Hoʻokipa Beach

Ho‘okipa is a beach on the north shore of Maui, Hawaii, USA, perhaps the most renowned windsurfing site in the world. A combination of large, well-shaped waves breaking across a system of reefs that extend across the bay and consistently strong winds make it ideal for the sport.Waves there are largest during the winter, smaller in summer. In addition to windsurfing competitions surfing contests are held there as well.The name Ho‘okipa means "hospitality" in Hawaiian. Ho'okipa State Beach Park is located on Maui's North Shore off the Hana Highway. There are picnic facilities and observation decks for visitors. Over the years Ho'okipa has been the site for organized windsurfing competitions in the Wave discipline. A long-running annual event is the Aloha Classic, a Pro-Am competition with age categories for contestants. The Red Bull King of the Air international kitesurfing competition was held at Ho'okipa from 1999-2005. Like many locations on the Maui and Oahu North Shore, Ho'okipa Beach is occasionally a tourist attraction in the winter time because of spectacularly large surf. In the afternoon on 15 December 2004, for example, tourists visited the beach to see waves as large as 30 feet pound the shore; officials warned visitors to stay away from the water, as the surf was very deadly. Despite this, Ho'okipa is not an ideal site for true big-wave riding, as the waves close out when their faces approach about 25 feet. During such episodes, other deep-water breaks offer more rideable waves (an example of which is Jaws, offshore Peahi, Maui, which is a very short car ride from Hookipa)