THE WAVE
There are three sections to the windsurfing part of Ho’okipa, or four if you count Lanes. Out to the right of the channel as you look at the water, the three parts of the Ho’okipa wave are called Middles, then Green Trees and then The Point. Middles is really a left that breaks towards the right of “Pavils”, which is the local surfing spot that you do not want to go anywhere near with your windsurfing gear! There are days when the right-hand wave of Ho’okipa connects all the way from the bowl at Middles, through Green Trees and the Point, but that is very rare. It has to be around mast high or a little bit more and the swell needs to be straight north. They are the most epic days ever at Ho’okipa, but only happen about two or three times a year.
On a more normal day, the next part down of the wave, called “Green Trees” has a nice bowl and you can generally get one or maybe two turns there before the wave closes out. Again, if the swell is more northerly and very clean, you can get waves that will connect from Green Trees to The Point. This happens more often, anywhere from N to NW swells can make this happen and that’s when you see people getting three turns and an aerial or even a goiter or 360 thrown in. Generally though, the swells end up being a little broken up or too westerly for this to happen, so it actually kind of breaks up the crowds a bit as someone can ride the wave at Green Trees and someone else can have fun on the same wave down at The Point without getting in each other’s way. If you pick a nice “peaky” wave at Green Trees, one without too much wall on it, then you have a good chance of being able to do a nice 360 or aerial as it offers very nice 360 bowls and little barrels for doing airs.
The most famous part of the wave is “The Point”. This is the very end of the wave at Ho’okipa, right before the channel. It offers the most ‘bowly’ section of the break and generally gives you the chance to do an aerial/goiter/360 or something like that just about every time, no matter what the swell direction. You can be sailing back out from the channel and see a wave coming out of the west that you almost can’t see in front of you, gybe on it and have the ride of your life at the Point. Once you get used to it, it’s probably one of the most consistent places in the world to practice those kinds of tricks.
