The 25-foot waves expected on O'ahu's North Shore didn't materialize yesterday, but people still found plenty of reason to head for the country.

And even though wave faces on the North Shore reached "only" 18 to 20 feet, the awesome walls of water at Sunset Beach didn't disappoint.

A bumper-to-bumper line of cars stretched from Hale'iwa to Sunset Beach, and a crowd estimated at more than 2,000 people swarmed over the sands at Sunset to witness the second day of the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing, part of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.

"At this time when there's all this talk about tourism being down, we have all these people coming through enjoying something intrinsic to Hawai'i," said Jodi Wilmott, Vans media director and longtime North Shore resident. "It's just been a constant trail of people today."

And the promise of big waves has just begun. National Weather Service forecasters expect 25-foot waves again as early as Tuesday.

Yesterday's 18- to 22-foot waves were expected to continue overnight, the National Weather Service said. Wave faces should be down to the 15-fool level by this afternoon, forecasters said.

Yesterday's waves were well below high surf warning level on O'ahu, and no damage was reported. Lifeguards on the North Shore did issue an estimated 2,000 verbal safety warnings, and five surfers had to be rescued from the waters at Waimea Bay, said Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the city's Emergency Services Department.

"That's about average," said Cheplic. "Nobody was injured."

And a surfer thought to have been missing turned up safe and sound.

Even after the weather service in Honolulu had downgraded O'ahu's high surf warning yesterday, forecasters urged the public to use caution.

"Even though it's not a warning, it's still an advisory, so dangerous currents are still a problem," said forecaster Chris Brenchley.

"Unless they are extremely experienced, people need to avoid going in the water," Brenchley said.

Seven miles west of the frenzy at Sunset Beach, a more leisurely handful of spectators lined Hale'iwa's Ali'i Beach Park in the sunny morning breeze and watched surfers descend lesser-known, slightly smaller waves that seasoned locals nevertheless revere as among the North Shore's most challenging.

"I grew up surfing Hale'iwa and Sunset Beach," said Bobby Owens, a former pro surfer from the 1970s and '80s who relaxed in the shade of a palm tree and admired the waves he knows so well.

"As far as large North Shore surf goes, this is the best high-performance wave of them all. It has major North Shore power. A lot of guys who come here find this wave really difficult because of the strong rip that pulls through the break."

Local surfer Jeff Stuart, 42, was in agreement as he came out of the water and decided to call it a day.

"I was going to surf it, but I just got caught by a set and decided I wasn't in good shape," said Stuart, who arrived on the North Shore from Tampa, Fla., in the mid-1980s.

"This wave is famous for an extremely strong rip current that wants to pull you out of position," he said. "That's why it's really dangerous. Those guys out there right now are pretty much sponsored professionals."

By afternoon, the morning's fair weather was giving way to dark clouds, showers and heavy winds. The Sunset Beach competition was halted after two rounds due to the weather, but Wilmott said the contest would likely resume today.

Similar high winds and rain were reported on Kaua'i, which also had some of yesterday's biggest waves, but police there said neither the weather nor waves caused any damage or injuries.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service predicted waves of 25 feet or higher would arrive on Tuesday, and again on Thursday.

"And," Wilmott predicted, "the crowds will be back as well."