Kauai Wakeboarding

I am heading on a family trip to Kauai in a couple weeks and was interested in some wakeboarding on the Wailua. I know there is a fairly good size group of riders there and even some local events. It would be cool to hook up and ride a few times while I am there. I can pay for gas and would be stoked to get a pull. I will be on the island from April 20th - 28th.

Thanks,
Daniel Doud
dcdoud@hotmail.com

Daniel can you keep me in the loop on this. Melissa and I will be on our honeymoon in August and want to ride. You can rent a boat but I think it would be cool to hook up with locals.

I skiied that river when i was a lil guy, its a lot of fun and beautiful sceneary. Definately something that you must do while there, and check out the napali coastline and barcking sands beach. Have fun, watch out for stumps on the river.

I don't think you will find any locals on here but I could be wrong. When I was there the guy who owns the malibu dealership give pulls. I can't rememeber how much it was per hour but I think it may have been around $70 His house is right by the mouth of the river and his shop is just up the road. It was a good time and very pretty.

We saw a d-drive MC pulling a pair of Japanese kneeboarders (not that I have anything against Japanese kneeboarders) on the Wailua while we were heading up to the infamous Fern Grotto a couple weeks ago.

Although I couldn't help but jones a little, the river's so small/short/brown and there's so much other stuff to do (like sit on your culo and collect pink umbrellas) that wakeboarding there just didn't/doesn't have much appeal.

It'd probably be cooler for you to spend your extra time taking your bride farther along the 11-mile trail up past Hanalei. Drive counterclockwise until the road stops at the chicken-covered beach. Start climbing. We had kids and couldn't get far, but it was beautiful and I hear there's a series of really empty beaches along the trail. Impress her with your pack-mule capabilities and bring yer beach stuff to hang out for a while. Enjoy the solitude.

And pretend that you're not thinking about wakeboarding.

There are a couple of guys that offer pulls. Last time I was there I skipped the hour rate and paid $35 for two pulls. Check out the rope swings on the river as well. Just call a Concierge at any of the big hotels and they can hook it up.

There has to be someone from that island who reads this site and rides. Daniel is sure to entertain you with his riding.

Thanks guys.

Derek we plan to so that too but we both love to wakeboard and we'd love to do it in that scenery. I water skied there when I was a kid and had a great time.

Check out the magazine 101 things to do in Kaui. I think they are free at the airport. If it's not one of the 101 things to do, there will probably be an advertisment for someone who offers pulls on the river in there. I waterskied on it about 10 years ago. Reminds me of a tropical Canyon Lake backwater, about the same size. Plus you can blow away the tourist that are on the big tour ship heading up river to the Fern Groto. LOL If you throw an invert in front of them you will get a bunch of cheers!!!

...and a hula dance

Hmm if it's Daniel I hope they like a nice mix of big spins as well. He will surely entertain.

Its worth the cash to shred on that river, brown water looks cool anyways..last time i skiied the river wakeboarding wasnt even around.

anyways, go rally the rental car in the Cane Fields to all the nice beaches no one goes to goodtimes

I live on Oahu and once a year the local wakeboard association runs a contest over in Kauai. Last year it was in May and this year it is scheduled to be over Thanksgiving weekend. Kenny and Cathy Terhagen run the local shop (Kauai Waterski & Surf Co.) in Kapaa. They are great people. He offers pulls on the Wailua at an hourly rate. Not sure what the rate is. I believe he uses a 2003 Malibu Response unweighted. If you don't ask or bring you own line you will get pulled with a poly stretch line. It's best to bring your own equipment if you are serious about riding. Last year the boards and bindings he had available for rental were poor. Hopefully that has changed. The people who run the kayak and boat tours up to the fern grotto don't like wakeboard boats with ballast (i.e. big wakes) and they complain alot. Thus it is hard these days to find the locals out on the river with their weighted boats. One of the creators of South Park has a home on the river and he has a few year old VLX. Another family on Kauai has a 2000 VLX which is what we use for our contests over there. There is a kid there named Jon Fisher who can spin like crazy (all the 3's and all the 5's). I can't remember is he has a 7 or not. There are a few other really good riders over there. Ryan Seibring used to live over there but he lives on Oahu now. Because the cost of living is so bad over there I don't think they ride much except just before and just after the annual contest we hold over there. If you want anymore info about wakeboarding anywhere in Hawaii contact Reid Shimabukuro at 808 255 9253 or hwpa@hawaii.rr.com. Check out the HWPA website at www.hawaiiwakeboard.com. Sorry for the long post. Hope this helps....

Aloha,
Paul

p.s. Here is the Wakeworld write up from last years contest held on the Wailua River...enjoy...
http://www.wakeworld.com/news/2003/hwpa4.asp

Paul,

that was totally cool. Thanks for the info. We have a partnership on a condo in Princeville and head over usually at least once a year. That is great local insight, love the Aloha spirit! I am bringing my board and rope next time for sure.

Cheers from SoCal

Jonathan

PS if you ever head to SoCal look me up for a pull!!

Thanks for the info everyone, we will have to check out the local shop and get a pull. Wakeboarding with no weight is ususally a drag, but in Hawaii I'm sure it will be different. Rope swings sound like a hell of a good time. I am stoaked to go and will bring back some good pics. Just over 2 weeks Forrest T
YEE HA

Razzman... my bro just moved to kona on the big island, u know of anybody that has a boat on that island? or all those wakeboard boats i saw on the website just on one island?

Daniel--
Let me know what you find out. I will be there in June and I wanted to ride too.

Daniel- If you are still on Kauai you may call me at 808-332-5852. I would give you a pull.

Razz- I got a boat from Oahu, one you might be familiar with. Yes, the Quicksilver Jr. 79 SN that used to be Na Alii Ski Clubs. I've put in total about $4,000 into the entire project (boat, engine rebuild, boarding and boat stuff) I have it running good now set up with a 6 ft pylon and sacked/wieighted with about 600-800 lbs. normally. We have been riding behind it for about 4 months now and can't beleive I pulled it off. Riding on the River is good as ever.

Only about 3-4 people are really pushing their riding these days on the Wailua. It is all good fun out here though so if there are people who want to ride, I am always down.