Traffic is even heavier today on the North Shore as people headed to Waimea Bay to watch the Eddie Aikau surf meet, which was announced at 7:30 a.m. today that it would be a go.
Before dawn, most free parking lots were full.
On the beach at Waimea this morning, people huddled in blankets and jackets as they marveled at the waves.
“It’s the only place in the world you can experience this,” said Wahiawa resident Shannon Stewart, who came to see the surf with her husband, Joe.
City emergency services spokesman Bryan Cheplic said people were parking as far as Laniakea on the Haleiwa side and past Shark’s Cove on the Kahuku side and walking toward Waimea.
While the roads were still passable and police were on scene directing traffic, Cheplic reminded people that they shouldn’t be walking along Kamehameha Highway and he urged drivers to be careful.
Last night, Cheplic said water washed over the road at Laniakea, Rockpile, Chun’s Reef and Sunset Beach.
Meanwhile, a high-surf warning remains in effect until 6 p.m. tomorrow for north and west shores of Oahu, Kauai, Maui, Molokai and Niihau and the west and northeast shores of the Big Island.
A large northwest swell that formed over the Pacific a few days ago continues to bring damaging and dangerous surf, the National Weather Service in Honolulu said.
Cheplic said all beaches on Oahu’s north shore are closed to swimmers.

At Waimea Bay, waves are staying in the 15- to 25-foot range, with some higher sets.

Forecasters were predicting monster surf today of 30 feet to 40 feet, with occasional 50-foot sets on outer reefs. At 4 a.m., the National Weather Service said that forecast still holds.
Cheplic said the buoys peaked late yesterday afternoon and the surf likely peaked last night or early this morning. He said there were large closeout sets at Waimea Bay.

The high surf spurred eight people on the Waianae Coast to go to American Red Cross of Hawaii emergency shelters overnight. Three people went to a shelter on the North Shore.

City civil defense volunteers continue to patrol the North Shore and Leeward Coast checking for damage and eying the waves. They are expected to be out throughout the day.

Meanwhile, Eddie Aikau surf meet officials identified a pro surfer who was injured yesterday at Waimea as two-time world champion surfer Tom Carroll.

The meet said in a statement that as Carroll dropped into a wave, “the full power of the lip crashed down, compressing him and tearing apart his ankle.”

“I took a wave, it wasn't that big a wave, just a real freaky accident,” said Carroll, 48, in a statement. “The whole load of whitewater hit me all at once right at the bottom of the wave. My ankle separated from my tibia and fibula, so it was just flopping. I’m hoping there's no break in there. I was comfortable out there. There's some big waves coming through, but I was comfortable. It's a real bummer. I was just really ready to go for the Eddie.”
You can also catch the action from Waimea Bay on our livestream at http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?NoCache=1&Dato=99999999&Kategori=MOGULUS02&Lopenr=399990001&Ref=AR&template=livestream.