Kite Surfing Hawaii

One of the newest extreme water sports is Kite Surfing. Its history is ancient or recent, depending on who you listen to. Some credit the Chinese for inventing large kites that they fastened to canoes to propel them across the water. Others credit the Legaignoux brothers from France who patented an inflatable kite design in 1984 that was the forerunner of many of the kites used today in kite surfing.

As with any water sports, Hawaii is a premier destination for kite surfing enthusiasts.

Unlike surfing which is famously linked to Oahu’s North Shore, and windsurfing’s mecca of Hookipa on the Island of Maui, fabulous kite surfing can be had on any of the major Hawaiian islands.

For novices and those who want to try their hand at kite surfing, there are rental shops located in beach areas on all of the islands. These rental shops not only offer kite surfing equipment for rent, they also offer kite surfing lessons or can refer you to experienced local kite surfers who teach. These shops are also great for getting insider tips on the best beaches, weather and surf reports, and also where to find the best local eating places, bargain stores, and places to stay if you don’t have your accommodations reserved yet.

Kailua Beach Park is one of Oahu’s most popular parks and is just a short drive from Honolulu. Popular with local families and tourists alike, Kailua Beach Park has access to two beautiful beaches – Kailua Beach and Lanikai. Kailua Beach Park enjoys ideal tradewinds all year, and the park has an open grassy area that is great for staging kites along with a fabulous sandy beach that is ideal for launching off. There are distinct areas set aside for swimmers only, so watch for the white buoys that mark areas that are off-limits to kite surfers. Kailua Beach Park is a magnet for water enthusiasts, so on any given day kite surfers will be joined in the ocean by wind surfers, boogie boarders, swimmers, kayakers, and snorkelers, while those on shore often play beach volleyball.

Believe it or not, on Maui there is a beach known as Kite Beach. Located on Maui’s north shore, Kite Beach is part of Kanaha Beach Park and there are two areas of the park that are used specifically by kite surfers, although kite surfing is only allowed after 11am. NASKA or Action Beach is used primarily by beginning and intermediate kite surfers. The local rental shops and kite surfing schools also use this area of the beach for teaching; it is ideal for novice kite surfers because steady winds blow parallel to the shore and a large sandy beach is easy to launch from. More experienced kite surfers launch from Ka’a Point also known as Pro Beach. Pro Beach sits in a protected cove with flat water, allowing kite surfers to approach very near the shore. Farther out there is choppy water that provides for some of the best kite surfing in the world.

Kite Surfing on the Big Island of Hawaii is a bit trickier than on the other islands. If you are a novice, the best place to try kiting is at Hilo Bay on the eastern side of the island. There is a black sand beach (yes, I said black sand) that you can launch from and there are usually light trade winds blowing. The difficult part about kite surfing on the Big Island is that there is very little sand on the beaches; most of the shoreline is jagged lava rock. In case you didn’t know, the Island of Hawaii is home to an active volcano that is still adding shoreline to the island with a fresh flow of lava hitting the ocean continually. There isn’t much kite surfing going on on the western side of the island, home to Kailua Kona (think Kona Coffee), since Kona doesn’t get enough trade winds unless there is a storm front approaching. If you are dead set on kite surfing on the Big Island, it would be best to call ahead to a rental shop and see if there are any experienced locals who are familiar with the weather patterns and currents before you try to launch from a beach. Although kite surfing on the Big Island may be more challenging than on other islands, the view of the island from the water is unsurpassable.

Picture: Credit – Stephanie Launiu
Caption – Kite Surfing at Kailua Beach, Oahu


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