Surfing in Wakiki

Until now, I've only been surfing in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Newport, RI.  After my first time in Hawaii, I can easily say that surfing in Wakiki is a lot more fun.  The water isn't frigid; there's no seaweed; and it's a long ride in. 

All the travel books say that anyone can catch their first wave in the waters of Wakiki, which is probably true.  Of course, there are a few unwritten stipulations -- you'll need an instructor who finds and pushes you into the right waves and a 12-foot foam board that has so much inertia that it's practically impossible to tip the thing over.

This past summer, I went surfing several times a week and felt by the end of the season I had actually gotten worse.  But in Newport, I have my own board (an 8 foot 2 inch epoxy board) which is probably lighter and swifter than I'm qualified to use quite yet.  It also actually requires balance, something that is just not an issue with those giant foam boards.  Not to mention, I injured my knee jumping off in shallow water which still hasn't totally healed, and I got knocked about a few times in 5-foot waves that I just wasn't ready for.

Since I had lost my confidence a bit, I decided to start in Wakiki with a lesson and a large foam board.  It was a group lesson with three of us -- me, a woman from North Carolina who had never surfed, and a guy who said he had done it once 20 years ago.  All of us caught some nice rides and have the pictures to prove it.  In fact, the rides are so long that sometimes I jumped off early just so I didn't have to paddle back so far to try again.  It also makes for an awkward surfing etiquette problem.  In Newport, everyone spreads out side to side across a wave, but in Wakik, you start so far back that sometimes you end up being right in line with someone else.  Since I don't really know how to steer, I would just jump off if I saw I was barreling toward someone.  Our instructor was a typical surfer, young, tan and laid back.  I found it odd at first that he took his board out with us.  I wasn't sure why until I saw him catching a few waves of his own.  You've just gotta love that surfer attitude -- catch 'em when you can.

After our stint in Taipei, we'll return to Hawaii for another week.  I'm hoping to take a lesson every day where I can work my way down from a massive foam to a leaner, shorter epoxy board.