scubatv

First time surfing in Waikiki

We got back Tuesday, 4/19/04 from 9 days of first time surfing in Waikiki.

From what I have learned, you can take a one hour lesson and then surf your butt off, study what the good surfers are doing, ask many questions for free and after a few days, take another lesson or go out with a surf buddy you have met, one that you have the confidence can explain and instruct you further.

There are many breaks around Waikiki for different surfing levels. Some, by the marina are very advance. Facing the ocean on Waikiki, behind the Duke Kahanamoku statue, there are three surf rental outfits. Pick the center company, Palekaiko Beachboys Club.

The number one reason why?

They have surf boards that do not have the soft foam surface. This soft surface will quickly give you a terrible rash that will turn into an open wound if you continue to surf on the soft boards.

When you sit on the board, you will get a rash burn between your legs, when you lie on the board or move to stand up, you will get a rash on your toes, knees and if you surf with out a rash guard, have mercy on your chest.

When on a surf board, you have to continually slide around on the board for positioning. These soft foam boards, while seemingly soft to the touch, are abrasive and will quickly rub off your skin.

scubatv

The two other beach rental outfits on Waikiki only stock the soft boards. They do not tell you that these soft boards are really terrible. In fact, the other two rental shops don?t tell you much. These rental shops are only interested in getting you into a surf lesson or on a board. The touts in front, get a commission and the service and price only gets worst the farther up you go on Waikiki Beach towards the Sheraton.

Most beach rental business like the soft boards, they claim the boards reduce injury and there is no need to wax, but what about the injury to your skin? The unknowing visitors have no ideal what?s gong on, they think the raw rash is part of the surfing experience, it?s not.

At the Palekaiko Beachboys Club, you?ll find the owner walking up and down the beach at the end of the day collecting trash. They have a discount coupon in the ubiquitous Oahu book, which is free all over the streets. And the guys there will always be available to answer your questions days after you?ve had a lesson.

Lessons will start on the land teaching you how to paddle, steer as you paddle and how to stand up on the board to catch a wave.

Get a head start, your muscles and coordination will appreciate the practice. Look at a beginning surfing lesson book or find something on the internet to get an ideal of the proper position on the board. If you find something like that, simulate getting up on the board, lie on the floor as you would on a board and practice standing using the steps or popping up motion.

After the land instructions, you will go into the water, and as you lie on the board, the instructor will push you as a wave comes in. You?ll have to paddle and do the stand up thing you learned on land.

You are pushed, because paddling to catch a wave is one of the hardest parts of surfing. That extra push will give you the speed and timing needed to catch the wave exactly, all you?ll have to do is concentrate on standing up.

scubatv

You will be learning to surf on 12 foot boards, which are stable, people that have some balance will be standing the first or second try and this is when the Palekaiko Beachboys Club really shine above the other outfits on the beach.

If you are like me, you will be asking, is this all there is? Ok, I?m standing, now how do I catch the wave? What about this or what about that? I?ve gotten answers that go on for minutes, explaining how I have to pay my dues or I don?t need to know that now, when a simple, slide back or keep looking farther ahead answer would have worked.

Mostly, the instructors don?t listen. In their mind, the deal is, you will be standing after one lesson, so they keep pushing you until you are raw.

Honestly, the Palekaiko Beachboys Club is better. Board prices are $8. for the 1st hour and only $4. for the additional hours. They have daily rentals but you can rent a board on the side streets for $75 a week. Everyone would agree that two hours a day, not counting sitting on the board and chatting, of surfing is huge. Surfing is a workout.

For beginners and for surfing small waves, the longer the board the better, short boards, especially thin short boards, do not float as well as the fat, wide, long boards. So you will be paddling your butt off to move about the water and paddling like crazy to catch a wave. If the waves are small, only the experience surfers have a chance of catching a wave on a short board. Nothing will blow out your arms more than surfing low momentum waves on a short board. Besides, you will miss many waves and not have as much fun. Long boards make surfing easy.

scubatv

Short boards fit easily into your car and if you have the experience, allow you to cut up strong waves, but for beginners, are difficult to balance.

In the beginning, your muscles will give out way before your sprit. Do a lot of push ups, swimming and back exercises, especially the back. Lay flat on your belly, arch your back way up, straighten your arms underneath, this is a popular yoga position and a position you need to feel comfortable in when you are surfing.

