Maui.
Much To Do About Nothing.
I have had the good fortune to have traveled to literally most of all the world's best wave sailing locations, finally including Maui, the 'Mecca' of windsurfing this spring. Paying homage to Mecca is a dutiful experience as respectful disciples of windsurfing, yet for us, paying was almost all we experienced, as our homage proved lifeless.
For the first time, you're about to read a feature on Maui which, based on our experiences, will reveal a windsurfing destination that isn't 'the world's greatest place' despite being windsurfing's spiritual homeland.
Before we left we had grand visions of creating two features on Maui, the first discussing whether it deserves it's Mecca image (which I assumed it did) and the second a practical guide on how to get there. However, you'll find neither of these articles here. As Bill Dawes pointed out before we left, 'if Maui was wiped off the face of the earth, windsurfing would still continue, whereas if Lake Garda or Tarifa were blown away, the windsurfing industry would probably grind to a halt.' Maui, with it's traffic jams on and off the water, wasn't our cup of tea.
Firstly I have to admit, we were desperately unlucky. For the previous years March had been blessed with non-stop trade winds and swell, sufficient to literally windsurf every single day. It is this consistency that has created all the world's best windsurfers, as despite their birth places, it's their experiences on Maui, surrounded by equally good windsurfers pushing their limits that has generated champions. We had been hoping some of that would wear off on us. However, in the five weeks we were there, we sailed only about twelve times in really crap conditions. And boy, did it rain! This feature, like so many things in life, is purely circumstancial.
So it is with dismay this cynical Englishman puts words to paper about America, especially Maui, Hawaii.
Pissed Off in Paradise.
Despite the virtually complete vacuum of nightlife in Hawaii, and almost communist regulations, there was some source of amusement for me in Maui. This A4 notice posted all over Paia, alongside the adverts for yoga courses, spiritual enlightenment, missing persons and cats, kept me going for days:
"Spunky Memorial Service
Honoring Spunky, a remarkable being who gave joy and light and smiles to so many in the north shore upcountry community.
Spunky was a truly a good dog
Join us to say farewell to this friend of the world."
Surrounded by a community who didn't know what spunk was just made it funnier. This community is Paia.
Pa'ia (adj. Hawaiian) : Great roar, noisy.
Despite being windsurfing's birth place and the centre of our known universe, oddly enough Paia only has one small time windsurfing shop. Yet has as many surf shops as art and craft shops, three petrol stations (almost adjacent to each other), three real estate agents, and an equal number of cafes and hippy shops in this two street tiny town.
The 'great roar' is neither the windsurfing industry booming, nor is it nearby waves. It actually refers to the noise of the sugar cane mills for which Paia community was built on nearly two hundred years before windsurfing put Paia on our map. Yet today the only 'great roar' is the crawling traffic though the towns snail paced speed restrictions and traffic lights lost in time (like so many of it's inhabitants).
Or maybe the great roar is the demographic contrasts clunking off eachother in this variable community. Paia's demography goes something like this: 50 % hippies, 20% locals, and 20% surfers and windsurfers (of which most are from out of town and look as lost as the hippies) and 10% Magnum P.I. lookalikes.
The hippies come in all shapes, sizes and hairstyles. Barefooted, dreadlocked, tattooed, hamburger eating holistic hippies and born again chocolate muffins, trying to look relaxed whilst living in one of the most expensive parts of the world.
The locals are Polynesian looking dudes in black shorts, with black trucks and dark sunglasses. The Magnum lookalikes are either tourists, real estate agents or art dealers.
The final ingredient in Paia's diverse community are many of the world's greatest surfing and windsurfing athletes. Most of whom by-pass every character above and blend a semi-professional, semi-spiritual, semi-healthy, plastic sunglasses, shorts and flip flops mediocre existence, relatively speaking to the visual extremists in Paia's 'roaring' community.
