WAIMEA BAY (HawaiiNewsNow) – For many of us, a day at the beach isn’t complete without a cooler full of refreshments, snacks and food. But if you’re thinking about bringing one to Waimea Bay for The Eddie, think again.

When the last Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational took place in January 2023, huge sets crashed onto the beach, sending spectators flying to safety.

The world-famous beach can usually accommodate large crowds, but that won’t be the case when Eddie-sized waves roll in during surfing’s Super Bowl.

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“Waimea is so huge and people imagine a really huge beach, but often people don’t realize that the waves come in groups,” said Jenni Yagodich, education director for the Malama Pupukea-Waimea group.

As tens of thousands flock to the North Shore, many are finding out the hard way that a seemingly safe distance from the water is actually too close for comfort.

“And the lifeguards were making announcements and telling people to stay on the park side of these barricades, and there were a whole lot of people who weren’t on the park side, and actually a big wave came up and some of them had to be rescued.” said Yagodich.

“Last year a lot of people got soaked and dogs were washed into the sea,” said Liam McNamara, the competition’s director. “At one point it got a little chaotic because there were so many people starting there and the waves were so big.”

People and, yes, dogs were swept out and had to be rescued by lifeguards. But many things were also carried into the sea after the last hurricane in January 2023 and then pushed back onto the sandy beach.

“King size duvets are now soaked with water and sand. Styrofoam coolers bursting into a billion pieces,” Yagodich said.

“We found a Gucci handbag that – you know – leave that at home.”

Malama Pupukea-Waimea wants you to leave a lot at home.

Yagodich said volunteers collected more than 500 pounds of debris, including a 10-by-10-foot canopy of leaves, the morning after the last Eddie.

“It took quite a lot of effort to dig this up, so things like this just got buried or really mutilated, and it becomes a danger not only to marine life and the marine environment, but also to people,” she said.

Malama Pupukea-Waimea and others said spectators should stay away from the sandy beach, which some videos showed was still not far enough.

“What I would say, first and foremost, is listen to the lifeguards. Listen to security. Stay away from the high water mark,” McNamara said.

With this in mind, how best to watch “The Eddie”?

“To be honest, and this isn’t the answer a lot of people want to hear, but the best advice is to stay home and watch it on TV,” Yagodich said.

But if you have to be there, be careful.

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