Surfing In Maui

The only thing our seven year old talked about for months before we left for Maui was if he could go surfing in Maui. We weren't even sure any place would offer lessons to children as young as ours.

Fortunately, we found the Royal Hawaiian Surf Academy, located on 117 Prison Street in Lahaina, and they provide private lessons for kids ages 3 and up. Needless to say, our "Surfing in Maui Day" was one of the most exciting days of our trip!

Our boys, seen here with one of our instructors, are trying to do the shaka sign (the shaka sign is a friendly Hawaiian gesture that can mean "hello," "thanks," or just "hey").

Shaka quickly became the new favorite catch-word which they immediately taught to our 2 year old, who says it with much gusto.



Just north of Kamehameha Iki Park (formerly Armory Park) is where we had our surfing lessons. Just to the left of this photo (not in photo) the is Lahaina Harbor. (Lanai is seen in the background along with a cruise ship).

The surf here is perfect for beginners because there is enough power behind the wave to carry the surfer forward, but no one is riding a curl.

Our lessons began by breaking into three groups: the adults had a group lesson while each of our two children had their own private instructor. We walked our boards out to the beach and practiced on land first. It was much easier to practice and get used to getting up on the board on land without worrying about falling off.

After about 30 minutes of land practice we had a trial run in the shallow water, then paddled out hoping to ride a wave.





This by far was our most amazing "surfing in Maui" photo.

Imagine seeing your four year old whizzing by on the shoulders of a Brazilian surf instructor after only 30 minutes of teaching! Can one ask for more fun than this?





Our four year old was nervous at first, but his instructor tuned in to that early on, and quickly made him feel comfortable and at ease.

As you can see, he ended up having a great time.

Our seven year old was up and surfing in no time. His instructor helped him catch the hang of it very quickly.

He was by far the best surfer in our group. At one point he started to loose his balance so he crouched back down on the board, regained his balanced, stood back up and rode the wave the rest of the way in! That impressed even his uncles who were also in our group.



Just another round of "surfing in Maui" with our very happy 7 year old, now feeling very proud and independent as he clearly had a natural knack for riding the wave.

My wife said she fully expected to fall at every attempt. Much to her surprise she was the first of us to get up and stay up the whole way in! I'm sure she'll remind me of this for a long time. . .

Here I am trying to "hang 10" with the best of them. Actually, this is my feeble attempt to look as confident as my seven year old.

We had a great time with the Royal Hawaiian Surf Academy. The instructors were informative, funny and very patient with us. We highly recommend them. (The surfing photos on this page were taken by the Academy's talented photographer.)

Does my surfing talent look as good as one of the locals? Not a chance, but we sure had fun.

This just goes to show you even the most novice of surfers can be taught. All you really need is a good instructor and a great beginner's location to surf in Maui.

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