Waimea Bay is sacred ground in the big-wave surfing world. And the Eddie Aikau Invitational is one of, if not the most, prestigious trophies in all of professional surfing.
It might be the history, the fact that the event only runs when the waves are exceedingly massive, or because people come from around the world, effectively shutting down the North Shore of Oahu, to watch the massive waves when the Bay calls the day. But whatever the reason, when you get the call-up to surf in the Eddie, you gotta go. Even if you’ve never even surfed the spot before.
That’s what happened this year with Tyler Larronde. Even though the Maui big-wave charger had never surfed Waimea, he got the invite…so, he had to go.
“So, I’ve never surfed Waimea Bay before,” Larronde says in the above video. “This was my first time. I had a lot of nerves going for sure. I didn’t know what to expect. I was watching a lot of YouTube videos on how to surf Waimea. I was looking at clips. But I didn’t learn much.”
Watching YouTube videos can help you fix your dishwasher. But surfing Waimea? Not so much.
“Everybody was saying that Jaws is a lot gnarilier,” he said. “Jaws is my home spot. I surf Jaws almost every swell, and that’s why I haven’t surfed Waimea – because I’m always at Jaws. Everyone said, if I could handle Jaws, I could handle Waimea. I used that as a motivation booster.”
And even though Waimea isn’t the pinnacle of big-wave surfing these days – with other spots like Teahupo’o, Nazaré, or Jaws taking the spotlight – Larronde was still surprised at the difficulty level that came with the Bay.
“Waimea and Jaws are completely different waves,” he said. “I was tripping out at how steep and vert the drop was at Waimea. Sometimes you think you would have it, and you’d be on the top of it, then the thing would just throw a huge ledge, causing you to airdrop. But it’s a lot of fun when you stick one of those airdrops. That’s what it’s all about at Waimea.”
Of course, even though he didn’t win or place in the top eight, Larronde was just psyched and humbled for the opportunity.
“Waimea was where big-wave surfing started. I was so stoked to finally surf it, just honored.”
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