Hey guys, just got back from Hawaii..heres a vid of my 10 Days. Surfed everyday...most of the breaks at Waikiki- Pops, Canoe's, Three's, Publics, Queen's , Ala Moana and Tongs closer to Diamond Head. Being summer there, most of the surf was in the hawaiian 1-3+ range..knee to chest but head height on the bigger sets. Water was like a bath and the vibe in the water was awesome- not one negative comment my whole time there..in fact quite the opposite..lots of aloha..they love the Kiwi natives lol.. I pretty much surfed as early as i could 5 30am - 9am in the morning then got a session in usually around 5pm til dark. Trade wind kicked in mid morning which is why i took my speeed vs my acid - for a bit of extra glide and stablity in the wind..also some of the breaks are up to 2km away from Waikiki. Each break I went to I made an effort to introduce myself and asked if they minded i joined them- especially with the shortboarders. They were more than happy to share the waves once they could see i was confident and had a bit of experience. You do have to go for it otherwise you miss out on waves, lots are paddling for the same wave regardless of where they are in the line-up...i sat as close to the peak as i could and a little further out. I got a stack of good waves and rides and tended to go to the further out breaks, as there were less crowds, better surfers and no 10ft rental boards..lol. Overall a great experience ..already planning a trip for Hawaii winter when the swells are bigger. We also paddled all the big name breaks on the North Shore..no surf but still a massive buzz.

Thanks to the guys on here who live in Hawaii and gave me some advice ..mahalo
P.S... my mates thought i was crazy taking over two boards ( minion and speeed).... best thing i ever did. Hawaiian Airlines all the way!! Chur

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Great vid! Thanks for sharing.

Did you use the mouth mount for the GoPro? I didn't use mine on my recent Maldives trip and the video is crap. I will put it together one day, but the nose mount is lame... The waves always look tiny, the turns look boring, and you can't tell when I pull off my alley-oops ;)

How did you keep track of whose turn it was out there? It seemed like there were surfers everywhere. What was your average wave count per hour? Were you having to sit out for a long time waiting till it was your turn? I have thought about going to Hawaii, and the waves/conditions sure looked fantastic, but as an old feral Aussie they may not be as accommodating...

And what about the Minion? Did it get a run?

Hey CSE..yea it's a mouth mount..dont usualy use one for the same reasons you mentioned but the result was pretty good this time round.
To be honest it didn't look like a lot of etiquette at most breaks..i still went with the closest to the peak has right of way..and if someone did get inside me then I pulled off. But everyone paddles for them, even when your clearly on, they still go..so you got to get in position to catch it..and not waste it..and be aggressive without be a dick about it! But you cant get intimated either otherwise you spend all day watching. Wave count depended on crowds..but I got plenty to keep me happy maybe 5-7 per hour...but sometime you mite wait for 15min before the next wave/set appears..i didn't see too many performance Sups around and sometimes I was the only sup there at the outer more challenging breaks. Publics especially is very quick with shallow reef and coral out of the water. You don't want to be falling off..i left some skin on the reef one session which needed treatment but I used duck tape..masked it up and headed back out. My partner she used the minion on the more smaller days close to Waikiki
Chur
Ps.. the breaks closer in had up to 100 surfers...most days at least 50 ...on the day I got there Waikiki had its big surf comp..easily 200 out..but only one supmaori

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Supmaori said..
Hey CSE..yea it's a mouth mount..dont usualy use one for the same reasons you mentioned but the result was pretty good this time round.

I should clarify; the "nose mount" I referred to was the board's nose - it does not produce very good results IMO - the mouth mount doesn't produce perfect vid, and it also makes the waves look smaller than they are, but I think it is much better watching the wave from the perspective of the surfer. Yesterday I tried using the mouth mount but tucking it into the neck of my wettie. Worked OK. But you need the right type of wettie.

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Supmaori said..
Ps.. the breaks closer in had up to 100 surfers...most days at least 50 ...on the day I got there Waikiki had its big surf comp..easily 200 out..but only one supmaori

Jeez - that's a lot of surfers! 10 years ago I went there but was prone surfing. I was surprised how many waves I caught. There were lots of surfers, but it seemed like a lot of them were in the wrong spot or hardly ever even paddled for the wave.
After watching your vid, I want to go there on my sup.

I think it was packed due to contest being held as well..in the morning I was up on the water at 5am a couple of days and I still wasn't first out even tho it was dark haha .lunchtime traffic was the busiest tho

Good report and video SM... you are spot on, the whole "etiquette" myth is just that.... a myth.
Big dogs get the waves and everyone else watches or moves on.

Respect, positioning and ability are what get waves in Hawaii.

Good looking SUP waves in town. So fun and workable.... you were rocking that Speeed!
Made me want to go back and try those breaks.

I never surfed town in the late 70's... just the North Shore, but did get a nice session in 1985 where I experienced some Aloha vibe somewhere over near Ala Moana... but further north by a jetty.

I watched the vid before reading your story... I was wondering if Island heritage was working in your favor, so not surprised to hear you were given solid respect.... so stoked you had an awesome time there.

