MAUI - DAY 5 & 6

With the exception of breakfast and a walk to our wedding site and then down to the beach before heading to the airport to catch our plane, this day was pretty much our last day in Maui. Before leaving on the trip, we had talked about what activities we wanted to do while on vacation. A couple of times Alan's talked about learning to stand-up paddle board, so that was an option. And then we started talking about surfing.

Now, for me to even contemplate trying surfing is a big deal. Back in 1993 when I was a wee thing living in Southern California I told my parents I was going to the lake or something for the day. That had been our intention but instead all of us decided to drive down to Huntington Beach. And then we decided to surf. Some people in the group knew what they were doing. Some people thought they could teach me what to do. On my first attempt I was dumped by what I consider a "giant wave" and then I was smacked in the head with a heavy ass surfboard and then tumbled in the water. I had no idea which way was up and it wasn't until I rolled onto shore that I knew I'd live. Since then I've been somewhat terrified of waves that are taller than me and surfing. That said, it's been 19 years since that fateful day and I was determined to conquer my fear and join Alan in this activity.

(If you follow me on Twitter you know this did not end well for me. See how happy I look in the "before" picture? Ha!)

We booked a semi-private lesson via our hotel concierge via Maui Beach Boys (which I didn't really love). Pretty much all the surfing lessons in south Maui take place at Kalama Beach Park, which I've since found is described as follows: "A park you go to for an event or the wide selection of public facilities, not swimming and sunbathing." There is a reason for this. You see, the whole ocean floor is covered in rocks and coral. The waves here are great for beginning surfers but those rocks? Yeah, when you (repeatedly) fall off your surfboard bad things happen. In my case, you smack the following body parts against said rocks: knee, right hip, face. While you're down bemoaning the pain of your hip hitting a rock, your surfboard somehow manages to float just above your head so actually coming up out of the water is darn near impossible. Then, on your final run you smack your knee so hard against all that rock and coral that it's bleeding and immediately swollen. It's so painful that you don't actually have the strength to lift yourself into standing position on the board even though you've finally figured out the whole balance thing. So then you end up having to get towed back in, having never actually gotten to surf and even though the company has a money back guarantee no one ever actually offers to give us back any money even though I'm bruised, bleeding, and didn't really surf. Thankfully for my pride I wasn't the only person that required first aid after exiting the water. There were a handful of us sitting on the chairs with bloody knees and hands being tended to. 

Afterwards, exhausted, defeated, and starving, we walked across the street to Kihei Caffe for another moco loco. After an hour in the water, fighting to just stand upright, that big old plate of rice and beef and eggy goodness was just what the doctor ordered.


After lunch we went back to the hotel to play at the beach, finally go in the pool, and just hang out for the rest of the day. We had a beautiful sunset from the lanai, and then a fabulous dinner at Nick's Fishmarket. 

Aloha!