A body boarder carves up a wave off Point Panic this morning. A much-anticipated south swell is expected to bringing wave faces of 6 to 10 feet by midday, with locally higher sets. The surf conditions are expected to last well into tomorrow. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

A predicted south swell arrived pretty much on schedule — overnight yesterday — and the National Weather Service issued a high-surf advisory at 8:15 a.m. today. Wave faces by midday are expected to reach

6 to 10 feet at most breaks and last through noon tomorrow before gradually subsiding Sunday.

At Kewalos mid-morning, every parking space was taken. Surfers headed out smiling in anticipation at the occasional overhead sets.

But the surfers coming in had even bigger smiles.

"The only reason I have to come in is because I have to pick up my wife from surgery," said Gary Akiona, a 57-year-old Honolulu resident. "Today was good. There are lots of waves for everyone."

Surfers on the south shore live for summer days like this and the mood was good, Akiona said.

"Lots of hootin' and hollerin'," he said.

Chris Pang, a 31-year-old 'Aiea resident, lugged his blue-and-white longboard up Kewalos' rocky shore with a grin worthy of a dentistry ad.

"It was fun, fun, very fun," said Pang, who planned to be back in the water later in the day.

There will be plenty of surf for Pang's afternoon session.

Pat Caldwell, a surf forecaster for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this morning said wave faces could even reach 12 to 16 feet at some locations.

Caldwell said the swell's direction will favor breaks in town and could produce much better surf than the last significant swell, which pounded shores in April.

"This is going to be good," Caldwell said.

But the conditions also mean experts only.

"The forward momentum of the wave is so much faster," he said. "You need to be much more skilled in your timing for catching it. When it moves this fast and hits the reef, it jacks up a lot."

City lifeguards expected a busy day, with rising surf heights and a rising tide complicating the equation. Waikiki lifeguard Ian Forester said conditions like that could sweep unsuspecting swimmers out to sea, but lifeguards use personal watercraft to pick them up and take them shore.

"As people start to get washed out we pick them up and bring them in," he said. "Like a shuttle service. We do rescues, but most of it is assists, trying to steer people out of danger."