general information

This is one hell of a wave!! It's located half a mile out off Pillar Point, Half Moon Bay and is best accessed by boat from Princeton Harbour, though you can take the long paddle to it from the small protected beach which is located on a footpath through James Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and past the small harbour.

Mavericks is a very scary and dangerous wave to attempt to surf and should only be taken on by solid, experienced surfers. In 1994 it tragically claimed the life of Mark Foo, a well established big wave surfer used to the power and size of the Hawaiian waves he regularly surfed. This should serve as a reminder of how dangerous our sport can be and waves like this should never be taken for granted.

It will start to show itself at around 12ft when it breaks in front of a group of large boulders refered to as The Boneyard and over a seabed of rocks and caves with a menacing hollow face. It will continue to break and hold perfect shape in Northwest swells upto and over 30ft+ making this one of the biggest waves available to paddle into in the world. Once in, the wave barrels off down a long and jacking wall into a deep channel and it reliabley won't close out. This makes manouvering a boat into close proximity of the wave a fairly simple task and is the reason so many great photographs exhist of this highly photogenic wave.

Hazards include the rocks and caves already mentioned, strong currents and undertow, the punch of the wave with its long hold downs and Great White Sharks - Enjoy!!