Mike Doyle's article on Kaena Point ran in the July 1963 issue of Surf Guide magazine. This version has been slightly edited. 

We in California are accustomed to seeking out the largest waves we can find, but in Hawaii, it's different. The Hawaiian Islands stand in the path of nearly all the Pacific's winter swells, mostly unprotected by barrier reefs, intruding island chains, or land masses; the surf here is often huge—too big to ride at many spots. 

Located between Makaha and Haleiwa, Kaena Point faces directly into the winter swells and when Sunset is breaking at 18 feet, Kaena can be up to 35 feet! These huge waves have long been a topic of dares and bets, but have yet to be ridden. 

When the Sunset side of Oahu is closed out, surfers head for Makaha, which is one of the last places to become unridable. There are two roads leading to Makaha, the first being a 45-mile paved stretch through unexciting pineapple plantations. The second choice—the first choice for surfers who enjoy reliving the humorous scenes of many surfing movies—is the 12-mile pockmarked vestige of what once was an old railroad track, carved in the side of Oahu's highest peak, Mount Ka'ala.

When the North Shore closed out in 1959, Makaha was reported at 20 feet and breaking well, so we took the Kaena Point road, hoping to see the nearly mythical 50-foot waves. Mike Diffenderfer and Pat Curren were leading the caravan in the "jungle cruiser." Two flat tires, one exhaust pipe, and several dents later we arrived at the spot surfers have debated about for years. We were thunderstruck by the sight of waves that were at least 50 feet; an offshore wind was blowing, and a surfless sandy beach lay a half mile away where the brave surfer could paddle out easily. But we just sat there and stared as the wind blew the tops off the waves and into a cloudy mist. There was no talk about going out—just a few old exhausted stories about past dares and pointless boasts.

Why didn't we go out at Kaena Point? We had the surfers; we had the best available big-wave boards. But we were smart and we were scared; the beach is a sheer cliff with huge lava boulders at the base which would mean total destruction for any board (or surfer), and the soup is 12' high when it reaches the cliff. Thus there would be no possibility of swimming in there, so if you lost your board, you would have to swim a mile back to the sandy beach from which you paddled out. According to divers, there is a 15-knot current pushing across the point even on a flat day. As if this weren't enough, there is the somewhat proven physical theory that a rider, taking off on a wave this huge, could not reach the bottom and turn before the peak caught him—witness Waimea Bay at 25' if you doubt it. Lastly, no one knows whether or not a surfer could survive a wipeout on a wave this size.

Plans of attack have jokingly been made about riding Kaena Point. Surfers have offered each other their boards; photographers have offered free trips to the Islands, free boards, even cash—all of this, if only someone would go out and catch just one wave. Every year there is a rumor that someone is going to ride Kaena. Two years ago the rumor concerned Jim Fisher, a top big-wave rider and swimmer. This past year it was Buzzy Trent, but he assured me that he wouldn't attempt it. However, he did have some interesting ideas on how it might be done. Buzzy thought that a better-designed board might do the trick—a longer and faster board about 14' in length. The surfer might be towed into the wave by a boat, much like a water skier, and in this way he could drop to the bottom without the peak catching him. 

My own idea involves a helicopter with a 150' nylon line with a shock cord tied around the surfer's waist. By this arrangement, the surfer could be pulled into the wave just like the boat and water skier idea, but if he didn't make the drop or if the wave closed out, the helicopter could shoot ahead of the break, dragging the surfer forward and up into the air. 

Who knows if Kaena will ever be ridden—but just the fact that men are thinking about it leads me to believe someday it will.

"KAENA POINT: WHO WILL RIDE IT?" MIKE DOYLE (1963)

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