Hawaii in May

Wondering if there are surfable waves someplace you've never visited? Or have you had an injury and want to compare experiences? Do it here!

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Trev
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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by Trev » Sat May 14, 2016 1:08 pm

BA wrote:Flying out tonight. Woo hoo.
Just think. You'll be there yesterday. :mrgreen:
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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by Spoon » Mon May 16, 2016 4:44 pm

Just got back, interesting place but good luck getting a decent coffee.
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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by offshore1 » Mon May 16, 2016 11:46 pm

Spoon wrote:Just got back, interesting place but good luck getting a decent coffee.
Are you kidding Spoon?
I thought Kona coffee was supposed to be some of the best in the world.

What were the waves like?
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Wed May 31, 2023 6:03 pm
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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by offshore1 » Thu May 19, 2016 11:21 am

Spoon, you're leaving us hanging here...
Tell us a story about hawaii.
marauding mullet wrote:
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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by BA » Fri May 27, 2016 4:20 pm

Wow, what a cool place.

Offy, my wife says the coffee is shit everywhere over there. Kona coffee was nothing special in her opinion, but probably the best over there. I don't drink it, so I can't comment.

Ok, a bit of info.

First off stayed at Waikiki for a few nights. Pretty much what I expected. Kinda Gold Coasty. Got plenty of fun waves on a 10 foot mal. Waves from knee high to chest high every day. Drank a lot of booze at various happy hours. Good value at around $5 -$6 a cocktail. Ate a lot of plate lunches.

Big Island was awesome. Way less touristy. Quite pretty with lots of contrasts. Did a lava walk and got to poke a stick at actual flowing lava. Once in a lifetime stuff which I highly recommend. Not cheap, but well worth it. Can give details if anyone wants. It's the only tour left that does it this way and is a little hard to find. There's a lookout in the town of Volcano with a view of the top of the volcano. At night it gives off a spectacular glow. Manta Ray swim was also pretty cool. They come within inches of you. It's in Kona. Great snorkelling on the Big Island.

Kauai is spectacular. Pretty beaches, amazing mountains, rainforests, and Hawaii's version of the grand canyon. We stayed in Kapaa on the Eastcoast. It has the most shops, restaurants and bars. Some good waves as well. Mostly windswell, but nice. Check out Keali Beach Park which had a nice set up.

The south is pretty ordinary. Lots of timeshare condos and not much else.

The north has beautiful beaches but also a lot, and I mean a lot of timeshare condos and big posh resorts. Kinda sterile in places. Shops/food is nothing special. Drive up to Tunnels Beach. It's where Bethany Hamilton was attacked. The mountains up there are awesome and are right beside the beach. Can do plenty of hikes from this area.

Waimea Canyon is a must. It's in the southwest. Visually spectacular and a nice drive. There are a stack of lookouts and hikes. Do the cliff trail. It's only probably an hour round trip. Only downer we had here was when we were taking photos back towards the ocean, we noticed a fire and smoke. Found out later it was a plane crash that killed five people. We had driven past the place it crashed at only 15 minutes earlier.

Eastside. Look for roadside markets that have really fresh fruit and homemade food. There was one in Kapaa in a church yard. Chicken in a Barrel has really good food. Charcoal chicken, ribs, and pork cooked slow all day in a giant barrel. It's on the main street. Go to Lava Lava Beach Bar for happy hour. You can get a table on the sand right on the beach. You can see turtles swimming from the bar.

Turned out my wife knew someone who lives in Kauai. They live in a caretakers house on a 200 acre property owned by some lady in the tech game. We got a tour of it. She has a private beach, various guesthouses, a giant main house and a river with a waterfall. It was not long ago the 7th most expensive home in the USA. Her neighbour is Ben Stiller. She apparently earns $100k per day. We think it's porn.

If you are into celeb's, there's a lot of them over there. We flew over from Honolulu with Pierce Brosnan on our plane, and Kevin Hart on the way back.

If I think of anything more of value, I'll post it. Feel free to ask questions.

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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by BA » Fri May 27, 2016 5:09 pm

Oh, and my wife saved an elderly womans life on our second day there when she dragged her from the water and got her breathing again when she passed out whilst snorkelling at Shark Cove.

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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by ctd » Fri May 27, 2016 6:10 pm

So not that memorable ... :-D-:

How did you get around - hire a car?

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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by BA » Fri May 27, 2016 6:48 pm

Yeah, hired a car on each island. Only way to go really if you want to see stuff. Not overly expensive.

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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by offshore1 » Sat May 28, 2016 6:43 am

Brilliant Ba, thanks.
Costa Rica coffee is just average too, even though they grow great coffee. I was told there that they export the best, guess the same is true for Hawaii.
We were planning on staying near Poipu, down south, in hopes of catching south swell but going by your description of the climate and terrain, south may not be the best call. We can always drive down, I suppose.

