Kauai, Hi...the honeymoon

Kauai,Hi was the first stop of our three month adventure…
A few years back I(mike) took a surf trip to visit Darin Shapiro, Parks Bonifay, Shawn Watson, Joey Meddock and Danny Harf in Kauai, Hi. We stayed in these killer condo's right on the cliffs in Princeville, overlooking hideaways; just a short walk over to Hanalei Bay. Ever since that trip, I knew that is where I wanted to spend my honeymoon. Being that our initial honeymoon was in Oct, I knew the waves wouldn't be as great as winter; but figured it'd still be fun.

We found a studio in the Pali Ke Kua condominiums for $89 a night, with mini kitchen. Every meal in Kauai we made ourselves with the exception of a couple shave ice' and jamba Juice's. Monica made us crypt meals every morning, noon, and night. It was always something healthy, cheap and delicious.
Highlight of the trip:
We had a big swell come in for about three days. It jacked up from completely flat, to about 12 in just a few hours. Sadly, 4 tourists were swept out to sea from queen’s bath at the bottom of our cliffs. I surfed pine trees one day with a friend Chris "cripper" Love from Santa Cruz. We took a bunch of huge closeout barrels on the head. The next day was really stormy, and it looked as if middles was the only place really working. I was over the paddle, and a bit of a crowd; so we headed up the Napali coat. We did a 6-7 hour hike in less than three hours in absolute muddy dangerous conditions. We bought these shoes called "tabis", there Japanese fishing shoes with felt on the bottom. They work really well to keep you from slipping on wet or mossy rocks. On our way in to the waterfall several people told us not to go all the way, and that we'd get stuck there in the dark. I had been once before, and with a bit fuzzy memory, elected to give it a try again. We ended up making it off the trail with several blisters, a whole lot of mud, sore muscles and about 30 minutes of sunlight to spare. The next day, the sky cleared and with a bit of swell left, I surfed hideaways for a few hours. With only a few guys out, there were some fun ones to be had. The rest of the trip surfing wise, wasn't much to write about. It was typically pretty small, but we'd go out. Mostly, to work on Monica’s surfing. She's just learning, but picking it up really quickly. Even on the smallest of waves, she seems to ride the wash all the way to shore. She picked up her first left ever, while in Hi.
Part of the downside of the north shore of Kauai is the rain. It is so beautiful and lush; but that comes with a price. The rain....it rains a lot on this part of the Island. A couple of the days we were there we got sick of the rain, and would head over to the Westside of the Island which stays pretty dry. It's less inhabited over there, and has some great beaches. Also has some good sand doons to put the rental jeep to work:-)
Now, many people have asked me if I'd ever ridden on the Waialua River in Kauai. I have ridden on Oahu, but never on Kauai. We called up Kauai surf, ski and kayak and set a day up on the water with Kenny the owner of the facility. Kenny is an awesome guy, and really went overboard for us. He also pulled out the Vdrive Malibu for us to ride on. While the boat was awesome, the wake was insanely small with only Kenny and Monica in the boat. It brought me back to the days when I learned to ride behind my parents old Ski Nautique, with a 4 inch wake. I made due, and had such a fun session. The view of the river more than made up for a small wake. While riding, we passed tour boats and kayakers. It reminded me of first years when I used to watch "Hit It" over and over. There’s a part when Cobe sprays a tour boat on the Waialua River. It was definitely a historic site in my eyes. A great way to start out an adventure. If you ever get over to Kauai, make sure to look Kenny up for some wakeboarding. It's a totally different experience. To the left is a picture of Kennys shop. The riding pictures are being held for our story.
With an island as lush as Kauai, the beauty comes with the cost of rain. It did rain quite a bit on our trip. The rain was tropical; so many times we just went about our business while getting a bit wet. The rain also provided us with plenty of "opportunities" as we call them at camp, to work on the camp website http://www.westcoastcamps.com . Monica sacrificed many days and hours, to let me work on the website. This year we completely overhauled the entire site. Much of it at the expense of part of our honeymoon. We hope you enjoy it!