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-   -   Big island of hawaii good for kiteboarding? (http://www.fksa.org/showthread.php?t=3313)

mrlaroo 02-14-2007 10:39 PM

Big island of hawaii good for kiteboarding?
 
I am going out to the big island and didn't know if I should bring my gear. I want to ride their instead of going you know where. Has any of you guys/gals ever ridden their? I hear they have a-bay but really crowded. thanks for your help

admin 02-15-2007 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrlaroo (Post 16330)
I am going out to the big island and didn't know if I should bring my gear. I want to ride their instead of going you know where. Has any of you guys/gals ever ridden their? I hear they have a-bay but really crowded. thanks for your help

I took gear out there last July but was planning on spending most of my time on the water in Maui and perhaps Kauai. The prevailing winds are E to NE. The windward or eastern shore is usually rocky, endless lava flows with few beaches. What few beaches you'll find are often smaller, crowded and typically protected by shallow reefs. You could do it if you had to but might slam into something hard or get cut up (both?) in some of the limited cases. I would say virtually all the potential launches I saw were for advanced riders to try to avoid problems. If you could find a boat your options might open up say around Hilo or perhaps even South Point.

On the other hand, the west coast has a number of larger beaches but is often in the lee of the trades with offshore winds. This changes sometimes with refraction and thermal winds at time around A. Beach along the northern Kona coast. If there are Kona winds most of the west coast opens up. Kona's aren't all that predictable and I understand can shut off along with the thermal winds suddenly.

Bottom line, I wouldn't focus on kiting when visiting the Big Island. There is so much more to see and do that is unique to the place. Save the kiting for Maui if you can make it over there and if the trades are kicking. The winds have been a bit unusual over the last year or so I understand.

Have a good trip!

mrlaroo 02-15-2007 10:34 AM

ok thanks for the heads up. I don't know much of the area so anything helps.
I guees if al else fails then it will be a trip to maui or oahu. Thanks for the heads up. I might just be snorkeling but what a bummer to be at a place so nice and not be able to launch my kite. I will be on the kona side but yea don't like the idea of winds dropping out of no where. Well thanks again admin, laroo

ricki 02-15-2007 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrlaroo (Post 16343)
ok thanks for the heads up. I don't know much of the area so anything helps.
I guees if al else fails then it will be a trip to maui or oahu. Thanks for the heads up. I might just be snorkeling but what a bummer to be at a place so nice and not be able to launch my kite. I will be on the kona side but yea don't like the idea of winds dropping out of no where. Well thanks again admin, laroo

The winds might be great in Kona but the odds suggest that they might not be so consistent. The free diving is intriguing around the Big Island. You can go just north of the airport and hit some interesting spots including lava tube outlets. They run charters out at night near there to see manta rays munching on all the plankton they lights bring in.

There are some nice nearshore reefs to the Captain Cook Monument to the south.

Southpoint, way to the south is definitely worth a visit. It has dramatic vertical rock cliffs nice for diving off of, blue water with excellent viz. and grottos. If the wind is honking from the east it might not be that easy an area to free dive around nor will you want to swim into the grottos with much of a wave surge. Still, the scenery is incredible. More at:
http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=2046

There are still nice spots further north and even along the eastern shore. Some of the tidal lagoons/lava pools have some remarkably healthy corals. Better than what I see in Florida these days and even on some of the other Hawaiian Islands.

C. Moore 02-15-2007 11:44 AM

If you go to Oahu, give my Dad a shout http://www.mooreair.com I will heading back home I think in December.

