The Banzai Pipeline is well known among surfers and found at Ehukai
Beach. It literally is a surfing break that takes the shape of a tube.
The reef break occurs when ocean waves start to break as they reach the
shallows of a reef. They form caverns on the inside, hence creating
giant air bubbles that pop in front of the wave as it lurches upward
just before breaking.
Four types of waves are associated with the
Banzai Pipeline. The most commonly surfed, the left (meaning that the
wave breaks from the left from the perspective of persons watching on
shore), the peak occurs when the reef is hit by a north swell (the
highest tipping point of the wave when it begins to curl). The peak
becomes an A-framed wave as the pipe starts to close out a bit and
peeling to the left. The Backdoor pipeline is also quite famous and
occurs as the pipe is peeling away to the right simultaneously.
The
Banzai Pipeline or simply "Pipeline" or "Pipe" is considered the world's deadliest wave. Many surfers have lost their life trying to ride
the wave. The take off zone (the location where the surfer needs to be
to catch the wave) is quite small. Many surfers congregate there as it
is breaking large. Three reefs activate in progressively deeper waters at Pipeline depending on the increasing size of the approaching ocean swell.
The
name Banzai Pipeline derives from the name of the beach (Banzai Beach)
and the surf break (Pipeline) which has been combined. The name Pipeline
was first used in December 1961 as movie producer Bruce Brown filmed at
the location. Mike Diffenderfer, a surfer in the movie production, made
the suggestion to name the break 'Pipeline'. The name was used in
Brown's movie "Surfing Hollow Days".