Impact Zone

This image is one of several images in my collection from the North Shore of Maui. I encourage you to listen to the Audio Track for the image Pe’ahi’s Revenge for the full account of my experience at Jaws during a huge swell in December of 2024.

Because this swell was going to be special, the surf break was full of boats, jet skis, and big wave surfers (some famous, but most not). The surfers had come from around the globe from places like Portugal, Australia, Japan, France, Brazil, California and, of course, the other Hawaiian Islands. Everyone had the same goal — to catch the wave of lifetime.

On the afternoon of Sunday, December 22nd, the swell was building rapidly and nearing its peak. An elite group of surfers was attempting to paddle into the biggest waves they had every seen. The surfers were appropriately cautious. On huge days like this, wave selection was critical, and possibly a matter of life and death. The last thing you want is to be caught in the impact zone where the waves break. Surfers have described the experience like having your limbs torn in all directions as thousands of pounds of water drive you down into the depths of the black abyss, hoping and praying you resurface before blacking out. This wave surprised the surfers. They were out of position and it was moving too fast for them to catch it.

I was relatively safe on the back of a jet ski of a very experienced driver. We were on the inside and in perfect position as this wave came thundering through like a freight train. I fired off multiple frames, and even by looking through my tiny viewfinder as a shot, I knew I had something special.