Together, Brian Benitez and Bobby Fernandez have more than 70 years of experience surfing the waves of Oahu’s South Shore, and both say the swell that began last Thursday evening is the most consistently large surf they’ve seen in a decade or more.

“You know, last time it was somewhere in the ’60s or the early ’70s,” Benitez said of the last time the South Shore was so big for so long. “We used to have back-to-back swells like this, but for nowadays this is very unusual, but unreal.”

“I haven’t seen it like this in a while, maybe 15, 16 years ago I seen it big for like a whole week,” added Fernandez, as another eight foot set crashed on the outside reef at Ala Moana Bowls.

Although surfers have a tendency to exaggerate the size of swells in years gone by, the National Weather Service says experienced surfers know exactly what they’re talking about — the south swell that began late last week is producing among the most consistently large waves to hit Oahu’s southern coast in quite some time. …

Screen shot courtesy KITV.

—Chad Blair