location, location, location

[bluemagoo]

An old safety tip passed to me a long time ago was to learn the names of surfbreaks (around the island of Oahu) if you shoredive. The reason was that it may help the first responders to quickly locate the area of trouble; the names of surfbreaks being the most widely known. It didn't have to be exact but it should be as close as possible and with a fairly well-known name. References I've found to be helpful are "Beaches of Oahu" (2nd ed.) and "Hawaii Place Names: Shores, Beaches, and Surf Sites" both by John R. Clark and "Franko's Oahu Surf Map" (www.frankosmaps.com) which helps to generally visualize the location of surf sites. You should confirm the name and location with, for example, lifeguards; what the books say and what is more commonly known may be different. Some of the names are amusing: "Flies" (a.k.a "Incinerators") is an area in front of the new Kakaako Waterfront Park and got its name from the dive-bombing black flies swarming from the old incinerator/dump that used to be located there (I can vouch for that). "Gums" is a sandbar break at Pipeline and got the name after a surfer lost most of his teeth in a wipeout there (thank goodness I can't vouch for this one).