Spent three weeks in Hawaii in February, first on the Big Island, then on Maui. This feature is about a surf break in front of our condo on Hawaii. It's about boogie! As usual, click on the thumbnails to display the large versions in a new browser window. Enjoy.

Late afternoon, first day on the Big Island, plunged into the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean in front of our vacation condo. Wore my snorkle gear so as to see the reef and fish while paddling back and forth.

There was no significant swell, but wanted to check the shallow reef and rocks in and around the surfbreak called Honls. It's also called Haddos and Hannos. a nearby home of the Honl family is the source of the name. There weren't any waves at that time, but hope existed for future possibilities.

While swimming, saw two honu casually paddling along the edge of the reef. Honu is the Hawaiian word for sea turtle.

The break is popular with boogie boarding local school kidz. They are so experienced with it they can ride it even when it's less than a foot in height. When swell increases it becomes rideable for board surfers too. At low tide rocks are uncovered in the lineup, making surfing a risk. Higher tides and swell levels bring out the local bad boyz who dominate the waves. You get your choice of hazards. The break is mostly a right along the North edge of a small cove. The cove is lined on both sides with rocks along the shore, but in the middle of the cove is a small sandy beach for launching and landing. Mostly surfers go right along the North edge, taking off directly in front of the shallowest point of the reef. Sometimes they lineup just a bit to the North of this, and go left, directly toward the condos in which we stayed while there. There's a seldom ridden break along the South edge of the cove that goes left; it's called "Toilet Bowl."

Tuesday afternoon the tide and swell both came up, and no one was surfing it. I paddled out, and my bro' K took pix. These will be the subject of a future column. Swell was head high on sets and juicy. Soon the after-school boogie boyz joined me. The fast sucky rights were challenging and fun. The school kidz were a fun crew with which to share some waves; watching and talking with them gave me some tips on where to lineup, and which waves to ride. It was a great session. Soon I got out of the water because the lineup was filling fast with spongers, and I got my waves. Took pix of the boogie boarders, many of which are shown in this column.

Wednesday dawn I took a cue from the locals, and boogie boarded in the small surf of Honls as the sun rose over Holualoa. There were indeed long waits between waves, but it was fun. Was an interesting contrast to riding standup. Waves were perhaps waist to chest high; at that height the break works better for a body board.

Plans can change, but expect to see a feature next week with pix of another Big Island surf spot. I call it Kona Decoys. In coming weeks, look for lots more features, columns, interviews and pix from Hawaii.

CU Out There,

DogMan