Travel Day 849 – Waikiki to Waimea Bay, Oahu, HAWAII
It was my second day of scooting around Oahu and my plans for the day were a little more ambitious than they had been yesterday…
Eddie Surfing Event at Waimea Bay
While it took me the whole day yesterday to see the south-eastern region of the island, today I wanted to cover an area about three to four times as large. First I wanted to cut back through the mountains to Kailua and then the idea was to drive along the entire Windward Coast, up to the North Shore where the international surfing competition was held every year. Actually the surf competition was officially starting in two days but today was the big Quicksilver Eddie Aikau announcement Ceremony which I intended to join, even if I knew not too much about surfing…
But first off my day started while getting lost in Honolulu and trying to find a Highway that would bring me back through the mountains to Kailua. There was obviously a network of Freeways, but I wasn’t allowed on them with my scooter and so I spend a good portion of my morning just getting back to the same point where left off my coastal ride yesterday. The second thing that wasn’t really working in my favor was the weather. It was very overcast again and significantly cooler on the scooter due to the lack of sun…
Jumping Surfer at Sunset Beach, Oahu
The coastline from Kailua up turned out to be quite different from the one I had seen yesterday. There were no real beaches and the green mountains almost went up to the water. Also what were nice mansions and villas on the southern coast, were simple wooden structures on the north-eastern coast. So due to the weather, the change of landscape and the much greater distance, the ride today was not quite as enjoyable as it had been yesterday…
What was quite enjoyable on the other hand was watching the surfers on the North Shore. First I stopped at Sunset Beach for quite a while and then I joined the opening ceremony at Waimea Bay. While watching some really good surfers ride the waves on their short boards was great, joining the ceremony of the 28th annual Quicksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau was even better. As I has not only the chance to learn a lot about the surfing legend Eddie Aikau, I also learned that the invitational one-day big wave surfing event was officially beginning in two days and lasting until the end of February. During this time period one day with at least 20 foot high waves would be needed in order for the competition to be actually held…
Surfer Warning Signs at North Shore
So all the great surfing legends from around the word were not only present today but they were also on standby for the next three months, while waiting for the one day with the perfectly high waves. Additionally every participant had to be officially invited during this event today and everyone else present in the semi-circle became a listed alternate in the biggest surfing contest of the world…
Find all Oahu Island photos here.
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