Since April 1st though, nothing but sunshine. Bright sunshine. There's a difference between winter sunshine and summer sunshine. And heat. In January, it was hot, then seemed to cool off a few degrees in February and March. Now we're back to being hot. I work inside of an igloo, so by the time I get home to my non air conditioned apartment, I'm ready to defrost.
I finally went surfing for the first time since the first week I was here, crazy I know. Being afflicted by vertigo for a month really kept me out of the water and in bed.
Not what I came here for.
I've only surfed three times so far and probably only about a dozen decent waves.
On Sunday, I woke up, felt my natural balance and energy had returned for the first time in awhile, went to church to get my worship on, then headed to Waikiki.
Wai Waikiki? Because you can rent boards right on the beach. I'd much rather surf Diamond Head, but since it's a protected area there are no little surf board rental shacks. Way bigger south shore swells off Diamond Head. Waikiki is fun though if you can stand the crowds, on the beach and in the ocean. The waves weren't coming often but when they did they were nice and the rest of the ocean was pretty smooth.
The summer is when the swells get big on the south end of the island. During the winter is when Oahu's famous north shore gets its massive swells. Unfortunately I was unable to go up there when they were really big. I would love to get good enough to surf some of those giants or the world famous banzai Pipeline.
Catching waves in Hawaii is tougher than Costa Rica for a number of reasons. One is you have to paddle out much further. In Tamarindo I taught myself how to surf by catching the little baby waves that came right up to shore. Great beach for beginners. Once you move past beginner you can paddle out further or go to a nearby beach with bigger swells.
The ocean floor here isn't sandy either, for the most part. You really want to stay on your board or risk stepping on a sea urchin, getting needles implanted in your foot, or cut yourself on coral, which I've done before. As I've explained before, the cuts take awhile to heal because the coral is living and contains all kinds of bacteria.
Soon I will be moving very close to Diamond Head beach and hopefully buying a board not long after that to enjoy the world class waves there.
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