First, if your trip is during the summer you will be able to see beaches made famous by surf legend, but you won’t see the legendary surf.  On our second visit to Hawaii, we stayed at a bed and breakfast with a family from Germany (now THAT’s a plane ride).  They rented a car and drove to the north shore of Oahu hoping to see the famous big surf.  They returned quite disappointed.  They had found traffic congested with fellow sight-seers but not the sights they had hoped for.  The surf looked pretty much like it had in Waikiki, especially to the untrained eye.  At the time, my entire body of surfing knowledge also came from movies and books so I don’t feel too badly about not telling them that the drive was a waste of time.  If you truly want to see the beach itself, by all means go.  The north shore area of Oahu is funkier and has more personality than other areas.  You’ll get some great souvenirs and the beaches are beautiful.  Just be aware that the big waves won’t be there until late November.

 

Second, if your trip is in winter you will be able to see the big waves but that means it may not be so good to try water activities for the first time.  At least, don’t attempt to surf for the first time on the north shore of any of the islands.  On our recent Thanksgiving trip, Rick and I drove to  the north side of Kauai to see the big waves.  They looked much like the ones on the north shore of Oahu - VERY impressive.  Most of the people on the beach were also tourists with cameras taking pictures of the waves, or of themselves in front of the waves on the beach.  The people in the water were locals.  It was a very rough surf day and not one for beginners.

 

In winter, there are more sheltered beaches were learning to surf is possible.  All sorts of water activities go on year-round: surfing, snorkeling, kayaking.  It is easy to rent equipment to explore on your own or with a few lessons.  But don’t plan to return with a great story about surfing for the first time in epic north shore waves — one part of that sentence should always be false.

 

 Posted by Cindy Scheopner  Follow me on Twitter @Scheopner