanted to ride with it. I’d love to have more specialty boards in my quiver but in the end, I decided that I really needed to replace my main all-purpose shortboard.

And when I picked up my finished board, Jason gave me a tour of his shop. I’d never been in a shaper’s shop before so I was stoked to see the process and tools it takes to shape and finish a surfboard.

I posted a bunch of photos so you can get a look inside a surfboard shaper’s shop in Hawaii.

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We get our surf report from Surf News Network over here. They’re reporting that first summer swell is going to hit the South Shore on Monday and carry ’til Saturday. Maybe a little longer. When we get a good swell, the vibe of the entire city changes. You’ll notice the energy is more mellow and happy. It’s gonna be a good week. See ya all out there.

MLK holiday. Woke up early, had a few hours to kill. Checked the surf report: nothin’ by me; 20 foot faces, Pipeline. Can’t surf that, but I had to go see some big waves at least once this winter. Grabbed a couple cameras and headed to the country.

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