Hawaii -- everybody's gone surfin'....

So what is Hawaii without surfers? They were all over the place--if you saw water and waves, there were surfers. We could sit on our lanai and watch them. BUT---if you want to see Surfers, the ones who REALLY know what they are doing, you go to Ho'okipa Beach on the north shore, along the road to Hana. This is where some of the big surf rolls in, and where the windsurfers are (but weren't when we were there...the wind wasn't in the right direction).

However, there were LOTS of surfers. I could've spent the day watching them. These guys are GOOD. Thank goodness, again, for my 100-300mm zoom. I was wishing for the Sigma Bigma.

This guy was boogie boarding about 200 yards out from shore in the big surf. He had to know what he was doing, because the waves he was skating across the face of broke on black lava rocks.
One surfer coming in, one going out through the wave.
I LOVED the guys who caught air at the top of the wave. This one was so good that I have a photo of him pulling his shirt down while he skates along the crest of the way, not even bothered by the fact that he is balanced on the top of the wave.
Really like the fact that his shadow is on the wave under him.

Something I've never seen before--paddleboard surfing. This is how surfing was originally, on big long boards with no fins. The surfers stand on them the whole time, and use the paddle like a rudder. This guy consistently had much longer runs than the guys on the smaller modern boards. He started at least 100 yds. further out than the rest, and usually came in almost all the way to shore.


Of course, not every ride is perfect....