If you can get one of the small kick boards you see around pools, using the kick board on your chest, paddling with both arms at once and also rotation like swimming. Drag your feet; create as much resistance as possible. Getting your back muscles, chest and shoulders into shape, you will allow you to surf longer.

Mostly, the only way to learn to surf is to surf, but you can not imagine how much paddling, push-ups and getting up on your feet strength you will need to surf.

In addition to Cosco, K-Mart has rash guards and on the main street of Waikiki there is a Vintage shop that you might be able to find cheap rash guards in your size.

The main Waikiki surf area is filled with new surfers; you will almost certainly get into or just miss getting into a crash. If you surf in the early morning, near sunset or an adjoining surf area, you can easily avoid the beginning surfers.

Many of the surfers there have not taken any lessons at all, other have had terrible instructors that, IMHO do not explain the most important rule of surfing.

DO NOT CRASH INTO ANOTHER SURFER.

scubatv

Some surfers at Waikiki think its ok to hit someone. Imagine driving a car thinking its ok to smash into another car. I was surfing for only three days and we had to chase a guy back on to the beach, I was the second person he had hit that day.

I had a huge, yellow, 16 inch softball size burse on my shoulder. Not my head, causes I always keep my arms above my head when coming up from under the water, probably a scuba diving thing. If you don?t know how to turn, or freak out and find that you are going to smash into someone, get off the board, jump off. Most idiots keep going.

Another day, two surfers, one coming from the left and one from the right, smashed into each other right in front of me. If the waves are not too big, stay out with the experience surfers, they will never hit you.

Even with all that, there are some great surfers and some great surf areas at Waikiki, you can learn a lot if you go there. Waikiki has the best swells in the summer, the north shore is quite.

We had a couple days of some large powerful waves and I really noticed the difference. I missed the three footers cause it was much more dangerous with the new surfers and the larger waves.

We like the ?big city? of Waikiki the best because, we are addicted to real Japanese food, there are so many good cheap places to eat, you don?t need a car, there is always something happening, you can go into the huge parks nearby the city or climb a volcano and you?re less than one hour from the super quite windward side of Oahu.

Here is a link to a real time live cam of Waikiki Beach
http://honolulu.granicus.com/MediaPlayer?publish_id=21

The beach rental outfits are just behind the Duke Kahanamoku statue. If you see a white truck hanging out there that?s the Palekaiko Beachboys Club. They are the first to open up in the morning and the last to close. You can keep the boards out till 6.30 PM.

MY TWO CENTS, based on...
being 47 years old, taken lessons with two of the three surf rental outfits on Waikiki, behind the Duke Kahanamoku statue, surfing everyday, blabbing extensively with many of the surf rental employees and as a scuba diving instructor, knowing a little bit about providing lessons to beginners.

mimilou

As someone who surfs, and who will be going to Hawaii mainly to surf, I find this a little...scary? Do the instructors not teach anyone surfing etiquette? Or are there a bunch of people who just try surfing and don't take lessons? I would also think that the instructors would stress the importance of rashguards. (You should not have to be moving all around on top of a surfboard, but just paddling can give you a rash. And I don't know how softop boards feel, but they don't sound too comfy.) I'm bringing my own board to HI and so help me if anyone dings my board...
Of course we won't be surfing just Waikiki.
It just makes me sad that it seems that some people are just trying to make a profit out of surfing when what they should really care about is teaching people the basics, etiquette, and of course, the stoke.

Jayne11159

Thanks for such a detailed report scubatv. My kids can't wait to take lessons there this summer. Without this information it sounds like it could have been a miserable experience.

lcuy

Sorry, but I have to disagreee about using soft boards. Any board can give you a rash if you dont wear a tee shirt or rash guard (basically a shirt out of special material and cut for surfing).

My husband is a surfer and we have exchange students every summer. He always takes them down to Waikiki to teach them to surf, and always puts them on 10 foot soft boards. Says they are more bouyant and cause less damage if they hit others.

The Palekaiko guys are good, but it depends more on the instructor than the board. The other concessions have good intructors too. Many beginners just rent the boards ($12 for 2 hours) rather than spring for lessons ($35+/- for an hours) and cause some of the problems.

here_today_gone2Maui

I guess they didn't tell you about wax rash. Whether it is a softboard or a waxed board, you need to have that surface or else you will slip right off the wet board. And either way, waxed or foam, the surface can give you a friction rash.

