Hello Guys looking for some advice please on a trip to Honolulu next week.

My mate is getting married so I will be staying near Waikiki for the whole week. I want to hire a SUP for surfing while there and have already scoped Blue Planet Surf Shop as reasonable for that.

Should I take my own paddle?

Am flying Hawaiian Airlines out of BNE. If I buy a longboard (not SUP) while there will this be a hassle coming back?

Where should I SUP? have heard that Waikiki is full of kook tourists and Bowls is very heavy with locals. West end of Ala Moana is meant to be good but as an intermediate SUPr will I get a wave?

I also want to do a downwinder if possible and the Hawaii Kai to Kanaha run looks pretty good. I have researched the scene and it seems there is a local group that meets every Wednesday. I will try to hook up with them but I don't have a car (or DW board) so is this going to be a dealbreaker?

Would like to do a day trip to the North Shore if anyone can recommend logistics for that and where to visit.

Also any advice for Oahu general.

THANKS!!

Hey Christion.. Lucky you..

Easy answer.. just contact Robert at Blue Planet Surf..

Tell him you're a friend of mine and you used to do DWers with me when you lived in Melbourne..

I'm sure he'll look after you and answer all your questions..

Check out his vid here.. www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/SUP/Robs-DW-tips/?SearchTerms=blue,planet,surf

Hawaii ..aloha.
i stayed at Alamoana.side near the war memorial ..if you get up early ..you'll catch the waves ..its a good paddle out to the break ..
but yeah ,heaps of people ..after 10 o'clock forget about it ....Hawaii ...never seen so much gear ..also a great place to get a 14' and paddle around
check out the sites .
primo,bud ,or miller.?( beer)enjoy .
lucky you .

Thanks DJ, looks like Blue Planet is the way to go, they get rave reviews here and on Standup Zone too. I'll get in touch with Robert later this week and he can probably answer most of my questions.

Tardy, good to know about the early sessions. I'll be near Ilikai Marina which is the Ala Moana end of Waikiki. Would love to hire a 14' for the week but not sure if my AirBNB place can handle storage. I'm on the 15th floor so elevator and stairs are out of the question.

Definitely looking forward to smashing some cans and getting stuck into the coconut daiquiries!

Stayed in Waikiki for 5 nights in June (first timer) and SUPed for a couple of days (intermediate). Hired a board and carbon paddle from Blue Planet who delivered to the resort I was staying at and were excellent to deal with (cher Kevin!). I just paddled out the channel alongside Ala Moana Bowls (busy with rippers) and around the back of the reef until I found a break (Threes) that wasn't too crowded. Didn't need to "beat the crowd" by heading out in the morning. Caught plenty of good waves the vibe was mellow. There was a mix of abilities/styles from old fellas, ladies, and learners mainly on prone long boards. Everyone was having a good time. Take some swimming goggles for turtle spotting while you are out there. Had a couple pop up amongst us. You'll have a ball.

See map here:

Thank you my Kiwi bro - that is an awesome map! Can tell its going to be very useful

Whats the water temp like? Was going to pack a 1mm vest will I need it? Something more?

I was in boardies and a rashie and never got cold. That was then tho. Gotta be warmer than Auckland at the mo!

Well I did try to get organised for a downwind run but the day it was planned we had a Tsunami alert after the big earthquake in Chile so that never happened.

I rented a board while here from Blue Planet Surf Shop. They looked after me really well with good prices and a fantastic board from their own range.

It was blue planet 9'10 x 30" x 164 litres. http://blueplanetsurf.com/collections/2015-blue-planet-sups/products/blue-planet-910-x-30-turbo-fiberglass-2015

It was a pretty good board but a bit different design to what I usually ride. The pulled in nose and large amount of rocker made it really great for late drops but we had a few days of (relatively) flat conditions where I was working a lot harder to catch waves than I should have been on a 9'10.

It also had a lot more volume than I was accustomed to, even for my 106 kg it felt a bit corky, but I regularly ride boards around the 140 litre mark so maybe I just needed to get used to it. You could really feel the volume in the chunky rails and there wasnt a whole lot of performance on the wave.

I also purchased a Blue Planet brand paddle and Im really happy with it. It has a slightly smaller blade size so I was able to up my cadence while catching waves. Full carbon and it also has the Quikblade style padded handle

I was there in July and surfed Inbetweens and Rockpiles every day without hassle. I had a look at Kaisers a few times but had NO CHANCE there. Locals have that spot completely covered. Threes and Pops was very friendly too.
As for boards on Hawaiian Air, they will allow boards up to 10 foot (you can get bigger through also) as part of your free luggage allowance.

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Zeusman said..
As for boards on Hawaiian Air, they will allow boards up to 10 foot (you can get bigger through also) as part of your free luggage allowance.

I did not know that! Next time!

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Zeusman said..
I was there in July and surfed Inbetweens and Rockpiles every day without hassle. I had a look at Kaisers a few times but had NO CHANCE there. Locals have that spot completely covered. Threes and Pops was very friendly too.
As for boards on Hawaiian Air, they will allow boards up to 10 foot (you can get bigger through also) as part of your free luggage allowance.

Threes was great. Surfed there most days. Managed to get a couple of waves at Rockpile yesterday. It wasnt very big though so not many people out. Surfed point panic and kewalos today. F=Good times