Day 3: Surf’s up!

The plan for our third full day in Kauai was to surf.  Or, attempt to surf.  Thanks to some recommendations, we had booked a lesson with Hawaiian Surfing Adventures in Hanalei, and after a good night’s sleep and a hefty breakfast (where we saw not one but two rainbows!), we were ready to ride the waves.  Or, attempt to ride the waves.  Whatever.  We set out for our lesson in a downpour, but by the time we reached the company’s office about 15 minutes later, the sun was on its way out.  We figured that boded well for our day in the water.  Our surfing instructor, Daniel, told us that there was a location change, since the water in Hanalei Bay was too calm.  Instead, we were bound for a small hidden beach called Rock Quarry on the northeast corner of the island.  A third student joined us, and away we went.

I will preface all of this by saying that we had a wonderful time.  However, surfing is hard.  The boards are huge and heavy, the waves are relentless, and you will swallow a few dozen gallons of seawater.  Also, I have two words of advice for anyone who is considering trying their hand at surfing: rash guards.  Seriously, board rash is no joke.  We were wearing long-sleeved rash guard tops provided by Hawaiian Surfing Adventures, but I should have considered my legs.  After a couple of hours of surfing, my new best friend is a bottle of aloe vera gel.  Please be smarter than me if you plan to surf!

Dan turned out to be a natural surfer.  He caught on really quickly and not only figured out how to get up on his board pretty early in the morning, but he was doing fancy stuff like steering so that he didn’t run into me.  Even our instructor complimented him on how well he was doing.  What was I doing while Dan was showing off, you ask?   Well, the word that best describes my surfing experience today was “wipeout.”  I was too busy trying to paddle out beyond the breaking waves and/or ducking to keep from getting whacked in the head with my surfboard when it inevitably got away from me each time a wave crashed down.  These waves were enormous…probably a little more challenging than the novice surfer would need.  Even so, Dan and the other guy that was with us seemed to do ok.  I think I looked like all Three Stooges rolled into one.  I did manage to get up one time, and had a couple of decent runs on one knee, but otherwise it was all I could do to just maintain control of my surfboard.  Despite all that, it was a blast.  I haven’t been that active in the water for that long of a time since I was little, and it was definitely a “one with nature” kind of experience.  Our original plan was to grab lunch in town right after our lesson, but we were so exhausted and bedraggled-looking that we went back to the hotel to get cleaned up first.

After we got our legs back, we went back to Hanalei for lunch at L&L Hawaiian BBQ and a little souvenir shopping and leisure time.  Very little, it turns out, because you can browse through everything in Hanalei in about 30 minutes.  We killed some more time with shaved ice, coffee, and an emergency trip to the grocery store for that much-needed aloe vera gel before driving down to Kapa’a for dinner at Hukilau Lanai.  This restaurant came highly recommended on TripAdvisor, and we couldn’t wait to give it a try.  We had a perfect table outside on the lanai (covered patio), and the fish we had was some of the best on this trip.  We were intrigued by one of their appetizer specials, a “candied ahi.”  This sounded odd but was easily one of my favorite dishes of all time.  The ahi tuna was cubed and tossed in a mixture of cajun seasoning, coffee and brown sugar, then seared to caramelize/blacken that seasoning crust.  It was served over an amazing coconut rice, and all of the flavors worked so well together.  For our entrees, we had the mixed grill: shrimp and two types of fish, both of which were yummy.

We have found that after filling our days with physical activities (hiking and surfing thus far), we are pretty pooped in the evenings.  Tomorrow’s agenda calls for driving up to Waimea Canyon, touring a local coffee plantation, and dining at an evening luau.    All things that should help us regain our energy for Thursday’s hiking and snorkeling!