mrlaroo 02-15-2007 12:01 PM

Nice pics of the southern point, I will have to hit that up. Thanks for the link. I read that a-bay is the best spot for windsurfing on the big island, don't know how they look at kiting or if their are some tight launch spots.
c.moore does your dad rip it up on the water? Maybe we could do some sort of trade and I could kick it on his lawn. I hear oahu is really taxed. You pumped on going back their or what? Well thanks for all your advice. Looks like I will be doing alot of reef exploring

ricki 02-15-2007 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrlaroo (Post 16349)
Nice pics of the southern point, I will have to hit that up. Thanks for the link. I read that a-bay is the best spot for windsurfing on the big island, don't know how they look at kiting or if their are some tight launch spots.
c.moore does your dad rip it up on the water? Maybe we could do some sort of trade and I could kick it on his lawn. I hear oahu is really taxed. You pumped on going back their or what? Well thanks for all your advice. Looks like I will be doing alot of reef exploring

There is a concession at the south end of A. Bay that rents windsurfing gear. North of that is hotel property and somewhat crowded so you'll want to avoid that area. To the south is probably the place to launch. The Kona winds weren't on when we were there. There was some sideshore flow, a bit light but ridable at the low end probably due to thermals. If you need a wind fix, I would jump off island and hit Maui. Just check the winds first.

Hey Chris did you spend anytime growing up on Oahu? I almost went to school out there at UH. I opted instead to go to ... you guessed it, USF!?

C. Moore 02-15-2007 12:38 PM

My Dad is a retired Chair Force Col. He still fly's a lot but he's not much of a water man. Give him a shout and see if he can hook you up with flights or a tour of the island.

I grew up on O'ahu in a place called Aiea, the only us city with all vowels in its name. I lived there from 1979 - 1992, I went to Radford High School and spent a brief stay at UH before I dropped out due to a surfing accident. Surfed at Pipe one day 10 - 15 foot Hawaiian size and hit the inside sandbar pretty hard. Came home that night and found out I collapsed a lung. I was told no surfing for 6 months and sat in a bed for 3 weeks. :(

But give my Dad a call. He might be able to hook you up.

ricki 02-15-2007 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C. Moore (Post 16353)
My Dad is a retired Chair Force Col. He still fly's a lot but he's not much of a water man. Give him a shout and see if he can hook you up with flights or a tour of the island.

I grew up on O'ahu in a place called Aiea, the only us city with all vowels in its name. I lived there from 1979 - 1992, I went to Radford High School and spent a brief stay at UH before I dropped out due to a surfing accident. Surfed at Pipe one day 10 - 15 foot Hawaiian size and hit the inside sandbar pretty hard. Came home that night and found out I collapsed a lung. I was told no surfing for 6 months and sat in a bed for 3 weeks. :(

But give my Dad a call. He might be able to hook you up.

Wow, that's 20 to 30 ft. and at Pipe. Isn't 30 ft. approaching realistic limits of paddling in? That is some intense stuff. You suffered a partial pneumnothorax of your lung from the impact? You must have hit bottom very hard, lucky you didn't touch head first instead.

You could have been an outside consultant on "Blue Crush."

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

How far off were they in the movie anyway?

Did you line up some large Samoans to help out on "Kill Haole Day" in school?

C. Moore 02-15-2007 05:10 PM

Rick,

10 - 15 foot is 20 - 30 foot over here. 15 foot was my limit, although I went out at Ehukai when the beach was closed and Pipe was shutdown because of to much north in the swell. I still have no idea how big it was the day I went out at Ehukai, I just know that I was a little short on my board selection that day by taking some late drops. The 3 guys in the line up were allowing me to take this huge set, I guess they thought I was going to get pounded by going over the falls with my short ass board. I made it and it was the biggest barrel I have ever been in.

High School wasn't bad, I alligned myself with some of the biggest samoans at the school. I was treated as an equal unlike most military kids who show up and show disrespect and then get there ass beat.

I had a chance to surf was some of the best surfers back then. Mike and Derrick Ho, Liam and Garrett McNamara, Gerry Lopez, Tony Moniz, Mike Stewart, the list can go on.

I have some really good stories from surfing the North Shore. Lots of good memories too. Sometimes I will sit back and think of a time I went out at Pipe and then I will put my self into a anxiety attack. I still don't know how I survived some of those wipe outs.

I will post more of the Chris Moore Chronicles another day. :)

-Chris


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