“Wow! There is so much sand on the reefs right now! I went for a swim along Pipe to OTW this morning to see what it looks like underwater. Normally, you'd have about 8 foot of water then reef, then the crevices and caves. Right now, it's just 2 foot deep with sand everywhere.... There's all kinds of sandbars where it's normally quite deep.”

The above quote is from surf photographer Sean Davey, an Australian ex-pat who's called Hawaii home for over a decade.
                                                                                                     Recent sand build-up at Pipe. Photo: SeanDavey.com

Sand on the reef at Pipeline isn't unusual at this time of year. Every Hawaiian summer sand builds up around the reef, settling in the grooves and trenches under low swell conditions. However, Davey's observation indicates a greater volume than average which, if it isn't shifted, would present a problem for the upcoming Pipeline Masters; the sand creates a shorter wave with an often-brutal end section closeout. Fortunately all it usually takes to move the sand is one large groundswell from the right direction and the strong currents scour the reef clean washing it away to the east toward Rocky Point.

Up until now there hasn't been a big enough swell from the right direction to move the sand; the large swell from two weeks ago came in too acute from the north. But this Friday the North Shore will see a large groundswell out of the NW which should produce solid 10 foot [EDIT: swell is now looking a large 10-12 foot +] sets at exposed reefs.

Not only is this swell likely to move the sand off the reef in readiness for the Pipeline Masters, but it will also offer great waves for the second event of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing – The World Cup at Sunset Beach. The swell will be generated over the coming days by a broad low deepening in the Central North Pacific Ocean. A fetch of 35-45kt W/NW winds is forecast to push close to the Hawaiian Island chain, with the resulting swell expected to arrive on Friday 29th and peak later in the day.

Saturday should still provide solid 8 foot sets but the swell will be on a steady decrease with much smaller 3-5 foot surf left over into Sunday morning.

Looking further ahead to the main event and title showdown at Pipe which starts on the 8th of December and it's a little early to be making calls, but our long-range forecasts are indicating a moderate NW groundswell for the first few days of competition. We'll keep a close eye on this and providing running updates in the comments section below.

Follow the forecast and WAMs here: North Shore Forecast
Special thanks to Sean Davey for the quote and image.