Swell Cabin › Pacific Islands › United States

Pa'ia surf guide

Maui's surf-and-wind town near Ho'okipa and the big-wave arena of Pe'ahi (Jaws).

Location
Maui, Hawaii, United States (20.9110, -156.3800)
Best season
Nov – Mar: November, December, January, February, March
Water temperature
24–27°C (boardshorts)
Waves
Reef break
Suits
Intermediate, Advanced surfers

Surf spots in Pa'ia

Where to stay in Pa'ia

83 places to stay within 14 km: 28 hotel, 21 holiday rental, 10 guest house, 9 bed and breakfast, 6 hostel, 3 resort, 2 camp site, 1 surf camp, 1 apartment, 1 chalet, 1 villa. Compare them by distance to the nearest surf spot on the interactive map.

Surf camps: Aloha Surf Hostel.

Hostels: Hostel City Maui Llc, Hostel City Maui 2, Central Maui Hostel, Banana Bungalow Maui Hostel, Northshore Maui Hostel, Howzit Hostels.

Cafés, food and surf shops

58 cafés and bakeries, 253 restaurants and bars, 8 surf schools and 17 surf shops nearby. Surf schools: Maui Surf And Soul, Zack Howard Surf, WING BEACH aka Kite Beach Kanaha Maui, HST Windsurfing & Kitesurfing School, Second Wind Maui - Surf, Sail, Kite & SUP since 1985, Naish Maui Pro Center, Maui Windsurf Company, Peahi.

Frequently asked questions

When is the best time to surf in Pa'ia?

The best surf season in Pa'ia is Nov – Mar (November, December, January, February, March). The sea ranges from 24°C to 27°C over the year.

Which months have the most good surf days in Pa'ia?

Measured over the last three years (2023-11-01 to 2026-10-31), the waves at Pa'ia's best spot were good or better most often in January (90% of days, 58% great), December (70% of days, 51% great) and February (73% of days, 47% great), and least often in August (0%). From each day's swell and wind (Open-Meteo), rated like Swell Cabin's forecast.

Do I need a wetsuit in Pa'ia?

Water temperature in Pa'ia is 24–27°C: boardshorts.

Is Pa'ia good for beginner surfers?

Pa'ia is better for intermediate and advanced surfers, though Pavilions can suit all levels on smaller days.

What are the surf spots in Pa'ia?

Pa'ia has 4 surf spots on Swell Cabin: Hookipa (Point break, right-hander, advanced surfers, faces NNW (offshore wind from the SSE), best at all tides); Pavilions (Reef break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces NNW (offshore wind from the SSE), best at all tides); Peahi - Jaws (Reef break, right-hander, advanced surfers, faces N (offshore wind from the S), best at all tides); Ma'alaea Bay (Reef break, right-hander, advanced surfers, faces SSE (offshore wind from the NNW)).

Where should surfers stay in Pa'ia?

Swell Cabin lists 83 places to stay within 14 km of Pa'ia, including 1 surf camps such as Aloha Surf Hostel, 6 hostels, 10 guesthouses and homestays, 22 rentals and villas. Each one shows its distance to the nearest surf spot.

What is the surf forecast for Pa'ia this week?

Swell Cabin shows a live 7-day surf forecast for Pa'ia and each of its 4 surf spots on https://swellcabin.com/town/paia: each spot rated hour by hour (Flat, Poor, Fair, Good, Great or Epic) from the way its coast faces, the swell, its period, the wind and the tide, with the best time each day and why, the size in surfers' words (e.g. "chest to head high, clean"), tides, and how sure the forecast is (three wave models compared). It is checked live against the nearest buoy and airport wind reports where there are any, and refreshed every few hours (waves from Open-Meteo, wind from MET Norway).

When is the best tide to surf in Pa'ia?

It depends on the spot: shallow reefs usually want mid to high tide, most beach breaks work best around mid tide. Swell Cabin's forecast for Pa'ia weighs each spot's tide hour by hour and shows the best window each day with the high and low tide times, predicted from the Kahului tide gauge (9 km away).

How accurate is the surf forecast for Pa'ia?

Swell Cabin checks it against the Mokapu Point, HI buoy (146 km away, NOAA NDBC): over 1099 hours from 2026-09-21 to 2026-11-05 the forecast wave height was within 20% of the buoy 54% of the time. Last checked 2026-11-05.

Is the Pa'ia surf forecast checked against measurements?

Yes. The open water off Pa'ia is checked against the satellite altimeters (Copernicus Marine's near-real-time wave heights): 62 satellite passes within 100 km since 2026-09-23, typically 56 km out, put the forecast wave height within 20% of the measurement 95% of the time. Of the three wave models compared, ECMWF has been the closest to the satellites here. Nearer the coast, the buoy above decides the correction. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information (https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00179). Last checked 2026-11-04.

How reliable is Swell Cabin's information about Pa'ia?

Trust in this page's data is medium (55/100): the town has not been verified against sources in the last 12 months; 1 of 4 spots fully verified, 3 with a researched tide; season and water temperature checked against measured data; 1 open audit warning. How we check: https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-accuracy.md Last checked against sources on 2026-11-05. Every value comes from measured data (Open-Meteo, buoys), open databases (OpenStreetMap, Wikidata) or a published page we opened, never from visitor reports; a daily audit compares them and a weekly evaluation measures the error rate (https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-quality.md).

Is there a live surf cam in Pa'ia?

Swell Cabin hasn't found a live surf cam it could check in Pa'ia yet (it only lists cams it has opened); the surf forecast on its page shows the waves this week.

Where can I take surf lessons in Pa'ia?

Surf schools in and around Pa'ia include Maui Surf And Soul, Zack Howard Surf, WING BEACH aka Kite Beach Kanaha Maui, HST Windsurfing & Kitesurfing School, Second Wind Maui - Surf, Sail, Kite & SUP since 1985 and Naish Maui Pro Center.

Nearby surf towns

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