Matt Cibulka
Gallery: It's Not All 50-Foot Surf On Maui's North Shore
Jaws deservedly gets a lion's share of the attention during the winter months on Maui, but that's hardly the whole story. Thanks to the sharp-shooting work of lensman Matt Cibulka we get another, considerably more playful look at Valley Isle surfing.
There are a lot of good surfers on Maui, and most of them you've never heard of. For every Kai Lenny or Eli Hanneman in the water there are another dozen underground guys and girls ripping just as hard. Getting through the daily grind to get a few waves at their local reef, big ups to Cibulka for taking the time to train his long lens on them and give them some much deserved shine.
Winter On Maui's North Shore
The local crew is going to have much to be hyped on next year. As you can see by the photos, Maui's a hive for high-performance surfing and in 2024 there will be three surfers from the island on the WSL Championship Tour, including 2023 rookie of the year Ian Gentile, Lahiana's Eli Hanneman and battle-hardened Imai DeVault. And with the first two events of the year taking place in Hawaiian waters, Pipeline and Sunset on Oahu, don't be surprised if you see a trio of Maui boys lurking around the top of the leaderboard.
For decades Oahu has been the focal point of Hawaiian surfing with the outer islands being stuck in the shadows a bit, but that does nothing to diminish how good the waves are and how dedicated the surfers are. The north shore of Maui may have the wind and the waves, but it also has moments, and this little run of playful surf in early December was one of them.
