best places to kite on Hawaii in January?

[windhorny]

Planning our honeymoon and wondering if and where the best places to kite on the main island are. Will be going sometime in january. I know Maui is the place to be but we will be in kona. Also, anyone know a good place to rent gear there if they know a place? Hopefully not cabrinha and naish only, yikes!

[Loscocco]

If you are in Kona don't miss the Kona Brewery.. best pizza and beer on the island.

[adamrod]

1. you're going on a trip somewhere? I thought you didn't travel...

2. why the hell would you rent? just bring your gear in a golf bag. or, if you're really insistent on packing light, just bring your harness and kite and rent a board. (everyone rents boards, but renting kites is a bit more complicated)

[windhorny]

I dont travel, that's why i am asking. I hate it honestly but what the hell. Free house on the beach and i am tired of not kiting during the winter. Who knows, maybe it wont be that bad :)

[vant20]

I've only been once in Hawaii in January. There was just one kitable day in one week. One option is to fly to Maui, kite beach is right by the airport and you can grab equipment on the way to the beach. I heard you can get pretty good deals on the inter-island flights but I never did that myself. Enterprise is just across from Naish and they have a shuttle from the airport, there are other rental places around there.

I took lessons, I do not know if you can rent a whole kite. Maybe you can get an 'advanced' lesson where they provide the equipment and then just take a cab directly to the beach.

Marius

[schwede]

Not sure about the kiting but this sounds like fun

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/artic ... o%20Palolo

[amir]

Ahhh...Hawaii!

Stayed in Puako (30 miles north of Kona) twice a few years back, but it was in the summer. I did my homework, but didn't bring my gear. Just had a newborn in tow and figured it was best not to take off for hours during the vacation. It was kitable 4/10 days while I was there. Oh, Puako as an awesome coral reef. If it's not windy snorkeling/diving is a must.

Made up for not kiting that trip when on the North side of Kauai in September. It was light, but did some awesome downwinders from Lumahai'i to Tunnels. Winter is crazy there...overhead waves that are brutal. Only a few locals hardcore venture out in that.

If you only stay on the Big island, plan on bringing your gear as there is probably only a handful of kiters and no resources. It will probably be light, so the light wind set up is necessary. I say bring your kites and rent a surfboard. The place to go on the big island is Anaehoomalu Bay, although I'm sure you can go to other beaches further south on the Kohala Coast like Makalawena (awesome). To access most of the secluded beaches there, have 4WD. Our rental van made a fun trip, but not advised.

Go to kitebeach in Maui if you can, or skip it for an excuse to go back.

Eitherway, check www.surfnewsnetwork.com daily a month before you leave for to get feel for the wind/waves of where you may go.

I honeymooned in Kauai/Maui and actually took 5 days of kite lessons with my wife at kite beach. Talk about being nice to the new hubby.

Anyway, have fun. You'll love it for sure.

[windhorny]

thanks man, thats what i needed to hear.

[kailuakiter]

Hawaii in the winter is totally feast or famine, it's all a matter of luck. The best thing to do is be flexible and able to island hop depending on the wind status, but that doesn't sound likely.
Personally I think Oahu is better during the winter because wind in the winter tends to be stronger. So the normally strong wind on Maui becomes crazy strong and slightly side-off (straight E) which creates a expansive wind shadow that makes launching from kite beach difficult and the wind outside extremely gusty. And I'm talking normal trades, not konas. Both happen during the winter.
Meanwhile, the normally lighter trade wind on Oahu ramps up and falls in the nice 9m range (17-23ish), and straight east wind is fine. This would be at Kailua Beach, on the east side. Our other main beach, Mokuleia on the North Shore, is best with summer thermals and kind of unpredictable in the winter. But if it is blowing at Mokes, winter is wave season so it is AWESOME.
If it is kona winds on Maui, you want to ride in Kihei. The best place to launch is from a hotel lawn that is a lot further south and has much better wind on the inside than where the windsurfers launch. Sorry, I forget the name, but you usually see kiters riding in front of it. If you are on Oahu, there is a really fun flat water bay in Hawaii Kai (South Shore) called Maunalua Bay (or something like that, I've been gone too long).

Anywhere you kite in Hawaii, talk to the locals first about etiquette, etc because kiting is perpetually in danger of getting banned, especially at Kailua.

Have fun!

[adamT]

The two I know of are on the west side North of Kona:
South end of Anaehoomalu (very popular beach with a hotel on the north end)
and
Kiholo between mile marker 82 - 83 (a very cool beach, more private than Anaehoomalu. Also cool surfing up North a bit. If you have a 4 wheel drive you can take the road along the beach. If not just park at the road end and walk.

Note: many of the beaches in Hawaii have like 3 different names..

What I was told by the locals when I was there was:
1) Don't go out too far, you will hit the trades and they are going way faster than what you will be kiting near shore, like way way faster..
2) Beware the winds shut off fast..



Adam