The Eddie did GO!

Eddie Would go, for a second time again in Februrary and right before the final week of the holding period. It was such an anticipated wait but everyone was hopeful that the contest was going to be run, even with the chance of increasing high surf. Thats when the call was made at 8am, the contest would be held and the whole island was ready to watch. Waves were already peaking at 30ft plus from 3am and throughout the day the biggest sets came through the contest, letting the surfers brave it on. This swell was also known as the "Brock Swell", from the current passing of Brock Little, who was a well known famous surfer back in the days, his prescence along with Eddie, was truly there.

It was a crazy moment being there, so much energy was felt as I watchted the best surfers in the worlds take on these massive sets. It was the biggest swell in Hawaii in over years and just seeing the wipeouts was something I couldnt stop watching. There were many intense moments and emotional ones as this was Clyde Aikau's last contest to be in, honoring his brother. With heats running through, the youngest competitor, John John Florence, made his way thrugh, scoriung massive points and taking on some of the biggest drops during the contest. It was only untill then that he was already the winner of the 2016 Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau surf contest as the horn sounded off on the last heat of the day. Big congrats to him, such a humble talented man whos going to rip through the surf world with bigger and better things for him in the future.

Im so glad I got to finally see this surf contest in person, itwas one of the greatest experiences in my life and I dont know if I'll ever see another one again if it happens next year. Hopefully next time I'll be able to shoot photos from the water, that would be an ultimate dream to cover the Eddie that way. Check out the photos from that day, pretty epic enough to tell you how that day went.

Aerial view of where I stayed at from Wednesday night to the day of the contest. This was a pretty good vantage point, if only I had a longer lens than I woudlve gotten more detailed shots.

My Spot from Wednesday night to Thursday morning. Best View from this spot. Aerial shot with my drone.

The crowd along the beach, it looked less crowded than the last time they tried to run it.

Taken on Wendsday night, capturing the night sky with the surf slowly on the rise.

From the spot I moved to with my friends, a night photo capturing the 30ft surf, night sky, and people enjoying a campfire. Good vibes and relaxation that night, wouldnt mind doing this every night.

Air time was on point during the contest, but it wasnt always a smooth landing.

Grant "Twiggy" Baker, as he fell for the longest time in everyone's mind. He must have had the best wipeout out of everyone who had theirs. It was just a straight drop into pure insanity. Everyone got a shock out of that one.

Look at that, just only 30ft of water smashing behind you.

Collision corse.

Gotta give a shoutout to the Hawaiian Water Patrol and North Shore Lifegaurds, they made sure they kept the surfers safe during the event. They were working really hard all morning and watching them on that one wave was crazy.