WARNING: TAKE LESSONS

Kiteboarding has taken off in Hawaii, especially in Kailua where windsurfing used to be king of the bay. Now, you’re more likely to see more kites flying around the bay than windsurfers. Kiteboarding, as the warning alludes to, is very very difficult. You’ll definitely need to takes lessons if you’ve never done it before.

Lessons

First off you need to take lessons in order to start kiteboarding. The best place in Hawaii to do so is in Kailua on the island of Oahu. There are plenty of shops in town that offer kiteboarding lessons and all the rental gear you can handle. You can also just head down to the beach and should be able to find someone who gives or knows a friend who gives lessons. Right behind Kalapawai Market, in the parking lot there at the beach you’ll also be able to find trucks full of kites and windsurfing boards. Just ask them.

You can also take lessons on the other islands. Both Kauai and Maui have some really good spots to go kiteboarding as well and those places offer lessons just the same as Oahu.

People who’ve done it before claim that you need about 4 lessons to get good at kiteboarding. The cost for lessons ranges from $100 - $200 per 2 hour lesson. Some of the better lessons have teachers that use helmets with 2 way radios. They’ll run up and down the shore as you try and get the hang of it.

Gear

Kiteboarding gear can get expensive. You can spend thousands on a top notch kite. Or you can search around town for someone selling older gear. Just be careful of how used it is. Kites have bladders that inflate to keep their shape. Make sure there’s no holes in the bladder before you buy a used one.

You’ll need the following.

• Kite
• Lines
• Bar
• Harness
• Board

These all come in different shapes and sizes like 9m kites or 14m kites, 2 lines, 4 lines, 5 lines, wide bars, two direction boards, no strap boards, bootstrap boards, and more. We suggest talking to someone who knows what they’re doing, at one of the shops where they sell or rent, and get their opinion on what you should purchase.

The Hawaii Superferry has been in local news for over a year. The main topic of choice has been to write about how the company was able to start operation even without doing an environmental impact study. Or how people tried to stop the vessel from entering one port or the other.

But this article isn’t about that. This one is about how the Superferry is actually making runs between Oahu and Maui, taking passengers and their vehicles on the trips between Honolulu Harbor and Kahului. Tickets still cost only $39, an offer that will continue through June 5th, for one way per passenger on a trip that takes just under four hours.

Vehicles will run you another $55 each way which brings the total for two people back and forth between the islands, $266. Considering that plane fares look like they’re going to continue to rise with rising gas prices and Aloha Airlines closing its doors, if the price of the voyage doesn’t rise drastically, this may be a decent alternative.

But now onto the good news. In addition to traveling everyday, leaving Honolulu at 6:30 am, arriving Maui at 10:15 am, then doing the return leaving at 11:15 arriving in Honolulu at 2:15, the Hawaii Superferry will increase routes and run another round trip on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

The second trip will leave Honolulu Harbor at 3:30 pm, arrive Maui at 7:00 pm then leave Kahului at 8:00 pm and finally return back to Honolulu Harbor at 11:00 pm. This schedule will begin on May 9th, 2008. This may mean that the Superferry is doing well, but I haven’t heard much. The ship still takes gas so I can’t imagine it’s immune to the rise in gas prices. Do we think it can sustain the $39 and be competitive?

Has anyone been on the Superferry? Any pictures, any opinions? Is it crowded? Are they doing well? Let us know if you have any scoops.

You can check out the Superferry website here

You have just under two months to look for whales in Hawaii’s waters! There will likely be close to 2,000 whale spottings from Maui just for this month of February — a record in Maui’s history. While Maui remains the island where whales can be spotted frequently, there are three spots in Oahu that are particularly good places to get a glimpse of these majestic sea creatures. You can easily make a day of each one by doing the following:

1. The Ko’olina coast offers a variety of boat tours for whale watching. Prices range from $50-$100/person for a day.

2. For just $1, you can hike up to Diamond Head peak, with a great view over the southeastern shores. Bring a picnic lunch (and binoculars) and spend a few hours relaxing atop Oahu’s most famous crater.

3. Walk to the Makapu’u Lighthouse, a perfect place to spot whales. Sometimes, the whales breech close to the cliff side, and you can get a really good look at them.