Kauai - Anini beach in January?

[lowf]

I'm going to Kauai in January with some (non-kiter) friends, and I don't really have a choice on where we stay. I've been looking at beaches nearby that might be kiteable and Anini beach seems the most likely. I have a couple questions:

Is Anini beach kite friendly? Most of the older posts about Anini seem to hint at yes, with a couple people saying the windsurfing locals aren't too happy about it.. has that changed any in recent years?

How are the wind / waves in January? I know Hawaii is famous for the north shore swell in winter, will the waves be too big for an intermediate rider (can go up wind fine, do small jumps, but haven't done any wave riding yet) that time of year?

Thanks for your help!

[jaxonholer]

I would say Anini is a decent spot to kite if there is wind, I remember it being fairly protected, but the only kite I saw was a very large kite. You'll have better luck further north at Tunnels. You will not find super easy entry points to the water anywhere, it's very rocky and really variable conditions. Just look for some kites in the air, either at Anini or up to Tunnels, and be humble and ask all the questions you can. You will want to know exactly where to enter the water and where to exit to avoid rocks.

[lowf]

Cool, thanks for the info :)