Near-inertial oscillations of the surface wind were observed at Marcus Island (24¿N, 154¿E) in the subtropical Pacific area. kinetic energy spectra of the surface wind show a peak at a period of 1.1 days in the clockwise component spectrum. This period is slightly (6%) shorter than the local inertial period (1.2 days). The peak period varies slightly during the record analyzed, but tends to remain below the local inertial period. Complex demodulation with a filter shows that the large inertial amplitudes occur intermittently and decay rapidly. Most of the occurrences of large inertial events seem to be related to passing cold frontal systems or migrating low-pressure systems. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1990