There has been a lot of hype about stand up paddling in our industry. So in ordered to form an opinion about the sport and to offer our subscribers some real knowledge on SUP, John Grace and myself decided to head to Hawaii to find out what the sport is really all about. With the help of Dan Gavere of Werner Paddles and frequent flyer miles we made our to the beautiful island of Oahu. Oahu is mainly known for 2 things; 1: Honolulu and Waikiki beach for the non surf world and 2: North Shore to all the surf lovers in the world. For us, our adventures began on the west shores of Oahu in a small town called Makaha.
Makaha is about a 45 minute drive from the Honolulu airport that takes you along the coast much of the way-lending itself to beautiful views of the sunset as we made our way to The Hawaiian Princess Condos. The Hawaiian Princess claims to be one of Oahu’s best kept secrets, and I would have to agree. Now, if you are looking for a all inclusive resort with 5 pools ,10 restaurants and pool boys, this is not the place for you. The Hawaiian Princess is more of a quiet get away that seems to attract those who are escaping the cold of the winter months up north or east and families, rather than college students going on spring break to party. The condos are very comfortable, cute, and contain everything you need, including a lanai that gives you a 180 degree view of the amazing secluded beach and ocean. The resort also has a pool and hot tub for all its guests. The nearby towns of Makaha and Waianae have everything you need to get you through your stay and the hustle and bustle of Waikiki beach is only an hour.
After a peaceful night of sleep we woke up to the sound the persistent trade winds. The day before we left, we were notified that strong trade winds had settled in on Oahu and it didn’t look like they were going anywhere during our stay. This meant up to 50 mph gusts on some parts of the island, which doesn’t help the surf at all. But we were determined to make the best out of it and find surf somewhere.
After talking with Dan Gavere, we decided to head up to the North Shore to meet up with him to get a tour of the North Shore and hopefully find some surf. We made our way over the mountain and met up in the quant little town of Waialua. We immediately headed north to get a glimpse of all the famous breaks of the North Shore, such as Pipeline, Wiamea, Laniakea, Sunset, Log Cabin, Chuns, and Left Overs. Due to the strong trade winds, the waves of these famous breaks were less than desirable, but there were still a few people out there tearing it up.
When we finished the tour, we headed over to Wialua Bay to get a stand up paddling lesson from Dan. After getting the hang of it, we headed up river to get away from the waves and wind. It was here that I fell in love with stand up paddling and realized the versatility of the sport. We paddled up the river for 30 minutes or so, which gave us time to improve our stroke and get more and more comfortable on the board.
With the wind dying down some, we had high hopes that the surf would clean up and we headed out to Turtle Bay to catch Dan in the waves during sunset. Although the sea was still rough from wind, Dan battled his way out to the waves a had a session that was short and sweet. With the water being so rough, it takes a lot of strength to stay standing as well as getting into the waves; it also means the beat downs are a little more painful as well. [caption id="attachment_1138" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Dan Gavere at Turtle Bay"][/caption][caption id="attachment_1139" align="aligncenter" width="240" caption="Dan Surfing at Sunset"][/caption]
As the sun made its way behind the ocean we enjoyed Turtle Bays famous Mai Thais and then made our way back to the west shore.

Stand Up Paddling Turtle Bay, Oahu from Lunch Video Magazine on Vimeo.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 at 2:47 pm and is filed under Amongst It, Stand Up Paddling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.