Im here in Mauii

[djscred]

So Were here in kaanapali and we are a bunch of internediate windsurfer without any gear...any rentals around thisw side of the island...the wind today were incredible....by the airport there must have been dozens of kiters!
I rented a jeep too any input on trails and all?

[spyder]

mostly everything for rental is in Kahului (near the airport).

great ride to Hana with the jeep, just leave early ! I think you can drive all the way around through Haleakala park but you need a jeep (off road vehicle). Lots of little roads to the ocean along the way to explore.

Also a nice trip around the point past Kapalua (past Kaanapali), its a narrow road..keep cool and be patient.

[isobars]

Im sure others will provide direct answers to those questions, but the best advice I can offer is this bigger picture: Before your next trip anywhere, research it for days for a weekender, weeks for a major trip. Im not suggesting you PLAN everything . . . doing that can ruin a vacation. Im suggesting you build a long list of things to see and do, ferret out the best region or even specific site, if appropriate, to stay, identify a few restaurants you wont want to miss, know and reserve the kind of gear and vehicle most appropriate if renting stuff, learn a lot about the trails and beaches and natural attractions and scenic side trips and organized activities and windsurfing gear and launches and conditions and seasons, general driving times, local climates (Kaanapali, Kihei, the windward shore, and upcountry have four significantly different climates and offer different recreational and shopping opportunities), local customs if necessary (there are places on Maui we haoles had better not go), seasonal changes, unique things to take or leave behind, island hopping logistics, and on and on and on. We try to take our vacations, whether long or short, with a list of too much to do, hit whatever works out, and leave wanting to come back and finish the list; weve had friends go to great places with no knowledge of whats there and leave early because they missed most of the attractions and got bored. PLANNING can turn a great vacation into little more than hectic drudgery, but RESEARCH can transform a good road trip into a great vacation.

On my first trip to Maui I had grabbed my reserved white Tercel, dumped my minimal luggage in my reserved air conditioned condo, picked up my reserved windsurfing gear, and was trying to figure out how to water start in big chop off Kanaha . . . all within about two hours of landing. A week later I was planing about up until 90 minutes before the airplane departed -- I got in line still wearing the shorts I sailed in -- and had done a TON of stuff in the non-windy segments in between, all because we didnt have to waste precious time thinking or asking questions. I was still WET in the ticket line when I left Grand Cayman because I was 30 feet down in the ocean an hour before the plane departed. Thinking and rough planning back home on our own time lets us play nonstop like a litter of puppies once were on the expensive, ticking vacation clock.

The trail is Hana and points south, the gear is near the airport, and if you get any wind in midwinter, you better grab every minute of it because it may be all you get in a two-week vacation.

Mike \m/

[dabull1]

Wish I was THERE!!! If you havent already picked up gear may I suggest Hawaiian lsland Surf and Sport at Dairy Rd and Hana Hwy. My buddies Steve, Geoff,and Akai will take good care of you, tellem Koas Godfather sent you! Try a Naish Hybrid 89 for a real thrill...careful, youll want to take one home! Be sure to take a drive Monday night to catch Willie K at Hapas in Kihei, Lipoa and Kihei Rd., bout a 30 min drive from Kaanapali. Aloha, Bull

[joanwind]

Try Hawaiian Island Surf & Sport at the corner of Hana and Dairy. Tell them John from Redondo Beach sent you (Karl and many others will know). Ther are also many other rentalshops within 1 mile radius.

[laurier17]

Basically, all the rental shops are all around the airport (kanaha) which makes sense because thats where most of the sailing takes place! You wouldnt want to go on the westside due to the off-shore winds there unless you thought 100% you could do it safely. Theres a couple schools around kanaha beaches you can get lessons also. lesson and equipment, 2 birds with one stone, although its not great equipment!! On a side note, I dont know where and more importantly why some people post the information they do (isobars)!! How did you derig, return ur stuff, park and still have wet shorts, hmmm. And why would you brag that you were on the water 1.5hrs before take-off, do you want people to miss their flights? I was required to be at an australian airport 3hrs prior, and just made it on. you best give yourselves 1-2hrs before take-off from hawaii with the numerous checks they have now. Second, you were 30 feet down, scuba I take it, just before your flight? If yes, any ROOKIE knows this is the worst and most dangerous thing you can do!!! DO NOT dive before your flights people!!!
Hope this helps, and saves flight possibly lives!!

[isobars]

Did I say I de-rigged or returned any stuff between shredding and checking into the Maui airport? Wasnt my whole post about planning ahead (and wasnt that the only ADVICE I gave?) The rest was just examples to illustrate my point and prove the benefits of planning, not bragging. I checked out of my ****i condo with my luggage that morning, and arranged in advance to have a bud return my rental WSing gear (left my rental car at the military airport on another trip, to Oahu, and phoned the rental agency to tell them where it was), which gained me precious time on the water (windsurfing on Maui costs me two dollars a minute, when you divide the cost by the shred time). This was also pre-9/11, when checking into a flight on Maui took minutes, not hours.

I also give people credit for having enough sense to do what it takes -- i.e., planning -- to avoid missing flights. And even though the Maui airport advised us to arrive earlier, it was obvious that check-in took minutes, not hours, before 9/11.

No, the diving that day was snorkeling, not SCUBA (planning!), so going from the ocean bottom to the air was safe, and the airport on Grand Cayman is very near excellent snorkeling (planning!). My host was sitting in his car at the beach ready to drive me and my luggage straight to the airport (planning!) straight from the water. I had time to spare at the airport, also pre-9-11.

Your advice is sound, but your presumptions and insults are not.

Mike \m/

[coachg]

Mike,
How do you survive in Oregon? Isnt Oregon very relaxed? For some of us vacations are that, vacations. That means no planning and no schedules. I deal with that ***t all year long, no way Im takiog it on vacation. When Im on vacation I couldnt tell you what Im going to do day to day. I just go with the flow on vacation. If it costs me a few minutes of shred time, oh well, Im on VACATION!

Coachg

[WindSapien]

Temper temper.... 2 words...Anger managment

[isobars]

It was directed at me, and even I didnt perceive his insinuation as anger . . . merely a typical dose of internet snot. (And the bleeped word in my response was simply the name of a town/area on Maui; I have no idea why it was censored.)

Mike \m/