Surfing Serenity on Oahu’s North Shore
A vision of perfection
The North Shore of Oahu is a fabled land to a surfer. Bonzai Pipeline. Sunset Beach. Waimea Bay. Legendary beaches, waves, experiences that fascinate those that ride the ocean swells.
Growing up the surfer in Vero Beach, Florida, these were words that held my imagination on many a tiny swell day. They were mysterious visions of aquatic power from magazines or moves. Places in far off Hawaii that I dreamed about, but yet, never thought about visiting.
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Read MoreWaikiki: Vegas of the Pacific
Amy and Wayan, styling
What happens when you cross the mystique of a tropical island with the skill of American marketing, and toss in Elvis and America’s only royal family, mixing it all up for at least a hundred years, adding in waves of Japanese tourists for the last twenty years?
Vegas of the Pacific. That is my impression of Honolulu, a place like Los Vegas Рfull of hype and glossy history that feels tired and clich̩ by the light of day.
Yes, you can play Rambo, shooting live ammunition with pistols and rifles at an indoor gun range. Japanese women are rumored to see free love on weekends of passion. And there are enough bars filled with hope and booze to make things happen. But does anything? Really?
Read MoreA Cold, Wet, and Impressive Kauai
Having fun yet, Amy?
Before Amy and I arrived in Kauai for our honeymoon, we read that this small island in Hawaii was the rainbow capitol. That rainbows would be visible at all time of the day. What we did not appreciate was the two sides of the local saying: You can’t have rainbows without rain.
Because it rained every day we were in Kauai. In fact, Mount Wai’ale’ale, in the center of the island, is the wettest place on earth with an average 460+ inches of rainfall. Knowing that, I expected a tropical rainfall pattern – steamy heat all morning with a hard downpour every day at 4pm. Such was not the case.
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