Hi, In search of surf adventure with lady friend on Kauai for Jan/Feb. I usually do month or two long surf trips to get a chance to surf the good swells and experience the vibe. Been surfing for 15 years and will bring short and long board with me. Any advice on were to stay or points to hit would be sweet. Be great if it was budget friendly ish. Do I need to rent a car? Many thanks! Colin
Hanalei Bay. Lots of pricey places to stay around there and ya, I'd recommend a car. You'll need a bigger board that time of year. Explore the whole Island though if you get the chance. The place is amazing
Go to NJ and get a log of pork roll. Somehow bring it to Hawaii. Fedex it, bring it in your carry on, hide it in your luggage, put a leash on it and tell them its your seeing eye dog, etc....Pork roll is worth twice its weight in gold in Hawaii, fyi.
When in Maui I brought it and I was like an island god of pork for 2 weeks. I carried around a log of it and I could do no wrong in their eyes. It was like .... come to our party, meet my sister, take priority on that wave but make sure you bring that log of pork roll. Them Hawaiians love mold formed pork factory floor sweepings.
I would look up VRBO rentals. Hanalei Bay is obviously where all the front and center action is going to be...Pine Trees, Waiohai (spelling), the reef out front, the pier for the kiddies, etc. That's so awesome about porkroll. I can totally imagine the bruddahs and sistahs making some kind of porkroll maki thing wrapped in seaweed. So good, ya?
There are shops in Hanalei that rent boards. Alls you gotta do is talk to the homies at the shops, tell them you know a thing or two about riding a wave, and they'll show you the kine stash of boards in da back of da shop.
def get a car. if your into camping, haena beach. up north near na pali coast. where Bethany got arm taken off. and anini beach park. nice left out in front camping is $3 a night. can either drive into town for permit or give ranger cash when he wakes you at 5am.
Queens Bath can be a little sketchy when there are little waves in the summer, let alone the Winter when the whole north coast is pumping. If you're gonna hike it to Queens bath during your trip, make sure the surf is FLAT, and don't do it wearing flipflops.
boy you want the best advice youll get in your life...well listen here. first thing wax your board before paddling out but not your chest you need to show off your manlyness and in hawaii that is important. make sure you get really tan maybe even new jersey orange. make sure you say brah a lot and call all the natives haoles. when in doubt whip it out. hawaii is just one big pissing match also learn some mma before you paddle out.
I lived on kauai for many years. The first and best advice i can give you is to be humble. dont be a douche and show respect to the locals. you show respect, you get respect. take your time getting into the line up. dont snake, drop in on, or stink eye a local. you will regret it. if youre getting stink eye, dont give it back just give a smile and you'll probably get one in return. the majority of the locals on the island are really fed up with the haole tourist mentality of a feeling of entitlement. if you wear a fedora, leave it at home. thats instant tourist label. if youre a dirty hippie, leave your patchouli oil at home as well. you will just be grouped up with the dirty hippie on the north shore. dont stop in the tree tunnel on your way to south side to take a picture, just pick up the post card they sell. you can get hit by cars that are going 55 through it. dont ride up peoples asses while driving. you will get where you have to go no matter how slow the local in front of you is going. just follow the speed limit out there, it changes often. thats about it with the etiquette of the island. as far as things to do, theyre pretty much endless. stay out of queens bath this time of year. super dangerous. if you do the hike, kalalau trail to the hanakapai beach. dont go in the water there. super powerful rip that kills many people each year. definitely dont do that hike at all if it has been raining a bunch or is currently raining. super dangerous. if its dry and has been dry for a bit then its super rad, and hike all the way inland to the waterfall. absolutely beautiful. that hike is at the end of the hwy by haena beach park on the north shore. definitely drive up into the waimea canyon. its amazing up there and tons of hiking. dry for most of the year as well bc its on the west side of the island. good thing to keep in mind, if its raining on the east/north shores good chance its still dry on south and west sides. depending on the wind direction. as far as the canyon goes, drive all the way to the end of the road and probably the most amazing views i have ever seen up there, kalalau valley. spectacular. then drive back down and hit up the other view points on your way down. try