The U.S. Coast Guard is searching tonight for a surfer reported missing at Kawela Bay on O'ahu's North Shore.

A witness reported that a surfer went under at about 5:15 p.m. in waves reported to have faces of 10 to 12 feet, the Coast Guard said in a news release. The fellow surfer called 911 at 5:27 p.m. and the Honolulu Fire Department launched a search involving firefighters on shore and HFD's Air 1 rescue helicopter.

The fire department also notified the Coast Guard and an air crew aboard an HH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter from Air Station Barbers Point was launched at 5:28 p.m. The Coast Guard air crew was on scene at 6:14 p.m. and reported winds out of the southeast at 10 knots and seas of 10 to 12 feet and building rapidly.

"We've conducted two full search patterns already," said Petty Officer 1st Class Matt Couling, a search and rescue controller at the Coast Guard's 24-hour command center on Sand Island. "We're hoping the missing surfer is just on shore somewhere and has made his way in. If so, we're asking anyone with information to call the Coast Guard."

The Coast Guard will search through the night.

Kawela Bay is near Turtle Bay and Kahuku Point.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Coast Guard at 842-2601.