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Surfing In Hawaii :: Pipeline From The Sideline

We've brought you all the places where lei-wearing surf novices, fanny pack-toting tourists and five-year-olds can paddle over the gentle undulations of the ocean guided by the gentle hands of a seasoned instructor. But that's not really surfing, now is it?

The Banzai Pipeline, known as "Pipeline" or "Pipe", is a reef break located off Ehukai Beach Park in Pupukea on Oahu's North Shore. It's that place where one can find the world's best surfers gliding through tunnels of sea. It's the pinnacle of surfing, says local surf shop owner James Cuizon:

Pipeline is the best surf spot in the world. It's the standard against which others are measured.

Visitors on the way to surf class can get schooled by the masters. Just gazing from the beach at those who stretch the boundaries of human strength and agility is a lesson in itself. The Pipeline challenges the world's best surfers to, you know, not die. So amateurs need not apply. It's a man versus nature face-off, and the odds are stacked squarely against man:

A good day at Pipeline means an encounter with fellow surfers who can be as friendly as pitbulls with migraines, and waves that can shatter boards into kindling. And then there's the reef. At Pipeline there can be 10-foot waves blasting over just three feet of water, so if you fall on the reef or get caught inside the break, you're lucky if you come out merely sliced up. In 2005 alone, Pipeline claimed the lives of two expert watermen, Tahitian surfer Malik Joyeux and photographer Jon Mozo.

Go straight to our Hawaii Surf Schools Map.

Related Stories:
· Hawaii's Gnarliest Surf Spots [MSNBC]
· Hawaii Surf Schools coverage [Jaunted]
· Oahu coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Hawaii Pictures]