Peʻahi, Hawaii

Known worldwide as Jaws, Peʻahi is a big-wave reef break on the north shore of Maui, a few miles east of the town of Haʻikū. When a strong winter storm tracks across the North Pacific, deep-water swell hits a shallow reef and rears into a thick, fast right-hand wall that can exceed twenty metres on the largest days. It breaks only a handful of times each season.

This is expert territory only, and for years it was ridden almost exclusively by tow-in teams on jet skis before a generation of paddle surfers proved it could be caught under human power. The wave is heavy and unforgiving, with a punishing lip and long hold-downs; safety crews, inflation vests and skis are standard. A left also breaks on the biggest days. Rescue skis and inflation vests are now standard equipment, and every serious ride is scrutinised in a way that has pushed the limits of paddle surfing.

Most visitors come to watch rather than ride. A rough dirt track through former pineapple land leads to a cliff-top clearing above the channel, where spectators and photographers gather with long lenses on the biggest swells. The vantage is exposed and the road is often muddy, so a high-clearance vehicle helps, and there are no facilities at the lookout.

The season runs from late autumn to early spring, when the North Pacific is most active and forecasters track the specific storm angles that light up the reef. Outside those windows the bay is usually calm and unremarkable. Peʻahi has hosted invitational big-wave events and world-record rides, and footage shot here has done much to shape the modern image of the sport worldwide. There are no facilities at the lookout and the nearest towns lie back down the coast, so a session or a viewing day here is planned around the swell forecast.