Honolulu Daily Photos

A photographic journal of images from O'ahu by Dana, Jamie and Kala! =)

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Pictures are all taken during the course of my activities such as paddling, surfing, hiking, mountain biking, snorkeling, kayaking, stand-up paddling, rock climbing, archery, skeet shooting, and soon diving - due to my schedule, some postings are done in advanced and posted automatically by blogger on the dates specified. If you have any suggestions, comments, etc for photos you would like me to take, do not hesitate to let me know - enjoy and thanks for stoppin by - Live, Love, Laugh and share the ALOHA!

Monday, May 15, 2006

Art of wave riding

This is a classic "Sandys" day with steep wave faces, strong undertow and formidable shore breaks that can wreak havoc on the body for the inexperienced and unlucky individual. Notice how close the breaks are to shore? Of all the beaches on the "south side," Sandy's breaks are one of the most challenging; fun to watch but reserved for the skilled veteran. Over the years, people (locals and visitors alike) have suffered from broken backs, necks, collar bones, legs and even died as a result of brain injury. When I was in high school, I had a classmate who died while body surfing here. Twenty times more rescues are performed here than in Waikiki, the most heavily used beach on the island.

Not far from here is another beach that is probably just as beautiful, not as crowded as Waikiki, and much safer for the inexperienced to do some ocean wave riding. If you are planning to visit the islands and want to know some safer beaches to play in, email me.
The absence of continental shelfs surrounding the islands as compared with our surfing neighbors in California makes hawaiian waves much more powerful and steep due to less dissipation of energy from the ocean bottom.

The type of board used in the above image is called by various names including sponge board, body board, or boogie board. People will lie, kneel and even stand on these short boards with no skegs (not to be mistaken for the surfboard with skegs).

On a final note, before venturing into the water on any beach in the islands, observe from shore for a bit or talk to the lifeguard before going in since waves come in sets and the last thing you want is to get caught in between a big set. Tomorrow, I'll show you the sandy beach!

10 Comments:

Blogger Kris said...

woww! Great timing and shot!
I have no nerve to try this out!

Monday, May 15, 2006 at 9:40:00 PM HST  
Blogger Ineke said...

Agree with fotoaddict. Looks stunning, but i am too much a chicken to try it.

Monday, May 15, 2006 at 9:50:00 PM HST  
Blogger Liz said...

I tried to surf many times in safer waves when I was in California but I am too scared...so I prefer watch other people surfing :-)

ps: another time...amazing shot! :-9

Monday, May 15, 2006 at 10:02:00 PM HST  
Blogger Louise Starkey said...

Another fantastic shot! Surfing never appeared to be a dangerous sport (except being hit by another surfer or shark). I have tried to surf on little waves, so I have drunk lots of salt water.

Monday, May 15, 2006 at 11:54:00 PM HST  
Blogger Lisi said...

nice shot, the color of the water is so beautiful

Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at 12:43:00 AM HST  
Blogger Brian Dubé said...

That is amazing, and it's true the ocean like this is so powerful, it's scary...

Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at 1:41:00 AM HST  
Blogger Nicola said...

Wow, that's a really cool photo! The color of the water is great! And thanks for the info.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at 10:57:00 AM HST  
Blogger Sam said...

Beautiful photo and scary shot!!

Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at 10:53:00 PM HST  
Blogger zdenka pregelj said...

Beautiful photo!

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 8:47:00 AM HST  
Blogger Sally said...

That's a real "dumper" !

Saturday, October 7, 2006 at 10:20:00 PM HST  

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