to get a tour with outfitters kauai. i worked there for years, and they have the best zip line tours on the island. and the location is from jurassic park, on a private ranch where most of the movie was filmed. their nui loa tour is pretty rad. a little pricey but worth it. say hi to my brother aaron, he still works there. if you have the money and the time try and get on the downhill bike tour too. its one of my favorites. north shore: hanalei-few different breaks out there, super crowded sometimes aggro tunnels- great spot-pretty crowded also, lots of locals kalihiwai- gets super big, when big very crowded by locals rock quarrys- great break, not usually very crowded east side: kealia- fun beach break, can get pretty heavy kitchens- hard to find spot, but usually not crowded. nawiliwili- dirty water, but can get fun when theres surf is too big everywhere else west side: davidsons- reef break, fun when conditions are right kekaha beach- few different breaks there, just gotta look at it PMRF- if youre military, a couple good breaks there polihale- already discussed, but good surf there in winter pakalas- my personal favorite, super local, when real big swell nw, gets super fun and not too crowded in winter months. dirty water and sharky though. really shallow reef there. use island rental cars for cheap cars. theyre beaters, but cheap. cheap hotel right next to nawiliwili harbor called kauai inn. around 100 a night. otherwise i would definitely utilize camping as much as possible. can get really expensive. any ??? private message me. i have tons info
I will be there from Jan 1 - Feb 1. Should be fun. Will give you some advice when completed the journey.
Thanks for all the solid advice. We got a place for the first couple nights in Princeville near the St. Regis hotel. Then the rest of the time on the other side of the bay near Tunnels. I got a cheap car rental through Kauai Rental Car. (Island cars was sold out). Camping would be cool but I got good deals. Took about 20hrs of research but worked out. Wondering how I can get a huge roll of taylor pork roll over there. Not sure how to keep it cool so it does't go bad. Is this a real thing or just some salty Jersey talk? Hawaiian airlines will only allow two boards in a bag. To get more you could send it via their cargo service but it takes 3 weeks to become a known shipper. So I'll just bring two with me (9' and 6'8). Seems like you need to show respect in the line up with a big smile. Wait for a while not near the peak and let them invite you in. My other buddy was saying that the paddle outs are long and can be dodgy especially with the reefs and rouge waves. Another guy was saying not to bring a go-pro out to the line up because locals don't want you recording waves and sharing the secrets of Kauai. Is this true? Merry Christmas people.
Dream , one of my friends that I met in Pt Loma invited me over to Kaui my first year in the islands . Late 60s , and although I knew he came from old money in the islands he left me speechless that day . As we made that left into the driveway, I recalled between laughter and trying to spit out the words , you r kidding me Ian !. At the time it was the only home in that area. Pay attention to what dream wrote , and keep a low profile.I would avoid cameras , and tunnels is one sharky arena, as I felt Rock Piles was too . http://www.surfline.com/surf-report/pakala-kauai_5527/satellite-view/
this is money advice without divulging too much info. anything more, one should learn on their own. .
That's exactly what I did. Back in 02 me and the Wife went on our honeymoon to Kauai and stayed at The Princeville Resort just up the hill from Hanalei. We rode down there everynight and ate at The Dolphin (I think that's the name) it was right beside a little river that flowed out to a bigger river. Anyway one day we were there it got stomach or so high in the Bay and I went to the shop and told them I wanted to rent a board. They were like what!? I told them I was from NC then they were like okay yeah you must want to surf this then. We talked for a bit and one of his kids had gone to UNCW for a bit or something and he had been to Wilmingotn/WB. He took me out to the secret stash of boards that were still in good shape and ended up letting me use it free for a few hours. Course this was in June and the locals were calling the surf crap but I caught stomach high rights peeling for 70+ yards with no one else out so I call it a win.
What dreamsofpakalas said. I've visited Kauai on a number of occasions and never had any issues. Stick to known breaks, surf at places within your skill level, and be respectful and let a few sets pass by before paddling for a wave. Definitely don't drop in, snake or bring a go pro into the lineup. If there is any swell on the south or west sides then you might want to try there, it will likely be less crowded this time of year than Hanalei.