My younger brother lives on the east side of the Big island, near Pahoa, it's sooo much greener on that side, wetter but that hasn't been a problem the three times I've been to visit.

So we'll take a close look at Kapaa.
Any tips on a place to stay there? Air b&b's are few and far between on the island it seems. Millions of condos though, but would much rather get in amongst the local culture as much as possible.

How about board rental?

and finally and most important (pm me if you think it's best) best surf spots. I reckon the north side wasn't working in May, doubt August will be any better..

Glad you had a great trip. Your missus is a champion.
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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by alakaboo » Sat May 28, 2016 7:31 am

Offshore we found VRBO good for Hawaii accommodation. Used it in Utah as well for snow.

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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by crabmeat thompson » Sat May 28, 2016 8:39 am

that's an epic holiday, BA.
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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by BA » Sat May 28, 2016 9:14 am

Yeah it was pretty cool Braithy. I'll chuck up some photos when I download them. Almost 500!

Offy, we found Poipu pretty ordinary (compared to the rest of the island). One group of shops. Most cafes/restaurants seemed to be in the resorts so therefore expensive. It's probably only an hour or so drive from Kapaa so if you want to get down there to surf, it's not far. It and the North were flat while we were there. East was getting the swell (and wind). Maybe the time of year?

Can't help with accommodation. We stayed in a beachfront unit at a resort. We wanted a little luxury for our final few days. As Boo said, VRBO seems to be the way to go if you want private stuff.

There's a few surf shops in Kapaa. Not sure if they rent boards, but everywhere else in Hawaii seems to. Keali Beach had the best waves and most guys out (only a dozen or so) that I saw. Seemed to be a mix of reef and sand. Looked fun. Tunnels looked like a good set-up but was really small so hard to tell. They say Hanalei Bay gets good. Again it was flat when we were there. We just looked at google maps and followed roads down to beaches. Heaps of potential. Other than that, I don't know a lot sorry.

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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by offshore1 » Sat May 28, 2016 10:19 am

That's plenty. Thanks Ba. We'll look into VRBO boo.
marauding mullet wrote:
Wed May 31, 2023 6:03 pm
Jesus I’m surrounded by schnitzel tards.

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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by Trev » Sat May 28, 2016 11:00 am

I'm the first to admit I'm not a coffee snob, but I lie Kona coffee.
Beanpole
You aren’t the room Yuke You are just a wonky cafe table with a missing rubber pad on the end of one leg.

Skipper
I still don't buy the "official" narrative about 9/11. Oh sure, it happened, fcuk yeah. But who and why and how I'm, not convinced it was what we've been told.

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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by BA » Sat May 28, 2016 12:30 pm

To be fair, she said it had a lot to do with the way it was made. Apparently they can't make a good coffee no matter what beans she tried.

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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by Spoon » Sat May 28, 2016 1:58 pm

Sorry been working to pay for the trip and haven't been on Offy. Only had 5 days on the way back from visiting my son in LA. Now Hollywood needs a good clean and the place is a bit of a shithole but had a good time catching up with the family there. I also hired a 10 footer at waikiki, was a bit of fun and the water was warm, about 1-3 but very cruisey just look out for the catamarans coming through the lineup. There was a place around a bit called suicides that also had not a bad wave at the time. The North Shore was quiet. It is good that they have kept the madness of waikiki away from it. There was a lot of signs around saying keep the country country which from this guy we spoke to was trying to let it be. I did have a coffee at the Honolulu brewing company at Ala Moana which was was ok. As for Ala Moana, my wife who was excited to go shopping there walked away sad as it is just one big mall and not really cheaper than here. We didn't mind waikiki, lots of walks and some nice bars like the Sheraton sunset bar which was good for people watching. It is very Gold Coast but after Hollywood it was clean and safe and the people were nice. Hawaiian women are also very attractive may I say.
Al this is gold. "She didn't realise I was fairly high and spent much of the evening trying to figure out why a purple and orange cow wanted me to climb a tree."

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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by offshore1 » Sat May 28, 2016 9:17 pm

Well I'm not going if the coffee's sub par.
At least at Shearer's Surf Camp one can savour a decent cup o' Merkin in the morning.

Sounds like you've been busy spoonful. These trips are bloody costly, this is to be our last family vacation as my younger boy will be heading off to uni directly afterwards. End of an era, mum's not taking it well at all.
marauding mullet wrote:
Wed May 31, 2023 6:03 pm
Jesus I’m surrounded by schnitzel tards.

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Re: Hawaii in May

Post by offshore1 » Sun May 29, 2016 6:40 am

Booked: Kapaa. Nine days. VRBO. Airfare and rental car. Everything but boards.

Will report back at conclusion of escapade.
marauding mullet wrote:
Wed May 31, 2023 6:03 pm
Jesus I’m surrounded by schnitzel tards.

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