So for most windsurfing tourists visiting Paia, your great roar will be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Jason Polokaw, Bjorn, Nik Baker, Robby Naish or Laird Hamilton in the local shops and restaurants.
Windsurfing.
Maui's finest windsurfing attributes are the consistent trade winds (with the exception of 2002) and waters warm enough to windsurf in shorts all year round.
The main windsurfing locations are on the northshore; Hookipa for hard-core wave riding (three mins east of Paia), Spreckseville for jumping (five mins west of Paia) and Kanaha for a bit of both (fifteen mins west of Paia). All these venues are 'starboard tack' (the wind blowing from the right), which make them ideal for windsurfers used to the same wind direction on the U.K's south coast. On the south of Maui at Kehei the wind accelerates through the valley and hence is popular for blasting, but has no waves.
Ho'okipa is a good wave riding location, but unbearably crowded with the world's very best windsurfers. Sailing here is the equivelent to playing at Wembley, but with thirty motor cycle display teams squeezed onto the pitch. The intimidating rocks and the terrifying rips put most people off, especially with big waves, but whilst we were there, Ho'okipa was the only place with wind, so every windsurfer on the island would congregate here for a traffic jam.
Sprecksville is excellent for jumping and has some easy going wave riding with no rocks to worry about. It's ideallic sandy beach looks like paradise, but actually just gets your mast extensions stuck in your mast.
Sprecks, the classic white sands of paradise off Stable Road,
the Saville Row of windsurfing.
Kanaha is the best of both worlds, blending good wave riding with good jumping and having a tailor made rigging up area, with loads of grass and shade under the trees. Kanaha is the main reason why windsurfers go to Maui; easy waves, easy access, easy rigging, easy living.
All areas have plenty of parking and rigging areas and even public toilets or portaloos.
Winds are strongest in the summer, waves biggest in the winter. Therefore in spring and autumn when these conditions collide, Maui usually 'goes off' for wave sailing.
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By our experienced judgement, if Maui is Mecca it's purely because of it's consistent winds and it's regular swells. Not because it has the best wave sailing conditions in the world, far from it. OK, the waves are good at Ho'okipa but it's so crowded, they're really not worth riding. It's like having a F1 car at Silverstone, but the track being crammed with hundreds of other F1 cars in a traffic jam. OK, you drove a F1 car at Silverstone, but didn't you have more fun in your family car on an open road? In a day's windsurfing there, it's unlikely you'd get a single ride where you were able to sail exactly as you wanted as there's always traffic in your way. I clearly remember one wave I thought I was ready to let loose on, when I noticed Robby Naish waterstarting right in front of me, what was I to do; hit the lip and run him over? Or straight line another wave? Share a wave with Bjorn or Jason as they're the two sailors everybody clears a path for. "The good local sailors don't need to shout at people because they can avoid them. The world tour sailors know who you are, so they're not going to shout at you either" Nik Baker told Shawna after some idiot had been shouting at her on the water. |
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Ho'okipa remains the busiest windsurfing location we've ever sailed. The crowds and collisions are more frightening than the rocks, rips or waves. It's also the only place and the only time in all of my life windsurfing, that I actually didn't enjoy a day's sailing.
Ho'okipa rush hour.
Whales.
Everyday in spring, looking out to sea you'll see whales jumping clear out of the water. We saw this spectacle at Hookipa many times, but on one occasion a forty ton whale jumped amongst the windsurfers, much closer to the shore than usual and therefore startling everyone. If this was a different sport like golf or tennis, attracting a different kind of participant, no doubt the area would have been cleared instantly. Instead, being windsurfing, the beach cleared instantly as everyone launched to get closer to these equally incredible giants. Hey, no funny business, you know I'm not implying whales might jump at golf courses or tennis courts...
Epilogue.
Our visit was during the worst March on record. In fact, probably the worst month ever in Maui's windsurfing history. As Richie Foster said, "You can find windsurfing conditions somewhere on Maui for about 330 days a year, if you're prepared to look." The prospect of driving for an hour in heavy traffic to the other side of the island to sail in flat water after travelling half way around the world for waves, was like being kicked in the nuts.
