Buzzy Trent's article on Sunset Beach ran in the November 1964 issue of Petersen's Surfing magazine. This version has been slightly edited and shortened.

Sunset Beach is like a fickle gal. Sweet and light one moment, wild and uncontrollable the next. She can change from a six-foot hot dogger to a rip-roaring twenty-footer in less than an hour. She can dance the youthful swing with fast-moving steps. Whatever her mood, the big surfers are in love with her.

On the Northern Shore of Oahu, between the much-talked-about Waimea Bay and the sometimes-talked-about Velzyland, amidst the coolness and greenery which is so characteristic of small Hawaiian towns, below the high and mighty northern mountain range, just off the Kamehameha Highway, there sprawls Sunset Beach. The Hawaiian big-winter- surf locale.

Living along the sandy coastline facing the beautiful blue, are such noted aficionados and big-wave surfers as diver Jose Angel, physicist Warren Harlow, school teacher Fred Van Dyke, and fireman Bob Shepard. I’m one of the lucky ones, too.

Before the first California wave riders ever surfed such places like Waimea, Laniakea, and the dangerous Pipeline, they surfed Sunset. And before that, except for a handful of Hawaiians, nobody surfed this place. At one time, the old Hawaiians called the North Shore waters “taboo.” And they have been taboo to many surfers, swimmers and even nonswimmers because of countless accidents and deaths. This is all due to ignorance, lack of interest, and lack of knowledge about water and surfing safety.

Sunset is a classic beach, a tremendous surfing spot. It has the drop and the hot inside tube. It is different from Makaha because it is a harder-breaking type of wave with a much steeper takeoff. The currents at Sunset are treacherous and if you are not careful, a strong parallel rip running close to the beach will pull you to the channel and back outside. Sunset is best at ten- to fifteen feet. For this is the surf that breaks the hardest and it is usually the best formed because it breaks on the inside reef. Anything over fifteen feet is extremely dangerous.

The outside break, which is the second break, is just a big shifting peak. This outside break is bigger. It breaks up to twenty feet and is a huge crashing peak with no wall. After breaking, it rolls in for over two hundred yards, backs off, then reforms to break again on the inside line up. Even to the experienced surfer, this beach is really a challenge. A real thrill to ride. When it is big, it becomes scary to surf and one has to be on his toes to see that the currents do not become too strong. I would say without a doubt that Sunset Beach has the strongest running rips anywhere in the Islands.

The story goes that one day, the famous Woody Brown, the man who perfected the modern-day catamaran, and one of the famous Cross brothers, went surfing on a good consistent twenty-foot day. Suddenly, the giant outside reef started forming and began to break, which Woody estimated at forty feet and over. They could not paddle back in against the strong devil current and were trapped. It was getting dark so they decided to paddle down to Waimea Bay, all the way from Sunset, hoping to reach the shore from there. They arrived at Waimea. It was completely closed out. According to the newspapers, the young Cross boy drowned here. His body was never recovered. By a miracle, Woody Brown made it to the beach.

Probably the biggest Sunset surf I ever encountered was on a day years ago with Al Weamers of Santa Cruz. During the last ride, Al lost his board and the next thing I could see was Al standing on top of my car waving a white beach towel in the direction of the channel. I knew this meant his board was in the channel and heading out to sea. I began paddling over to retrieve it, and by some freak of luck I did, about a mile outside of Pupukea.

By the time I got back to Sunset, the surf was getting out of control. That “Big Daddy” center break was kicking up and I knew that I had to get in. Just as I made the turn and was headed for the beach, I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was Al Weamers right in that godforsaken rip a mile off the beach, looking for his board. I paddled over to him with his board and, after a tough paddle, we finally made it to the beach. We were lucky to have reached the shore when we did because that outside break was soon closing out.

When big Sunset really breaks there is no backing out. You either come in or stay out for your survival test. One minute you are out there having a good time, then suddenly the surf starts to change into a not-so-fun deal. If you’re not smart enough to come in—you’re on your own. Once you overstay you’re definitely at the point of no return.

When I first came to Hawaii, a couple of friends and I worked as extras on 

 starring Jane Russell, which was being filmed that year in Hawaii. The producers wanted a scene of surfers riding a wave. We waited around Waikiki, but it was January and there was nothing to ride. We suggested doing the scene on the North Shore. We first went to Avalanche, taking along by trailer a rented sixteen-foot diving boat with two high-powered outboard motors. But Avalanche was too big, and I remember the cameraman refusing to go out because he said he couldn’t swim and was afraid the boat would get swamped. So we decided to try Sunset. When we got there, the producer said, “This is just right!” I tried to tell him that Sunset is deceptive and, besides, it was out of control. To prove to him I was right, I went to ride a wave while they waited on the beach. I took off on a big wave and got creamed. By the time I got back to shore, my friends were waiting for me, but the movie producer and his crew were heading back to Waikiki. They wanted no part of the North Shore.

Once, some poor fisherman anchored his boat out at Sunset on a calm day. The next day, his boat was found scattered all over the beach. The surf had come up big the night before. Of all places, he had anchored his thirty-foot boat right in the takeoff zone.

The hard-breaking waves at Sunset are so beautiful from the side view. The swell throws out when it hits the underwater ledge and produces a hollow tube or peak which in some ways resembles a Windansea takeoff in California. It is bigger and steeper, however, with a strong offshore wind which usually produces a straight up-and-down type of takeoff.

There are two schools of thought when riding Sunset. One is to take off inside the peak and drive down and through it. The other is to take off directly in the center of the peak and drift slightly to your left after standing up. Then drive straight down, do a bottom turn and pull away from the steep peak. Both of these methods are valid. One has to realize, though, that when Sunset is breaking good at ten to fifteen feet, there is no taking off and sliding high and tight like big point surf at Makaha. If you do this you will go over the falls.

After you have made your play through the drop, if you play your cards right you'll get the hot little inside wall which is at the end of the ride.

And don’t forget that at Sunset Beach, your equipment is highly important. A bit of advice to the newcomer: Don’t let anybody fool you into believing that you can safely and happily ride a hot dog board on a big wave. The man who says that is obviously a dreamer and the man who does it is misinformed. There is a vast difference between Mainland surf and Hawaiian surf. What you use on a big Mainland day, you don’t use on a big Hawaiian day. If you try, you will be in for a shock. You will find yourself caught in unbelievable wipeouts, and you will probably hurt yourself or someone else. Either use a full gun or a semi-gun. As the late Bob Simmons once told me when I was young, “Buzzy, big-wave riding is tough enough as it is, why make it any tougher."

[Photos: Val Valentine, John Severson, Joe Quigg, Bill Cleary]

"SUNSET BEACH," BY BUZZY TRENT (1964)

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