We’d like to share some incredible photos that Michael Chad Photography took recently when Jaws was breaking.  Even though the waves didn’t reach record size this day, they’re by no means small.  It’s frightening enough to think about being towed into Maui waves on a surfboard, but imagine kitesurfing into these massive waves!

I think it’s safe to say that these guys have balls.

Peahi (Jaws) is located on the north shore of Maui, Hawaii, and only breaks a handful of times per year.  It’s one of those spots that needs an enormous swell for even a ripple to begin stirring.  But, when the swell is hitting, Peahi gets big and scary.  There’s a left and right, but the right seems to be more popular.

Through recent years, Jaws has become recognized as one of the premier big wave spots due to the attention brought from Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, and the big wave surfers of Hawaii and elsewhere.  Since their publicizing of the spot, surfing Jaws has become somewhat of a circus with all kinds of surfers in the water looking to prove themselves.  We’ve heard that in order to curb the participation, Laird and some others have organized competitions to where it’s becoming increasingly difficult to surf there without an invitation or some kind of permit.

We love to watch these guys surf here, and we hope that the surfers take every precaution to be safe.  It still shocks me when I hear a surfer say they want to surf there, especially when they’re not that good.  It takes a lifetime of training to get ready for something as heavy as surfing Jaws, and plenty of jokers think they’ve got what it takes.  Machismo will only take you so far.  For me, I’ll stick to manageable, fun waves and leave the suicidal waves to those looking for an ego boost.

We’d again like to thank Michael Chad Photography for sharing his photos of Jaws with us.  He’s a fantastic photographer and can be hired for weddings and portraits on Maui.