Pipeline

Best Surf Season (November - March)

The North Pacific storm machine hits its stride from late autumn through early spring, and Pipeline is the crown jewel. As the Aleutian Low deepens and storm fronts push south of the dateline, long-fetch north-northwest and northwest groundswells roll across the Hawaiian Islands. From November through March, average surf heights stay in the 8-9ft (2.4-2.7m) range and periods consistently reach 11-13s, producing the powerful, heaving waves that put this northwest-facing reef on the map. While ENE trade winds blow across the lineup much of the time, the ideal offshore windows from the south through west-southwest occur roughly 20-27 percent of the time, and it is in those windows that Pipeline turns into a perfect, almond-shaped barrel.