When we returned to Ireland, we sailed for twelve days in a row, in warm conditions, with perfect wind and waves and no crowds, just friends. That was the best windsurfing 'trip' of my life.
Separate Box;
Paying Homage to My Credit Card.
"Over rated, over priced and over there" Trevor Funnel told me, equally unsatisfied with the Maui experience. Maui costs a bomb, knowing that we followed the poorest looking hippies into a health food market called Mana Foods 'Great foods at honest prices' and bought enough food for breakfast and a morning snack. $40 USD! Enough to make us cry over spilt soya milk; their motto would be more accurate reading 'Great foods at great profits.'
In contrast, I heard a story about two Canadian windsurfers first visit to Maui. They bought a tent at K-mart and stayed in it for three months, then returned it and got a full refund! They bought a cheap car and sold it at no loss when they left. Plus, they lived off Jack-In-The-Box Jack-burgers at 99cent each for breakfast lunch and dinner, totalling three bucks a day, for three months ($250 / £160). An unbelievable record considering the average person would spend that in three days on Maui.
The biggest expense on Maui is accommodation. $20 USD (£15) is the very cheapest you could find, even for long stays. The average for a tourist coming for up to a month would be about $40 a night, however if you wanted to stay on the beach, expect to pay closer to $100 per night.
Food is one area you can save on. Self catering, buying in bulk from Cosco, is astonishingly reasonable, especially considering you're in Hawaii (you'll initially need to invest in a worthy $40 USD members card).
The cheapest meal deals around are these:
Wendy's: Jacket potato and chilli £1.40 meal.
Pizza Hut: As much as you can eat £5 (salad bar etc)
Jack-in-the-Box burger 70p
Day Old Deals: Healthy foods at Mana Foods and Anthony's Coffee in Paia.
Good Foods.
Healthy eating has it's price. Mana Foods in Paia is the dream shop with nightmarish prices. The best restaurant is the Hailemalie General Store (£40 pp but exceptional) and then there's everyone's favourite; Paia Fish Market with wonderful food in a relaxed atmosphere at good prices.
Shopping.
Especially for the mainstream tourists with nothing better to do than sit on a beach all day, there's the 'Shops at Waleia' with Gucci and Louis Vitton headlining the mall. On the way to a nearby bar, I noticed a this cool vest through the Gucci window, so next time I was in town, I popped in. Unfortunately the small singlet was $760 USD, nearly twice the price of their cheapest $400 USD string vest. Plus, it had just been sold moments earlier to one of the few people on the planet prepared to spend over £500 on a vest; Mike Tyson! Yup, there we have it, me and Mike Tyson, same dress sense, different financial league, both well 'ard….
Car Rental.
Most people rent vans, some of which are even racked inside. Expect to pay about £200 per week inclusive, although many of the locals favour pick-up trucks as theft of kit really isn't a problem in Maui. The best place to rent any vehicle from is the very reasonably priced 'All Kine Cars' Tel 00 1 808 986 1700 or luis.ferrer@verizon.net
Windsurfing Kit.
If bringing your own kit for wave sailing, typically you'd need about a 70-75 litre board and sails from 5.3 to 4.5m. However, no one can predict the wind… You will be charged excess baggage leaving Maui in the region of £50 per bag.
With rental kit, there are no centres on the beach as we're accustomed to in Europe. One has to rent from a shop and rig up yourself, whereever you chose to sail, which can be advantageous. I'd recommend clearly checking the insurance policies against breakages which most companies offer. This is the land of litigation! Try
http://www.stonesplace.com/ and http://www.neilprydemaui.com/
Flights.
We flew with Air Canada direct to Vancouver, then direct to Maui. This is one of the fastest and certainly the comfiest way to get to Maui. Plus, you can sneak a quick snowboarding trip in to Whistler or Baker like we did. http://www.aircanada.com/
Nightlife.
