Surfing Waikiki in an Outrigger Canoe

Sometimes, girls just want to have fun. And sometimes, their lucky sons and sisters get to join them. While on our last trip to Waikiki, I decided I wanted to ride the waves on one of the big outrigger canoes. We only had one afternoon to spend in Waikiki beach, so we had a packed schedule: drinking Lava Flows under beach umbrellas, floating around the warm waters with all the other tourists in brightly colored inner tubes, and then back to the beach umbrellas for a snack of ice cream bonbons. It was going to be a tight squeeze, but I was determined.

I’m too chicken to learn how to surf, so cruising the waves on the outrigger canoes is as close as I’m going to get to that sensation. There are many different places on Waikiki beach where you can sign up for a ride, but we chose the one closest to us-between the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach Hotel and the Moana Surfrider Hotel.

There are few things that I will abandon a tub of ice cream bonbons for, but a chance to ride the waves on an outrigger canoe in Waikiki is one of them. When we finally got the signal from the crew that they had assembled a large enough group to take out on the water, we quickly abandoned/inhaled our tub of bonbons, and rushed to take our places.

I would like to think that I looked graceful boarding that canoe, but it was more akin to a sea lion flopping up onto a rock. Anyhow, we all took our seats and the paddling began. The guide in the back barked out directions to a canoe filled with women and eight-year-old boy. We paddled out for about five minutes and then waited for the perfect wave. We floated out there with all of the surfers, and a three-legged sea turtle (which our guide had a cool nickname for, that I can’t recall and should have taken note of).

When we caught our wave, we zipped past the surfers and the tourists in inner tubes. With the wind in our faces, we screamed, laughed and raced towards that legendary stretch of sand. I will never forget the look on my son’s face. For a split second, he was a Hawaiian prince in his outrigger canoe.

We paddled out and repeated our ride one more time, before we came back to shore and reality. I was out forty dollars, but, for me, it was money well spent. It’s not often that a girl gets to surf a wave in Waikiki with her son.

This Monday I’m sharing my memory, because I need to dream a bit on this chilly March day. I need to remember that my life is filled with memories of these fun, spontaneous moments, and not just the daily routines that make up our weekdays. And next time you are lucky enough to find yourself on Waikiki Beach, take a ride out on one of those canoes. Don’t forget to come back and tell me about it.

I’m linking up to Mother of All Trips this Monday, she is always inspiring, even when she feels a bit uninspired.