The first time my husband took me out he rented me a softboard. I'l continue to use rented foamies for a while, and then I plan on trying out different fiberglass boards until I find one I want to buy. Foamies don't handle as well as a glass board, but I'm not ready for hotdogging yet. I'm still working on reading the waves. I have no problem "paying my dues." DH has been surfing for 40 years and I don't expect to be able to ride the south swell with the big boys after only 5 months. And woohoo! what a south swell we had this week! While the big boys are out I am content bodyboarding on DH's mini-mal, just to get the feel of the waves.

scubatv

Thanks for all your comments.

At the main Waikiki surf area, I've watched many a good surfer dive off their boards while simply paddling out, to avoid a wide eyed beginner bearing down on them. That's where I learned the technique, you learn a lot by watching.

There doesn't seem to be a teaching standard on the beach and even the best lessons spend little time on land, even so, it's a good idea to include some basic etiquette in the lessons.

During the bulk of the day you'll find surfers about 3 meters apart, starting near the shoreline out to the first break. Many people who surf the main Waikiki beach have never taken a lesson in their life, you will constantly see people with their board's perpendicular to the beach as a wave breaks over them, which just sends the boards flying out of control. Because many of the boards are long boards, the leashes are long and with surfers close together, sometimes shoulder to shoulder, the chances of being hit by a flying board are pretty good, almost 100%.

Waikiki is good for surfing because there are three breaks. Some of the better surfers jump off the waves after the 1st break, some ride all three breaks in to near the shore, the beginners are at the second break and the instructors push from the third. The water is shallow with sand and reefs below. The pushers wear shoes.

On Oahu, the best summer surfing is on the south shore, (southern hemisphere winter storms) so Waikiki has surf competitions and great surf.

Fortunately, adjacent to Waikiki, there are breaks that have 1/10 the number of surfers. You can see at least 5 surf areas when you look out from Waikiki, with some breaks accessible by just heading out in different directions from shore.

Kids have the most fun at Waikiki. Their rubber flexible bodies never seem to tire and they are back up on the boards in seconds.

scubatv

The board you use is directly related to your enjoyment of the sport. Short boards will tire you out paddling, be harder to balance, and more difficult to catch waves. Soft boards work like sand paper against your skin and within minutes cause you to rash.

The soft foam boards are not waxed. So, there has to be considerable resistance on the top material to stop your feet from slipping while you ride a wave.

The soft boards are more buoyant and from what is said, cause less damage when they hit people. But, when a 10-12 foot board, that has to be dragged into the water because most people can't carry them, is sent flying in the air by a wave, the word damage becomes relative. Ask my shoulder, heel and knee.

Soft foam boards, at what cost and why put your body through the experience?

Regular boards in water are extremely slippery, that's why surfers put so much wax on the boards. Because the round edges of the boards are not waxed, you can slide around, this is where your inner thighs rest when you are sitting on the board. The waxed area on top is less abrasive than the soft board covering.

I've done a bit of research on this soft board thing, all the new students had developed a rash almost immediately after being pushed on the soft boards. Rash guards protect their chest, but the soft area between your legs, your inner thighs, rubs against the edge and rapidly gets red and more.

When lying on the board, if you have the tops of your feet flat, the skin on your toes will quickly come off. Regular surfers have fewer problems with this because many of these areas are toughen, but visitors toes are ripped apart. The water softens the skin and you all can guess the rest.

A rash is one thing, but when the skin comes off a scab will form which will have a hard time healing when you are in the water everyday.

For my part, I could not imagine beginning surfers had to go through this sever breaking in period to surf. It simply did not make sense. The rash was sever and within an hour, started tearing at the skin.

It only took one or two questions to quickly get the shy response from the instructors, that the regular boards do not have the same affect on your body.

The visitors I talked with simply did not know, I think it makes a huge difference, therefore these posts.

Here is a link to video grabs. Picture created from some video I shot of the Waikiki surfers. Don?t expect much, just threw this together.

http://users.rcn.com/scubatv2/surfing
http://users.rcn.com/scubatv2/surfing3