If I ate like you ate on this trip I'd be sinking all my boards

Thanks Rick..i really enjoyed my time there on and off the water lol. The surf was great and next time I'd like to return in Winter.
Your right.. respect is the key for sure but you to to get amongst early .
Super stoked

Great vid Sup Maori . Great details
Damn looks busy out there.
Night surfing .... you're a madman !
Going over there in a few months with family and am looking to hire a board from Blue Planet. Waves look nice and flat so may need to get something narrower and longer . But I don't want a boat out here. I'll kill someone .
Water looks very glassy.
Any sharks ? I assume you just couldn't see them at night.
Thanks for posting

Thanks Gboots
Your going to enjoy it mate. I went and had a nice chat with the boys at Blue Planet.. super friendly guys, great boards..they had a sale on and definitely worth a look . There paddle tops are great too . I got one for the last couple of days cos I was turning into a crisp lol..light , cool and protects from the sun. No sharks..i think lol..lots of turtles.
Chur

Hay Supmaori
Top report i was just planing a trip there next year, any recommendations on a place to stay.

Cheers

Mate we used Airbnb and got a condo 1min from the beach ..the hosts were great and i could keep my boards secure on the rooms lanai..it wasnt the biggest but perfect me and my partner.

Looks & sounds like a dream holiday bru...thanks for all the teasers...I'm chomping at the bit to get there

Your going to smash it bro..came back to freezing water here..lol..and it was dream trip bro ..awesome waves and people..now to start the funding over again lol

Nice video is like we was there, good shots and views with the camera the Speed board look very fun and really great performance i definitely need to tried one of this boar, some moments is look nose can dive but instead of that just accelerated and fly....!!

regards

Thanks Cap..defintely try out the sunova boards if you can..the speeed was awesome..missed the acid on one session but the speeed is versatile in most conditions.

Y....Y....Y....YEEEEEWWWWW!!

I'm heading there next week for four nights at Turtle Bay and another four at beachfront Waikiki.

I was keeping a lid on my excitement but your vids have got me PUMPED and FROTHING bro!

A big CHUR from me!

Oh...and by coincidence there's this little race called something like the M2O on!

Jasus! I think I need a cold shower!

Mean brother..enjoy..its going to be awesome. Chur chur

Yeah man.

I went there in 2015 and had a ball. Found the whole etiquette thing pretty low key when I was there but I steered clear of the more crowded peaks and tended to have a higher wave count as a consequence (but less critical waves but no problem on a paddle bus).

You're right about committing and not fluffing around like a schmuck when it comes to getting waves. If in doubt go - but pull out quick if you need to.

I'd approach the peak slowly and then sit down on my board and watch / wait a little to see who were the performers before gradually moving in and claiming a set wave. Once I was established that way it was pretty much "game on!" from then.

Having said that the vibe was still super mellow so not much to worry about and start heading to the gym to muscle up in advance for!

Yeah bro thats pretty much how it was for sure. I had heard stories of localism etc.. but i had the aloha vibe at all the breaks i visited. I did stay away from the shortboard break at the far end of Ala moana tho..but there was plenty of waves about.

Supmaori, Great video... I concur with everything you said. Was there same time last year and surfed Pops, great wave and chilled vibe.
hired a great SUP from blue planet surf who delivered straight to my hotel and picked it up a couple of days later. Service and board we're outstanding.

the early morning 5.30 sessions were the best as the sun comes up and the waves less crowded.

it's a long paddle out, but totally worth it. You've got me thinking of my next Hawaii trip!

Yea Carter..thanks man...i was blown away by the whole trip and now definitely wanna go back in the Hawaiian Winter...temps only vary by a few degrees but surf is bigger..the long paddles are enjoyable with that view of the island..and often turtles and dolphins were about ..hopefully the video/info helps a few others out when deciding of their aloha vacation. I was all questions before i went too..best to be prepared, but part of the adventure is just going for it.
Hawaiian Airlines ..boards are free from NZ to Hawaii..!!! Both came back undamaged..but a packed them for the worst. haha

SupMaori some friends of mine mentioned that I might need Surf booties in Waikiki due the sharp
reef / coral. Is this true or fake news ?

I'm stoked that you had a good trip, I was seriously hoping that there would be a little bit bigger swell for you though! When you come in winter Exiled and I will take you out on the north shore, you will lose your mind.

GBoots..i didn't use boots at all...the closer breaks are no problem.. however I surfed Publics which breaks over a reef that on low tide is really low..and in some places out of the water. I did get a few reef cuts and one under my foot it which caused a few problems but didn't stop me from surfing due to my amazing first aide skills and hydrogen peroxide bahaha chur

Jk snd Exiled..im still stoking on it now..some more juice would've been nice but for my first trip things couldn't have gone much better..and yes bro..i will let u know for sure when I'm back and be awesonawesome to catch up for a session with you guys
.chur brothers

I was out a Kewalos this morning. Consensus in the line up was this has been a disappointing summer for surf after an awesome winter. We are spoiled, but I'm glad you had fun. Come back in the winter.

Yea few of the fellas were saying the same thing when I was there Exiled..they looked surprised with the amount of stoke I was having lol..just experiencing all the breaks and aloha and warm water...was stoke enough..but a couple of extra feet would have been lit..thanks again for all your help too bro...planning and saving already

Lived in Hawaii for 3 years. And visited many times before living there. Much better vibe in the water than Oz. Seeing how crowded it can get it is amazing there is still aloha to go round.
Have seen the odd punter put in their place.
As hui hou

Too true mate..i get more sh$t in my on backyard ...over there they respect all water/wave riders..whether its sup, longboards, short board, body surfing, or waka..just a lot of aloha and respect..as long as you give respect..in my personal opinion that's The way it should be.
Chur

Yep have had about 4 trips there surf with the same guys every morning , always made to feel welcome