A few weeks ago I tried tandem paragliding at Makapu’u. Amazing experience. We flew all the way over to Waimanalo and back. The flight was an hour long. Raymar (Ray) was an awesome pilot.

Yesterday Emily and I took a drive over to the leeward side of Oahu. It felt like a whole different world over there. The climate is dry and desert-like, its not touristy at all, there are strips of beach lined with homeless people and their tents, and its very secluded. We were hoping that we could drive to the north shore through the dirt road that lines the nort-west tip of the island, but someone told us that its washed out. The road looks pretty hairy anyways. We’re going to go back soon and bring our mountain bikes to check it out because it looks amazing.

Some of the homeless people have made out pretty well for themselves. I was quite impressed by the homes people have built out of scrap wood, palm leaves, and anything else they could find.

It seems like the sky is much more open on the leeward side because there’s not much of an outer reef or foliage to block your view…just one large endless ocean.

Early this morning I headed up to the north shore to watch a pipeline surfing competition. On the way I decided to stop at Waimea Bay to see the Eddie Aikau memorial. Eddie was one of the two first lifeguards on the north shore…and Waimea Bay was his post. Waimea was (and still is) one of the most dangerous beaches on the island…generating some of the biggest surf, most vicious currents, and one hell of a shore-break that tends to suck out ignorant people. Many people have spent their last breath on this beach.

Eddie was the only surfer who had the knowledge, experience, and fearlessness to take on the lifeguard job…and in his years saved hundreds thousands of people’s lives. In fact he himself died in effort of trying to save the crew of a capsized boat on the way from Oahu to Tahiti. He was also a legendary big wave surfer of Waimea Bay. His story is fascinating and makes you fully respect the history of Waimea.

Here are some more pictures I took this morning:

As I discover new surf breaks (talking to local surfers, having friends take me out to new breaks, etc…), I am mapping them on google so that others can find these breaks. Surfing is dangerous and you could die, so if you get hurt after going to one of these breaks (either by a reef, shark, or pissed off local), dont go blaming me ok?. Mahalo and enjoy!

View Larger Map

The surf break was really nice and easy…2-4′ waves rolled in sets of 3 or 4 every 15 minutes or so. It is a left break so you have to make sure to ride the break out from the island because it gets really shallow and reefy as you get close to it.
The beauty of Kailua bay baffles me. Especially early in the morning when you can watch the sun rise and hit the bay as well as the surrounding breathtaking mountains. I really need a water proof camera so i can capture some of it’s beauty only seen by paddling out to the outer islands.

One of the things that makes Flat Island unique is that its a sea bird sanctuary. The entire island is covered with dug-out holes and most of them have bird eggs in them. Sometimes (I’ve heard) you can even see the birds hatching.