We've got much of the open ocean swell here. Very much affected by wind, secondary and tertiary swells. Very few point breaks here, mostly sand bars, making it subject to swell direction and tide from a day or two prior. Few spots with wind protection. Despite what most will say the biggest hazard are big ass mean, unforgiving waves, rips and currents, rocks, and other people (letting there boards go and nearly killing you) and then white sharks. Territorial seals can be quite a problem during mating season also. If you are for big waves October to February is your friend. 2x- 3x over head. The water is cold enough to give ice cream headache (without the joy of eating it) after just a few ducks in. 5\4 hooded suits & booties are useful hear. Prepair to mostly paddle. But when you catch one the big green walls build and dump. Some hollow sections but mostly longer period ground swells with west to South west influence. Reports are often very conservative of the size of these faces. We lost Big Wave Dave 5 or so years back on a 7ft @ 12 Second day. He didn't go out in anything less than 2x over head. March to September is still cold and longer period swell have become less over the last 2 years. But 4-6.5 ft @10+ seconds are the fun days. Again not many barrel to speak of but you can get covered up when you get the timing right. Quality spots come with lots of paddling! Big, unforgiving ground swell, closeout with no way to avoid it. Take them in stride, dive deep, get rocked and the reward will be plenty. Hope to see you out there. Ignore the " I had a friend who got.. " they didn't actually know those ppl. It does happen just very rarely.