"Don't stand there, you're at the bar. Don't stand there either, go and find a seat." Maui has the worst nightlife on the planet. Jaques in Paia who cunningly employ the most beautiful women on Maui, don't ever turn the volume up. Charlies Bar next door, which looks like a decent dive, doesn't let you stand at the bar. On Wednesdays though, Casanova's goes off, but shuts at 1am, and also has standing restrictions….
On Maui, you do things like going to the mall or the cinema, or equally unexilerating escapisms. It's unhealthily healthy and makes you dream of Europe.
Must Do's on Maui.
Take a six pack to Ho'okipa and watch the world's best shredding at sunset.
Reach the summit of Haleakala (fill up with gas before hand).
See Jaws breaking if the swell's big enough (ask around.)
Have a double mocca with whip at Anthony's Coffee in Paia.
Go whale watching then enjoy a sunset meal in Lahina.
Molokini Crater is one of the seven dive wonders of the world' and therefore if you're a diver.....
I've struggled to fill this section!
Must Not Do's.
Drive to Hana, there's over 600 corners and it takes forever, for nothing much.
Join a fleet of cyclists rolling down Haleakala. (Do it yourself instead; rent a bike, get someone to drive up, and take turns with the driver rolling down unrestricted.)
Take someone's wave, especially a surfer's.
Visit during El Nino.
Separate Box:
A Different Experience.
When Peter Hart first visited Maui in 1983, he was in for a surprise....
On his very first day, he launched at Ho'okipa and blasted out to his first jump in Hawaii. Crash landing an impressive move, a surfer paddled over to him. "How kind" Harty thought, "a surfer coming to congratulate me on my jump," how wrong he was; the surfer paddled right up to Harty and punched him directly in the face, shouting something about 'my wave!'
This kind of behavior and dislike for windsurfers, especially Europeans, from the local Maui Bru'dahs, still exists, and in order to segregate these warring cousins, a windsurfing curfew is imposed until 11am, or until most surfers (who have right of way on the waves) have left the water. Such is the crowding problems here.
Separate Box;
Mount Haleakela.
This is a must to visit when you come to Maui. But don't what ever you do under estimate its' immense spiritual and vacuum lock powers….
We left for the crater of Mount Haleakela, over 10,000 feet above sea level, with three quarters of a tank of gas at 4:30am on Good Friday. Under a full moon the views were spectacular as we climbed the mountain in our 7.8 litre engine good ol American van. By the time we joined the hippies singing, the religious chanting and the tourists taking photos 10,000 feet above sea level and over 2000 feet above the clouds on the summit, it was minus 15 degrees. As you can imagine this is not the sort of thing one is prepared for in tropical paradise, but walking around with a colourful towel wrapped around my waist, on top of all my clothes, didn't phase me. Good Friday, so far, was still good.
However, as is so often the case when I get together with vans, something goes wrong. I was not aware of the phoenomenom at high altitudes of 'vacuum lock'. The thin air I could handle. But the van not starting on top of the world's highest car park, the world's highest non-active volcano, world's largest mountain from base (below sea level) to peak and therefore the highest thing in whole the Pacific, was a problem, especially as it was so frigging freezing!
Fortunately we were on a slope (to say the least) so bump starting it should be easy. We rolled out of the world's highest car park and tried bump starting. We didn't get very far because I couldn't work out how to bump start automatics, until I remembered you couldn't. So we pulled in to the second level car park at the tourist info centre and fluttered our eyelids etc to round up some help. The conclusion was 'vacuum lock.' Due to the high altitude and thin air, a vacuum has appeared in the tank stopping fuel from flowing. 'Undo your fuel cap and air filter, that should mend it.'
