We are a group of paddlers from a canoe club in British Columbia who have started paddling an OC6 and loving it. We paddle on flat water and would love to learn to surf in the OC. We figured the waves of Hawaii where it is warm would be a great place to learn and hope to do so this coming February. A great time to get away from the wet and cold West Coast!
Any suggestions on where to go? Where are the waves good to learn? Where can we rent equipment for up to a week and get a bit of instruction before we go play? Should we be looking at team boats or singles, or both? We'd prefer to be away from the big city and crowds but want to be where the waves are best for learning.
Submitted by Fort langley OCer on Sun, 12/16/2007 - 11:56am
Oahu - Hawaii Kai run, very good run, also for beginners, 8 miles.
OC1 is 'surfing' is 'connecting the bumps', reading the currents, not like surfing the shore break on a surfboard.
OC 1 surfing in the break leads to a damaged boat quite often :)
#1 Sun, 12/16/2007 - 5:20pm
Your best bet is probably to try to contact local canoe clubs, see if anyone is holding practices, and try to jump in with them. I doubt any club (or OC1 owner) would be willing to rent out equipment to paddlers with little ocean experience. You can go to http://www.hcrapaddler.com/ and click on "find a club near you" to locate a canoe club near where you will be staying.
Also, it kind of depends on whether you are talking about doing runs out in the ocean where there are some bumps to catch, or actual canoe surfing. For actual canoe surfing, you can go to Waikiki and pay the beach boys to take you out. I think it's $10 or so per person to catch 4-5 waves with an experienced steerer.
#2 Tue, 12/18/2007 - 2:48pm