Why do some people measure surf by Face size VS "Hawaiian"

General Discussion
61

an example:

freind one wakes me in the morning (little chance) and tells me its 3ft and glassy.

freind two is met on the way down the road to look at the surf and says its 3ft and glassy.

freind one is a kook and 3ft is 3ft…time to graba log or somesuch

freind two i surf with lots and if he tells me its 3ft then its overhead (nearly)

measureing is a load of sh1t when it comes to surf,go look and make your own mind up and leave measureing behind.

ive surfed a ‘10ft’ wave… how big was it on the face?

dont care,some1 else just back from hawaii said it was 10ft when i was paddleing out.

so how big?

F’ing massive,not that i cared much cos i was trying not to get naild again.

who cares,if its pumping at 3 or 30ft, go surf

isnt that what its about

???

62

I’ve been out at Ala Moana park (south shore of Oahu) on days when it was closing out. I’ve seen waves that were 3x overhead which would be 15 feet, but I’ve never ever heard anyone say the south shore was 15 feet. I’ve seen waves that broke in one big close out from Kaisers all the way to magic island way outside the bouys. Right across the boat channel like it wasn’t there. Those big days would break the channel markers at the Ala Wai boat harbor. I think they say that’s 10 feet, must be the back, but there was no one looking at the back of those waves.

63

Hanauma Bay actually has the most drownings on Oahu.

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would imagine Wakiki gets a ton of drownings, waaaaaay too many tourists thinking they are swimming in Lake Michigan. I would be willing to bet that Wakiki has more drownings than north shore simply based on who goes out.
64

The best explanation I ever heard for the difference in the Hawaiians’ judgement of wave size? They got big feet!

65

people surf there?

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Hanauma Bay actually has the most drownings on Oahu.

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would imagine Wakiki gets a ton of drownings, waaaaaay too many tourists thinking they are swimming in Lake Michigan. I would be willing to bet that Wakiki has more drownings than north shore simply based on who goes out.

66

No, but ironicly in the calm waters, a la Lake Michigan, it claims the most drownings. I guess w/ so many people floating around snorkeling, its hard to tell who needs help.