The van still didn't start. The fuel gauge was reading an eighth full. Stuck 10,000 feet up a mountain where it's physically tiring to walk anywhere due to the lack of oxygen, Shawna was losing her cool about yet again being stuck with me and a dodgy van somewhere disastrous in the world. It always seems to happen! Our argument to this day remains; did I run out of gas? Or did the vacuum lock suck the gas out of the pipe / cause the filter to get clogged because the gas was low / aliens syphoned our fuel / other excuse to get me out of trouble....
Anyway, after heated arguments in the freezing cold, we had to get off the peak and decided to roll down Halaeakela. How far we'd get we didn't know, but we were making good ground and the air temperatures were rising. Having driven an old three tonne Merc truck for years, I knew what it was like to have no power steering and heavy brakes. So I felt quite at home in our Ford van hurtling down Haelaeakela like a runaway train. Zigzagging around the 15mph corners at 50mph to carry the momentum over the next rise in the road was nail biting stuff, overtaking the cyclists who couldn't hear us coming (our hooter was bust too) was dangerous. But faced with the prospects of prolonged argument, I wanted to get right off the mountain as quickly as possible.
When we set off, we had no idea that we'd be able to roll all the way down Halaeakela! Dropping 10,000 over nearly forty miles of mountain roads with no engine, dodgy steering and unbelievably reliable brakes for two hours was such a joyous achievement when we finally ground to a halt at sea level on the Hana Highway (coastal road).
A friendly local immediately picked me up and took me off to get fuel, but the moment I touched the pumps, the whole garage suddenly broke down! Like a punishment from the Haleakala, I couldn't get any fuel! Fortunately the Neil Pryde shop was nearby, which I jogged to and they sorted us out, taking us to another garage, then back to our van which started up as soon as it drunk the fuel. And that's where the story ends, although the debate about whether I simply run out of fuel continues…
Captions:
Sunrise from the top of the world's highest mountain (Haleakala) and arguably the world's worst place to break down. The only good moment on Good Friday.
We travelled for three hours to get to the famous Seven Pools of Hana, only to find the car park was full and the pools crammed with sunburnt tourists in a rain storm. Lovely. We took this token waterfall shot in a mosquitto pit know as Twin Falls.
Guy just about dodges the crowds to pull a poxy aireal off typically small waves at Ho'okipa.
Paia's cowboy town is the hippy centre of the island.
Relief after the forty mile downhill roll.
On one of my final attempts windsurfing on the windless isle, I realised my insane persistence when a butterfly flew straight into the wind in front of me. That's how little wind there was! I caught up with it later in the car park.
Jaques; fish and chicks.
Guy enjoying the show with fellow fruits.
Sugar cane and pineapples, Maui's biggest exports.
One night I watched an amazing documentry about suicide bombers on TV, really well put together and as you can imagine, totally shocking. Bombers were explaining how if they blow themselves up (taking as many Israelis with them as possible) their families and friends would be benefitted by this act of faith with USD$ and going to Heaven. Every few minutes the adverts came on so I'd switch to the Christian channel, which was basically saying the same thing; "Faith is a fact, faith is an act. C'mon, go to your phone and make that pledge!" By donating money ($2000 dollars each!) viewers would be 'certifying' their devotion in God and thus their families and friends would be benefitted too, by going to Heaven.
On one occasion, drifting out through this kind of surf, I saw a mast tip just breaking the surface. I sailed directly over it to see what state the rig was in below. To my horror, it was totally intact, a complete rig nailed into the reef, totally upright with just the top six inches breaking the surface! I checked to see if anyone was still hooked in, but fortunately not, they were being torn across the rocks.
Maui's windsurfing shops are the biggest we've seen anywhere in the world. The Neil Pryde shop is the size of a supermarket with the Neil Pryde and Cabrinha lofts upstairs and the JP factory nearby.
Kanaha, an exceptional location for learning how to wave sail with a friendly beach vibe from the massive community of travelling windsurfers, of which a surprisingly high number are British.
Segregation; windsurfers, surfers and kitesurfers all have a time and a place.