Posts Tagged ‘Kayak Big Island’

Question – Difficulty in Kayaking Kona

We received the following question by email: We are looking at doing the “Kayak the Sea Caves Near Honaunau” as that looks like loads of fun, and we will be doing the Captain Cook trip as well…based off your recommendation of that as well. Anyways we just want to make sure that a trip like this doesn’t warrant a large amount of “open water” type kayaking experience. We have kayaked in Florida, but not on the ocean, are pretty fit (our past-time is spent climbing mountains in land-locked Colorado) and we just want to make sure that we don’t head out and find ourselves in large, crashing waves and having a sphincter-puckering time. I figure that obviously conditions can change, but in general is this an overly difficult kayak trip requiring quite a bit of experience?

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Question – Renting Kayaks at Captain Cook

We received this question by email:
We’d like to rent a double kayak to see the Cook monument and to snorkle. Can we do this on the spot, or should we reserve in advance? What is the cost of the kayak rental and permit? –Tom O.

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Answer:
There are no kayak rentals at Kealakeua Bay itself (the launch point where you start your paddle to Captain Cook). However, in the nearby town of Honalo, there are numerous kayak rental stores. We recommend renting from the Aloha Kayak Company (native Hawaiian owned) where a tandem kayak will cost you $60 per day.   I would definitely call ahead of time and reserve your kayak in advance, especially if you are planning your Captain Cook adventure in the busy tourist season.  Keep in mind, because of recent regulations, more and more visitors are opting to pay for the chartered tour to Captian Cook via boat or zodiac instead of kayaking.

As far as permitting goes, check out the details on how to obtain a Captain Cook Kayak Permit.  Permits from the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) are free, but there is a considerable amount of headache involved in trying to submit and receive your permit (fax the form ahead of time, etc.)  Even if you choose not to apply for the Captain Cook Kayak Permit, you can still kayak within Kealakekua Bay, you just cannot beach your kayak on the opposing shore (near the Captain Cook monument).  This should not inhibit you from still snorekling above the wonderful reef (you can simply pull the kayak behind you by holding the bow line as you snorkel).

Question: Car Roof Rack for a Kayak

Here is a question we received by email: We are coming to the Big Island in Feb. We are renting from an ohana that has a tandem kayak that we may use. We will be having a rental car that will not have racks on it. The homeowner has straps for the kayak but their rack is a permanent fixture. Is it possible to protect the roof with a tarp and strap the kayak on securely. If not where can we rent a rack for a couple of days. We will be staying in Kealakekua area. Thanks for your help, Diane C.

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The Big Island Hates Kayakers

Most of my previous posts have been mini travelogues about my adventures on the Big Island. This post I want to talk about something that has puzzled me. As you can tell from this blog and the website I am an avid kayaker. I have been kayaking for many years now, exclusively in the ocean. My main interests include surf kayaking – that is riding the waves on my sit-on-top Ocean Kayak and kayaking to remote locations on the island to snorkel or SCUBA dive. When I lived on the mainland, I used to wait in anticipation for a large coastal storm, then rush to the coast with my kayak, eager to ride the large stormy waves!

As I have traveled throughout the Big Island over the years, I try to find new places to explore, and specifically new places to kayak to. With so many remote coastal areas, the Big Island is a perfect place to explore via kayak. Unfortunately, my recent attempts to kayak the Kona Coast have been thwarted by what I see as anti-kayak laws. What I really love about the Big Island is its raw beauty and wide open spaces. The Big Island is different than most mainland beaches that are crawling with millions of visitors and have so many overwhelming rules and regulations. For some unknown reason, there seems to be a consistent ban on kayaking at so many Big Island locations.

Recently, I had planned an excursion – we wanted to kayak from Kua Bay to Makalawena Beach. I thought it would be a really nice trip with beautiful land scenery as well as prolific reefs to explore. Checking satellite photos, it certainly looked enticing. When I last visited Kua Bay, I saw a dive flag just offshore and that whetted my apetite for exploration. Unfortunately, upon arrival at Kua Bay, we spotted this large garrish sign exclaming: NO KAYAKS ALLOWED. I thought it was very strange considering everything else seems to be acceptible… Not wanting to get fined or arrested, we aborted this mission.

A few days later, we found ourselves coming back from Captain Cook after a fantastic morning of kayaking, snorkeling and SCUBA diving. We decided to take a detour to Kahaluu Beach Park and check out the waves at the north end of this bay. Since it was the winter, the swells were impressive and we thought it would be a great chance to do a little surf kayaking here. So we quickly unloaded our kayak, rigged the seats, threw on our rash guards and slapped sunblock on our faces. We were ready to ride the sets… until we saw another large sign: NO KAYAKS ALLOWED — we were crushed. We were relegate to body surfing at Magic Sands instead that afternoon… not nearly as fun as battling the waves by kayak.

It seems that the law makers seem to have a personal vandetta against us kayakers. There doesn’t seem to be a problem with riding a surf board, body-board, or other flotation device. It is okay for the oppulent resorts limiting the “public beach access” with their condescending guards. But just don’t get caught kayaking! Alas, it seems to be a state park law – so us avid kayakers will be forced to stay away from those locations and continue to partake in our sport as renegades.

I look forward to doing more “legal” kayaking in the future and posting my adventures online.