Surfing Waves

Hi all,

In three year, if life continues to be good to us, my daughter will graduate from school and my wife and me will have our 25th wedding anniversary. So we thought to celebrate this with a special trip to Hawaii in summer 2020, which is quite a journey from germany. And we thought to take the opportunity to surf at Waikiki Beach. By then, we will have surfed 6 years and hope to not make a complete fool of ourselves.

Our surf coach thinks we would have very little fun because of generally very bad localism on Hawaii, but he has never been there himself. I would assume some crowded line ups, but generally it sounds there are always tourists in the water. We always try to stay out of the way of locals anyway. Is it that bad? I would really appreciate your view on surfing as a guest there.

There can be really good surf there in which case you may be in the way of the locals but most often it is ruled by kooks on rental boards or at least at the break I think is called Canoes. Waikikichan is undoubtedly more familiar. There are lots of other breaks, some are more mellow and some you are more likely to have aggressive hostile interactions (notably Alamoana Bowl plus others) However if you know the rules of the lineup and are willing to be denied waves for a while (and aren't a kook) you may find they will let you join them. Time of day may help a little if you hit it early or weekdays midday not sure these days, it's been 40 years since I surfed there. I never had any real problems there but was held off waves for a while by 5 guys at Concessions (by Magic Island and Alamoana Shopping Center) then they let me surf. I never even tried to surf Alamoana Bowls. The only times it looked good to me there were multiple fights going on while I was checking it out ........REALLY NOT MY SCENE!!! I am like mr mellow have a good time surfer. I mean I get my share of waves but not into macho nonsense.

I heard in Bali that you pay the locals for a surf guide and they will block the people for you. I presume they have this service in Hawaii too?

BaNZ wrote:I heard in Bali that you pay the locals for a surf guide and they will block the people for you. I presume they have this service in Hawaii too?

well.... unless things have changed or they are only blocking other newbies this is the recipe for a major disaster for any surf guide. They will be not allowed anywhere that surfers are aware of their activity and it won't stop at the waters edge.

Oldie wrote:Our surf coach thinks we would have very little fun because of generally very bad localism on Hawaii, but he has never been there himself. I would assume some crowded line ups, but generally it sounds there are always tourists in the water. We always try to stay out of the way of locals anyway. Is it that bad? I would really appreciate your view on surfing as a guest there.

Sorry, but your instructor has been watching "Northshore the movie" a bit too much. But yes, he is correct in a way. You disrespect by dropping in, catching too many waves, getting in the way paddling out, etc. , you going get in trouble ( but that is true at any surf break in the world ). The thing your instructor has no clue about is the "ALOHA" spirit. It's hard to explain what Aloha is , but after you arrive back home, you'll be missing it. You'll be amazed how many locals will tell you "to go". And that doesn't mean to "go home" , but for you to go on the wave. Aloha is a spirit of giving. To treat others as family. But someone people abuse that Aloha, and think they can drop in and it'll be okay, sorry ain't gonna happen.
Trust me, Waikiki is a longboarder's paradise. You seriously can get a months worth of surfing in 1 week. ( of course depending on the swell / hurricanes ). June usually has more waves than July. But just how the waves break and the distance of ride is ...... it is just so fun. You can surf from 4:30am to 8:00pm.
Little hints and advice:
1) Make sure to bring a longsleeve rash guard as the sun UV gets intense.
2) Bring a watch, if a local asks the time from you, he'll probably remember you next time and share waves with you.
3) On the beach is like $10 for the 1st hour, $5 every hour there after.
Off the beach, there's $25 1 day, $50 3-days , $100 7-days. Some have board lockers, some don't. Some hotels have free board storage, BUT you gotta tip the bellman. So depending where you hotel is, you decide what works for you.
4) Water is fine to drink and actually better than bottled water.
5) DO NOT BRING any valuables to the beach. It will get stolen.
6) JellyFish swarm arrives 9 days after the full moon, so plan accordingly.

Hawaii is truly a Paradise for surfing. Waikiki is great for the beginner/intermediate. Canoes is were most of the tourist on lessons are. There are an inside, 2nd break and outside break. Tourist usually can't make it to the farthest out break if there's good waves. Queens is more for advanced surfers and the locals aren't as forgiving there. Pops is less crowded but it is a 30 minute paddle to get there ( and you face off shore winds trying to paddle back in after you're already tired ). If you've mastered Waikiki or already surf a shortboard, then you can venture to Diamond Head breaks to the left of Waikiki or Ala Moana breaks to the right of Waikiki.


Fast forward to the 3:00 mark. This is "inside" Canoes, where people mainly go straight. But further out, there's rights and lefts.

oldmansurfer wrote:

BaNZ wrote:I heard in Bali that you pay the locals for a surf guide and they will block the people for you. I presume they have this service in Hawaii too?

well.... unless things have changed or they are only blocking other newbies this is the recipe for a major disaster for any surf guide. They will be not allowed anywhere that surfers are aware of their activity and it won't stop at the waters edge.

I guarantee if you paddle over to Queen's and pass out a $20 bill to all the locals at the peak, they'll get you on all the waves you want.

Ok but that is paying off all the locals not just one guide to block the other locals

That video shows how nice the waves are for beginners. But once in a while the waves there are totally insane, so good, with no beginners out because it's too big. Still Waikiki is a great place to learn to surf because the waves are perfect for learning quite often. So Waikikichan do you know what are the slack times when a surfer might find the least amount of people in the lineup other than at night?

oldmansurfer wrote: So Waikikichan do you know what are the slack times when a surfer might find the least amount of people in the lineup other than at night?

After the Dawn Patrol leaves and before the tourist get out of breakfast. So 7am. Then there's this strange emptying of the line up at 12 noon when people get hungry. Then after the rental stands close up around 5-6pm, the line up clears out a bit. But to me, no matter how crowded it gets, there's always waves. But Yes, there's a huge influx of lessons at 10am.

Here's Queen's on a South swell. Tourist can't handle there then.

you might surprised at amount of surfers that don't use leashes.

Here's POP's. It further out than Canoes, as you might tell from Diamond Head in the background. It is more situated right in front of the the Sheraton main hotel. While Canoes is in front of the Moana hotel. The wall of the wave at Pop's is wide and long.

you can fast forward to 1:15 to see a nice long ride

I can't believe that those beginners got to catch the waves on their own by the end of their first lesson. Is that because of the quality of the teaching or the waves?

saltydog wrote:I can't believe that those beginners got to catch the waves on their own by the end of their first lesson. Is that because of the quality of the teaching or the waves?

Like anything it more than just one thing. The waves at Canoes' breaks fast then slows down at the end. ( Queen's is opposite, and another reason why it's not good for beginners ) If done right, at the exact time and exact place, you can catch a wave with only one paddle. A lot though is being in the right spot. Micah is an excellent teacher and also can rip on a shortboard. He sets up the students in the perfect spot to get on easy.
Watch the Newbie at 3:35 mark, he is actually sliding in left going backside.

Great feedback, many thanks!

Oldie wrote:Great feedback, many thanks!

hallo Oldie,
you can say, "Mahalo, Waiki!"
You'll see and hear "Mohalo" a lot in Hawaii. It means thanks, gratitude, admiration, praise, esteem, regards, or respects. It can even be used as a greeting.
billie

Here is some amazing young groms in Waikiki

https://vimeo.com/227042406